The Weeks are Flying by!

Hola! Como estas? :) I hope everyone has had a great week! Also, I watched the Superbowl tonight and I don't know what it is but I normally like rooting for the underdog...too bad it didn't pay off.

Anyway, this week went by very quickly it seemed like. We had about the same amount of kids, preteens, and teens though this was not the case for our clothing and food distribution. My director informed my that we actually had over 60 new people come for food and clothing. I have no doubt that much of this is due to our economic situation. No matter the reason, we accept them and hope that each will come to a deeper knowledge of Christ through our ministry.

This week I focused on Peace with my teens and preteens. I used the story of when Jesus fed the 5,000. Most people would think, "what does that have to do with peace?" Have you ever been to a birthday party where the kids had a chance to break the pinata? Sure, they may want to pound on the thing, but their main motivation is to get the candy. As soon as it breaks, there is absolute CHAOS! :) Children screaming, grabbing, kicking.....OK, there are also adults involved in things of this nature as well. Go to a sporting event, and watch a home run ball fly into the stands and see what happens, or go shopping the day after Thanksgiving....I think you get the point.

God is not the author of confusion! God provided for over 5,000 people through meeting a basic need. Had he not, it could have been absolute chaos. The example I used with each of the groups was based on this idea. I told the teens/preteens that I had a few candy bars but not enough for everybody. I threw them on the table, and they did exactly what I expected them to; they did whatever they had to do to get a candy bar. While I was making the point of peace, I asked them if there was anything peaceful about what happened when I put the candy bars on the table. The obvious answer was no and that began a very good discussion.

One fruit or characteristic that the Holy Spirit produces in the life of a Christian is peace. When we are around other people, can they see peace through our lives or do we create chaos through gossip, back-biting, or whatever else it is that we seem to be very well known for? Do we bring peace to already chaotic situations or does the chaos overtake us?Unfortunately, peace is not something that people often see in the lives of Christians.

When I think about chaos I have seen created by Christians, I think of protesters outside of building or in the streets, who claim to be Christians, but are screaming at the very people that we are commanded to love, people who may never know the love of Christ because the Christians who claim to be passionate followers allowed their passions to turn into hatred when they took Christ out of the picture. That may seem confusing but think about issues such as homosexuality, eating disorders, cutting, abortions, and addictions just to name a few. (Yes, I realize I may catch flack from this but so did Christ as He spoke truth even though it was not popular.)

I have seen so many pictures, video clips, read articles, blogs, heard people and so forth that communicate everything but love towards these types of issues. I will be very clear and say that yes, these are sins, but so is lying, cheating on your spouse, stealing, using the Lord's name in vain, over-eating, etc..... The list goes on and will because we are not perfect.

Looking at the idea of peace, we should definitely be the ones who are peacefully speaking truth without using Truth (the Bible) to mask rage or hatred for the sin in another person's life. We are very quick to point out the flaws of others without looking at ourselves and realizing that we could just as easily be in the same situation. It's only by God's grace that we are who we are. So why not allow the Holy Spirit to produce peace in our lives so that others will come to know the love of our Father?

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-Control. There is NO law against these things!" -Galatians 5:22-23


"....What is important is faith expressing itself in love." -Galatians 5:6