The Hand of God

Do you ever pray that the Lord would make it clear how you are to use the gifts He's given you to help in Kingdom work? When He laid the Pregnancy Care Center on my heart several months ago, it wasn't clear to me how I could help them. But the idea of the Benefit Concert came along and that was a fun and fulfilling way to offer help. Next, I had the idea to make a video for the song I had written specifically for that event. Now it is complete, and I'm making both it, and the mp3 of the song available for purchase, as another fundraising effort for the PCC.

Please contact me at therhynosmusic@gmail.com if you are interested in details about purchasing the DVD of this video, including some DVD extras.

Or, go to my nimbit player (above) and purchase the mp3. ALL PROCEEDS from downloads and DVD sales will benefit the PCC.

If you would like to purchase DVD lots for baby gifts, your church or your own PCC, contact me at therhynosmusic@gmail.com to make arrangements. Proceeds from bulk orders can be designated to your own local Care Net Pregnancy Care Center by arrangement.

Why the Pregnancy Care Center?

I am playing a Benefit Concert this Friday night for the Pregnancy Care Center, and I want to share more of my heart on that. I've been asked several times why we chose to do a benefit concert for the PCC.

I am blessed - blessed to have come to know and follow the Lord; blessed to have a husband who loves me; blessed with three precious children. I have the privilege of speaking, teaching and singing about those blessings, which are a gift from God. With those blessings and the knowledge of the Word, I have the honor and responsibility to make known the Truth of Christ, and the hope I've found in Him. My responsibility begins in my home, where I must speak of the Lord, teach His heart and His Word, discipline in love, intercede like a warrior and guide my children to Him.

Beyond that, I must love the people the Lord brings into my life, and share the Truth. I must also respond to what He places in my heart for ministries to support. Why support the Pregnancy Care Center?

The PCC ministers hope to those who have lost hope. They share Christ, who came to bind up the broken-hearted and set the captives free. They provide Godly counsel, and heart-healing comfort. To those who have yet to decide how to handle an un-planned pregnancy, they offer valuable encouragement to choose life. To those who have already made the decision to abort their babies, they offer Christ, not judgement.

When you hear the staggering statistics of abortions in the US, it is easy to focus on the thousands of babies lost, and forget the thousands of hurting women who are also attached to those statistics. As a teen, I did not know Christ. With the choices I made, I very easily could have been one of those statistics. Now, as a follower of Christ, and one who has been forgiven much, I cannot sit in judgement of women who have felt the need to make that choice. Instead I must offer the hope of Christ, whose own blood was shed to offer life, wholeness and healing.

My heart is to support ministries that provide hope and healing through the love and the Truth of Christ.

If you are in Aroostook County or near the NB/ME border, please come out this Friday night to prayerfully and financially support this valuable ministry.

Music for Life and Hope
Caribou Performing Arts Center
308 Sweden St.
Caribou, Maine
7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30)

Tickets are $8.00, and there will be an opportunity to prayerfully make a further donation to the PCC.

Home

One of my dearest friends asked me yesterday, "So how do you know when you're home?"

She was referring, in part, to a life submitted to Christ's call; Will it always be a life of uncertainty about how long you will live in a certain place, or will the Lord ever bless us with an awareness of finally home?

Many of us know that a life given to the ministry of the Gospel is often full of changes of address. I don't believe, however, that it is always only "credentialed" ministers who give their lives and addressed to Christ. As someone whose family is surrendered to the ministry of the Gospel, my friend's question is one I have considered before many times. In considering it afresh yesterday, I will remain firm in the answer I gave to her:

I think a life of finally home looks like total engagement now with the people you are given to love now. The Lord may choose to move you again to a new people, but you will always know you are home if you wholeheartedly invest in those you are given to minister to and with now.

And with that, I want to praise my Father, who has given me so many finally home years and places and people. Our stories are forever connected, whether we are home together now or not.

On Life and Calling (pt.2)

So, the word "calling" is one of those North American Christian terms, I think... It's one of those words we throw around assuming everyone else uses the same thesaurus.

To clarify, for these posts, I am using the word "calling" to describe the overall thing(s) the Lord has planned for each of us to do in the advancement of His Kingdom. All of us are created with purpose. The purpose is clarified through the way the Lord has made us with gifts, abilities and desires. As we submit our lives to the Master Potter, He refines both us and our perception of that purpose, and presents us with opportunities to follow Him in His plan.

Now, "calling" doesn't simply refer to career choices, nor does it only refer to those called to full-time ministry; Rather, I think, it refers to what each of us do with life at every turn to obey the Scriptures and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and live out the Great Commission. Therefore, it is not just the Minister who has a calling - it is the child of God who has a calling. Some will be called to full-time service in the Church, but all will be called to full-time service in LIFE.

I think the key to discovering the abundant fulfillment that comes from pursuing your calling is realizing that your calling is not primarily about fulfilling YOU or perfecting your gifts. It is about humbly using your talents and vocational opportunities to serve, with a heart that is motivated to see lives turned to Christ. It is also about following the Lord when He leads you down paths that may be more difficult than personally satisfying.

Therefore, whether I am a grocer, a postal worker, a teacher, a nurse or a pastor, my career becomes a part of pursuing my calling - which is to seek the lost, love and serve people and spread the Truth of Christ.

On Life and Calling

Had a great breakfast date today with friends, Angela, Greg and Nicol. We got on to the topic of "calling".

For the last few years, Scott and I have been prayerful that the Lord will continually reveal to us what He's calling us to; That He'll be consistently clear what work He has for us to do in the advancement of His Kingdom. We have prayed that He will keep us ever mindful of His plan, and that He would help us to humbly follow Him wherever He will take us. Here are some things we have discovered:

- Sometimes the Lord calls by placing an undeniable compulsion within our hearts...a knowing and a need to pursue something.
- Sometimes God affirms this compulsion through other people who are prayerful, trustworthy and discerning.
- Sometimes God uses life circumstances to point in the direction He intends for us to go.
- Usually He is gracious to use a combination of these things...
- Sometimes the calling is not so clear.

- Sometimes His call is accompanied with an idea of what is to come.
- Sometimes God calls us to go without showing us the next step until much later.

- God seems to always prepare us for the next step before He reveals it to us.
- God creates us with the gifts, abilities and experiences designed to work at fulfilling His call.
- God's calling on our lives can NEVER be fulfilled with our gifts and abilities alone...We are to partner with His Spirit and His people, as He intertwines our lives and plans.

Pursuing a call of God is SO VERY different than pursuing a typical career. Decisions are not made based on worldly systems (likes/dislikes, comfort, status, climbed ladders, even living close to family). Decisions are made on knees, amidst tears and rumpled gilded pages, and they often fly in the face of convention. It is not without sacrifice. It is also not without immeasurable reward.

So...what is your God's call on your life. How have you discovered it? Are you willing to pursue it?

Expect the unexpected

I have found that, because I know that our great God is the same yesterday, today and forever, I often expect Him to act the same as He did last time. Then He reminds me that in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty, His responses will always blow me away.

Check it out

Something Beautiful is now available on iTunes.

And if you're interested, a radio interview I did today broadcasts tomorrow on citafm.com, ciogfm.com and cjlufm.com at 1:00pm and 5:35pm (Atlantic Standard Time).