WaxNotNeeded - Servation Nation [For One and All]

Ok – Ok so we have ALL heard a message on serving others right? About how it is not about you, but the one (or ones) you are serving and how it is commanded of us as children of God to serve our fellow man. Well, I would venture to say that this mostly true, however when you serve you do get something in return. It may be a content feeling, a kind word of thanks or God may one day reward you and though you think you will be volunteering for a trash duty job at a sold-out concert, turns out to be a “dream come true” instead. Likewise, there can be some negative aspects, as not always will 100% of the people will be ok with you and what you are doing. I am reminded of the first time I served food to the homeless. It wasn’t with *LoveIs*, but with another organization and as I am very giggly by nature, one of the recipients in the serving line was not all to happy with my demeanor. Harsh words were exchanged on his part, but alas it does come with the territory. Yet, more often than not, when you serve, you allow yourself to be open to the human race, and in turn they fill a space within you. It feels good to know that you have done good, by giving someone else good. You know?

Now of course, this by no means beckons people to go out among the masses and do things in the physical sense, where your heart is not at in the spiritual sense (aka all for the glory of being "seen" by other people). Do not go serve and expect something massive thing in return, as that is when you may get nothing other than being frustrated with the experience. God knows our hearts, He knows why we do the things we do, say the things we say and be the way we are. Yet, if you truly have a heart open to helping others and are obedient, God will reward that – I saw that last night.

Now, please do not get me wrong, I LOVE working in Little 5 Points, that is my mission; that is my calling; that is the “core” ministry that God has set in my heart for me to do. As I have mentioned before (and will undoubtedly mention again) to be able to give to people in need full-time, would be just the sprinkles on the proverbial cupcake of my life. Yet last night another dream came true and I truly believe it was a reward from God (and I am thankful to all who made this possible on "Earth terms"). ;)

So what exactly happened? Well I, a lover of concerts, attendee of many, got the chance to serve at a merchandise table for the “Welcome To The Well” tour featuring Casting Crowns, Matthew West, Royal Taylor and Lindsey McCaul. It has ALWAYS been a dream of mine to work at a merch table, ever since the first time I bought a band tee. Did I know before going in I would be working there? No, I honestly thought I would be on trash duty or some other type of dirty job. When the volunteer coordinator (for lack of a better term at this time) told me as I signed in I would be working at the merch table, I wanted to fall on my knees in front of everyone (however I opted for a silent prayer instead). For a sold out show, which estimated around 7,000 people (from one count I heard), I got to do something I had always wanted to do – serve merch. It was a chance of getting to know people in both an close encounter (we had roughly 8 – 10 people working our section of tables, 2 identical sections were sat up) and communing with others are they were about to, in the middle of or had experienced the show. What a blessing it was! I say just that because I am simply speechless to an extent. Having chats with one man who was there due to a gift from his mother, so he was buying her a shirt in return – to speaking to a lady, who was worried her payment wouldn’t go through, but it did, so we thanked God for allowing her the chance to worship on her drive back - to a mom who treated her daughters whole barrage of friends to tour T’s - to having a group discussion on patience and how God will teach it to you one way or the other (when the wireless credit card machines were a bit slow) – to exchanging quips with a boss-dog roadie who undoubtedly has been in the game so long, there wouldn’t be time enough to hear all the stories he could share. With all the experiences of this 6 hour event tallied up and written down it would probably be considered on par with a short novel, so for there I will stop, but you get the drift.

While yes serving is not about “being served”, but turning yourself over to others, you undoubtedly will get something in return to. So why do I say all of this? Because if you have never served anyone else ever, I humbly suggest that one day you do. You will simply be amazed of what an impact YOU can have on the life of another human being. Not sure on how to serve, basic way I define is “serving is anything where you fill a need whereas commonly that need would go unfilled, have to be asked to be filled or performing an action that would make someone elses life a little less stressful”. Perhaps you are saying, well ma’am that could be just about anything… well you would be very much correct there. Just think though, shouldn’t be so hard for you to find an opportunity now, should it?

Be Beautiful – Be You – Be Love 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

Dear Heavenly Father, We thank You for not only counting us worthy enough to be redeemed back to You through the pure blood and Resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, but yet to also be used as tools - as vessels of your graciousness, love and kindness to others here on Earth. We pray that we all genuinely grasp what exactly it means to say "I have the Holy Spirit inside of me". This is not some empty calorie or temporary "good feeling", yet it is YOUR Spirit, the Spirit of the Almighty Creator allowing us - guiding us - comforting us along this journey called life. We thank You Father, Son & Spirit - Trinity in One and Trinity apart for all that has, is and will take place. May we align ourselves closer to Your will, as to not be a roadblock in the middle of it (either for ourselves or another). In the name Yeshua we pray ><>

SiC <3

Guest Post (VBS) - What is the Holy Spirit?

Ever wonder what the Holy Spirit is / what is it all about? Whether or not you are a new believer, old member of the family or unbeliever, take 4 minutes out of your day to watch this inspirational and informational video from LifeChurchTV.



SiC <3

*LoveIs* - 4.22.12

First and foremost thank you all who prayed along the way for Little Jimmie. He went this weekend onto a place with no more suffering nor pain, prayers of comfort for the family that remains here.

Scripture references for the messages that were given today are as follows:
Genesis 45:16-18

Acts 1:1-5
Hebrews 4:12
Psalm 23:4
Proverbs 18:21

Jonah [Book of]

Key Points:
Importance of trusting in God / Prayer Time
Importance of the Holy Spirit (part 1)
Importance of knowing the word / Obeying God's will for your life

Always remember to EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

Especially when you are having CAKE for breakfast.

So you will be properly nourished, in order to break-it-down on a
street corner singing praises to the Father!

*To God Be The Glory For All Things* 

WaxNotNeeded - The Heart Of The Matter

“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15

Person A: Volunteers several times a week for many years with a variety of organizations. 

Person B: Volunteers once in a while with no set schedule and no set organization.

So I ask, who is the better person … A, B or are they both the same?

Well that is really for none of us to now eh? For we do not to the heart of the people involved, only God does. People equate quantity with ultimately being better (whether it be money, physical possessions or time spent), but yet what if person A’s heart was just doing it for “outward gain and recognition” and never really “meant” any of it at all? Perhaps person B was a single mother of 3 who had to work 2 jobs just to make ends meet, but yet at her free moments turned them over to serving others, instead of wasting any moments sitting on a couch?

You may be able to fool the world with your outward appearance, words and acts, but God knows what makes you tick and what has come about to make you tick that way. It is one of the things that people mean when they say you cannot run from God.  But do not think of this as a burden, nor do not be scared. Likewise, as He does know ALL OF YOU, He still decided to send His son to die and be resurrected FOR YOU. He counted you special enough to be born, despite any self-serving actions, slight manipulations of people and unspoken evil thoughts about your fellow man you may have had or will have in the future; for it is in Christ we are MADE PURE – not through ourselves least any man should boast. 

Don’t run from who you are, don’t try to hide it. Should there be something in your life or within your make-up you feel you wish to/should change, seek God – ask Him to comfort and lead you to a solution of rectification. Every being mindful that we are commanded, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthy things” in Colossians 3:2, for that is when a believers mind can get all sorts of jumbled as we are NOT OF THIS WORLD.

I commend you all though, as we live in a generation where keeping your mind set upon God is not an easy task and in the months and years to follow, it will be ever-more difficult. However, your use tools – read your Bible – communion with others, be fervent in prayer and you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will be able to withstand all that comes your way.

Dear Heavenly Father, We humbly thank You for sending Your son, Jesus, to die and rise again for the replacement of our sin. May we search ourselves for things that you find undesirable and may we seek You to search our hearts as well. May we not be motivated by outward forces, but my Your will, desire, correction and ultimately, love, for all others. May we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, to better serve this space, for as so long as You allow us to be here. In the name of the perfect One, we pray ><>

SiC <3

Guest Post (VBS) - "Making Time" For God by BlimeyCow

!Love This!



Check out Blimey Cow online via their Facebook, YouTube channel, Twitter and/or Tumblr!

Thanks to JesusFreakHideout for the original share of this video on twitter!

*LoveIs* - 4.15.12

First and foremost THANK YOU GOD for holding off and allowing that huge, grey rain cloud to pass while the gathering was taking place.

Pastor Oscar, spoke on faith, which was a very welcomed message. As rumor had gotten around that I was the teacher for the Resurrection service last week (while Brother Jimmy and Brother Dewey were away), I was asked by Brother Jimmy to speak some this morning and shared the devotional posted earlier today (in a variant). For both times thus far that I have been given the honor to speak, this classroom-eqsue open forum has broken out, which brings so much delight to my Spirit.  So praise be to God for that! Though I have written devotionals for years now, speaking in/to groups has never been my desire, so it is by God alone that I am now a preceptor in a “Sunday school on the streets”.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has helped out with this ministry, in any way, where-as by donation of items, donation of foods, sharing of natural talents (cooking), prayer, etc. Through the past year I have come to the very true knowledge that some people straight up have hatred for those that are homeless, and though I likewise know it is not everyone’s calling to play a hands on role, your support to them by supporting me, means so much all around! It’s amazing to me now that God led to title the ministry *LoveIs* as with each passing week, I learn more and more why so, within myself and with those that attend the gathering in Little 5 Point. Tt is something I pray I never stop learning the meaning of!

SiC <3 

WaxNotNeeded - Tick Tock Goes The Clock

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:35-39

As we are all human beings with the gift from God of free-will, we all at some point will sin/fall/stumble, etc. Some people have momentary spurts of a certain disobedience, where-as others battle with a thorn, that never seems to escape them. Heck, sometimes there are even multi-levels of both of those instances, stacked upon one another as with our gift of free-will, came likewise (I believe) the urge to want to be  “in control” of what we say, do and are. As believers, you have accepted that your life is not your own and you ever work, each and every day to come closer to aligning your complete being with God, so that you are in fact, one of the same. Of course none of us will completely ever succeed in this, as we live in a sinful word and are imperfect beings. However, our imperfectness is the name reason that Christ died for us. God, as in the form of the Trinity, is not surprised by anything that you, as He knew it all before you born. Bluntly, if God didn’t want you here, you would not be here. So let us never be discouraged by what we have done in the past or what we may fail at in the future. Each month, each week, each day, each hour, each minute, is a chance to re-align our wills to God’s and to improve upon ourselves from the instruction of the Creator. May we all use our time wisely while here.

Obtained via Pinterest from Tumblr

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for waking us up each and every morning, until You are ready for our time in this place to be through. May we live in the confidence not of ourselves, but of Your Glory, as ALL THINGS come from You. May we truly understand that NOTHING happens without your higher level authority and though we may not understand all things, we simply TRUST IN YOU. May You lead and guide us, through Your word, through the Holy Spirit and through wise counsel. We ask these things in the name of Your son, Yeshua, whom without which our world would cease to exist, ><>

SiC <3 

Guest Post (VBS) - I am Second

I am Second is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. The authentic stories on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second.*

Here is Bailee Madison’s video, such an inspiration to see such strong faith and understanding in a child. May God continue to bless her and use her to influence this generation, as it is so very needed.

SiC <3

*Excerpt taken from website

*LoveIs* - 4.8.12

!HE IS RISEN!

Thank You Father!
Thank You Son!

Thank You Holy Spirit!

Thank You for giving me the words to teach.
Thank You for giving Pat the song to sing.

Thank You for making the food tasty to the tongues and filling to the bellies, even though the bottom of the pot burned and made things a little smelly.
May We cling to You and do Your will on Earth, as that is what has been commanded of us.
We thank You, Jesus Christ, for taking upon are sins - are shame - our guilt, so that we might be found pure in the Father's sight. Thank You for leading us Holy Spirit through-out our days, so we can be in accordance with the Father. Ever changing, ever evolving to be less of ourselves and more of You.

In all this we pray in the name of Yeshua, our king-redeemer and friend, AMEN ><>

SiC <3

Guest Post - Good (Morning) Friday by Shaun

Ok, so nope, not a traditional video posting, but when tumbling this AM I came across the below and just felt led to share it. Why? Perhaps the purity of the writing, the honest heartfelt gratitude it conveys for the most important act in the history of EVER! You can follow Shaun on his tumblr or check him out on twitter. 

As posted on my twitter this AM "Without the death & resurrection of Jesus, face it, we'd all be headed straight 4 hell" (because lets face us, none of us could keep up with the OT Laws)


SiC <3 [[Happy Resurrection Celebration Weekend To All]]


Good (morning) Friday.

So, I’m heading off to Switzerland in about half an hour until next Sunday.

don’t get me wrong, I am excited for skiing, however;

I am more overwhelmed by the love of a Father so enamoured with me that He sent his Son to die on a cross so that I might have eternal life.
Jesus didn’t even know me personally, and yet he still hung there and endured the scorn of man. While on that cross, the true weight of sin was placed upon Jesus’ shoulders - not a heavy heart from telling a little white lie, or guilt from a lustful and impure thought, but the culmination of every wrongdoing that ever occurred, and each one yet to come…and not just mine, but yours.

That is the price he paid when he shed his oh so blameless blood, my friends.

If that is not due reason to be humbled and grateful this morning in spite of whatever your circumstances may be,

then I don’t know what is.

We are loved.
We are blessed.
We are His.

Thank you Jesus, for the price you paid for me that day. ♥

WaxNotNeeded - Red Letter Hate

Happy Holy Week Everyone! Might I start off by first flipping the normal script with a prayer …

Dear Heavenly Father,
We come to You with thanksgiving in our hearts, full of joy, humility, humbleness, gratefulness and a host of other emotions as we celebrate (or are in preparation to) the foretold death and glorious resurrection of Your Son, Our Savior, Jesus Christ – Son Of Man, without which we would not be reconciled back to You. We thank you Father for forsaking Your Son, Your Beloved, for the benefit of all of mankind (Your creation) – past, present and future. We thank You Jesus for following through to what the Father commanded, though we know, it could not have been easy, as You were for a time separated from the One which holds all things. Thank You Spirit of God for since the time shortly after of Pentecost You have been present on Earth and in the heart of believers, being a helper, charging us to carry out the Father’s will, equipping, preparing and sustaining us. May we draw close to the Trinity, may we be shown the truth of things to come and be in preparation for what we must all face, both individually and as a family. We ask these things, by shed blood and broken body of the perfect One, Yeshua, ><>

“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:28

“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” John 7:7

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.“John 15:18-25

Perhaps I should start off with a question … When you look around at the world, what do you see? Does it please you? Do you agree with the evolution of mankind, the decent of (well) decency? Well, of course the later is more than just my opinion, as it was foretold to us in the Word of God, but more-so my thought is on what the above verses, what Jesus spoke, touches on.

There was once a time; I do remember in my childhood, that it seemed it was “the cool thing” or rather the acceptable or even normal thing, to be a believer. Bible drill teams had to break off into separate rooms to study, because so many wanted to participate, crowds of children would wear their WWJD bracelets and sing along to DC Talk’s Jesus Freak to the top of their lungs on the way to vacation bible school. However, in my lifetime, I have seen Christianity, or rather belief in the Bible, to become almost a sin (negative action) itself. As a result of this negative view point, we (as believers), have ran from being hated and in turn shut our mouths to the truth (well sharing it at least). Now of course, this does not apply to everyone, but for writings sake I am lumping us all into one big family pot.

This generation strives on acceptance, feeds off of celebrity status, craves to be some ultra-unrealistic idea of perfection (both in image, action and status); all the while, we fail to see we are creating mini-monsters which think it is more valuable to be “16 and pregnant” in hopes of a chance to get on TV, don’t understand the value of an object (with constant upgrades), find their humor from seeing those less fortunate fight to the death for $5 dollars and (literally) huff excrement to get high. Face-Palm!!!

Of course, I understand that all generations have had their ups and downs (with fads and fandom) and I am in no way spotless or pointing a finger (without having more even coming back at me), but the alarming rate of which wrong is now right, and bad is now good is overwhelming and quite off-putting and quite frankly, sad and scary. Of course, as I said above, I KNEW it was going to happen, we all KNEW that mankind was going to go down a downward spiral unlike anything imaginable, and it has been foretold that we have only begun to see the tip of the iceberg, but I can’t help but wonder, if we weren’t afraid to be HATED for the TRUTH, might we be able to help someone (if only just one more) person along the way, to led them to the Lord, so they might be reborn in Christ and henceforth, become a part of the family of believers?

The temporary hatred of this world, in no way compares to spending eternity with the Creator (as Father, Son and Spirit). 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

SiC <3

*LoveIs* - 4.1.12

Words fail to express what went on in Little 5 Points today! Without a doubt the Spirit of God was alive and moving, in – through – on and around folks today as we rejoiced in the Son, who gave His life for ALL sinners, learned about the armor of God, rebuked evil and anointed people in the name of Jesus Christ. Today, we were joined by the wife of the man who started ministering to this location so many years ago. As the weather was DIVINE we had a nice size crowd, and without a doubt, lives will be changed because of the wonderful message that was given today!

I ask, should you be so kind, please pray for Mrs. Maddie May, who is the mother (90 + years old) of a participant in the ministry. Yesterday, a health issue arose and her son is very much concerned for her well being. Otherwise, she is lively – sprite lady, with all wits intact, so many thanks from he and I.  

Likewise, please pray for a young man who a few weeks ago made a very wrong decision and decided act out of anger, and as such, his life now will be changed forever.

I would be remise also, as one man was very distraught, over his young pup, whom it seemed had some sort of medical emergency last night. A few of the travelers keep pets for safety, as well as companionship, so we want them all to be in good health as well.

Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12

Now onto some PHOTOS!!! 

 

 

3 boxes of shells, had a slight cheesie calculation error -
However, the spicy mac & cheese got good reviews :)

 

Is God good?! ALL THE TIME!

SiC <3