Tuesday, February 27, 2018

What if I'm not a religious person?






Jon works as a pastor in Whistler,BC in Canada and in this video he talks about the difference between being religious and having a personal relationship with God.



The Struggle is Real





We all strive to live lives marked by love. We want to bring love and kindness into every interaction we have with people. We long to live The Life of Love, not a life filled with sin, but the struggle is real. We struggle with being patient and kind when people are getting on our nerves. We don’t want to forgive others when they wrong us. We aim to live lives marked by compassion, kindness and discipline but in reality our lives are marked by a bad temper, irritability and meanness.


We will never be perfect, and God does not expect perfection from us. God expects us to aim for righteousness, rather than to come up with excuses when we sin. We receive God’s grace freely every time we choose to own up to our mistakes and turn from our sins, rather than to keep going down the wrong path. 


The good news is that God notices every single attempt we make to turn our lives around, it all counts in God’s eyes. The people around you might not notice any difference in your behavior yet, but God knows how hard you are trying to change. God notices every effort we make and he also notices every time we choose sin. We get away with nothing in front of God. There’s no sin you can commit that God won’t judge you for one day, unless you choose to come to Him and ask for forgiveness in repentance.





The beautiful message of the gospel is that no matter how bad you have messed up in your life it’s never too late to change your course. We can never become too broken or too old for God to be able to do His redeeming work in us. We are also aware that we will never “arrive” in this lifetime. You can’t live a generous life in your thirties and forties, retire at 55 and spend the rest of your life focused on yourself. You will never arrive at a place where you have done enough good deeds and can “check out” of your responsibilities and focus on yourself. The day your mission in this life is finished will be the day you die, the day that God brings you home to heaven. 


I’m greatly encouraged by the fact that every day matters to God. How I choose to live my life today is important to God. God doesn’t need me to graduate university, land the dream job or start my own non-profit for Him to be pleased with me. Every small act of kindness and love matters to God. Big dreams and ambition is good to have but God isn’t hard to please. All God requires from me is that I love Him with all my heart, and that I love on all the people I interact with everyday.


When I aim to live this “life of love” God is pleased with me every single day. God gives me the strength I need to be able to choose love, and when I sin, fail and mess up God’s forgiveness and grace is available for me every time. That’s a free and beautiful way to live! I’m aiming for love, but I’m fully aware that I will end up sinning daily and that God will forgive me every time I do. I’m free to try again, without even a hint of shame or condemnation.




 “A good person’s good life won’t save him when he decides to rebel, and a bad person’s bad life won’t prevent him from repenting of his rebellion. A good person who sins can’t expect to live when he chooses to sin. It’s true that I tell good people, “Live! Be alive!” But if they trust in their good deeds and turn to evil, that good life won’t amount to a hill of beans. They’ll die for their evil life.
“‘On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, “You’ll die for your wicked life,” and he repents of his sin and starts living a righteous and just life—being generous to the down-and-out, restoring what he had stolen, cultivating life-nourishing ways that don’t hurt others—he’ll live. He won’t die. None of his sins will be kept on the books. He’s doing what’s right, living a good life. He’ll live.
 “‘Your people say, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” But it’s the way they’re living that isn’t fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they’ll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he’ll come alive.
(EZEKIEL 33:12-19)

Monday, February 26, 2018

Manhood





The sins of men are something we are far too familiar with, we have experienced it in our own lives. We witness how evil men can be as they commit murder, rape, adultery and wage war. We are terrified when we read stories about sexual assault, the holocaust and other evil acts committed by men. Where does all this evil come from and how can we make it stop?


Pastor Matt Chandler from The Village Church talks about men’s struggle with sin in this sermon. We learn that there are two main groups of sin that men tend to lean towards: selfish aggression and selfish passivity. Selfish aggression would include pornography, domestic abuse, thoughtless criticism and withholding attention or affection when someone fails. Selfish aggression is to use money, power or something else to control others. Mocking or belittling others to exalt oneself. Slandering or harming another person’s reputation to get ahead. Deriving pleasure from watching other people suffer etc.


Selfish passivity is evident in a man’s life when he’d rather engage in fantasy than engage his wife and children, when he complains or makes excuses, when he actively avoids conflict, vulnerability or work. Selfish passivity also includes leaving difficult work to others, refusing to help someone in need, apathy, lack of ambition in matters truly important to God and others, and not being appalled by sexual abuse, child abuse, racism etc.


Matt Chandler explains that all humans are either male or female, but just because someone is born male that doesn’t mean he’s a man. We grow from boys and girls into men and women as we mature and as our character is being formed. Sadly, our world is filled with adult males who are still little boys on the inside, males who never put on the character of a man. Aging happens naturally, maturity doesn’t. In the sermon Matt Chandler gives men advice on what they can do to avoid falling into selfish passivity or selfish aggression in their lives.


We must actively pursue maturity to develop good character. As we mature and grow in character we develop the self-control and discipline we need to be able to turn away from our temptation toward sin and choose love and justice. We choose generosity over greed, faithfulness over being unfaithful, kindness over criticism, humility over hate etc. We learn to say “No” to every twisted desire we have, desires that could lead us toward committing evil acts. We all have these desires and they aren’t going away anytime soon.


The evil stops when we learn to control our minds and not give in to our twisted desires and temptations. Every human being is born with the ability to do both good and evil, acting like we aren’t ever tempted toward evil isn’t helpful. The evil stops when we decide to stop practicing it. It isn’t just other people who are adding more evil to this world. Every year you add evil to this world, and I do too. Let’s pursue maturity so that the people in our lives will greatly benefit from knowing us rather than the opposite being true.



Justice





"Justice" is a felt need in our world today and a controversial topic. But what is justice, exactly, and who gets to define it? In this video, we'll explore the biblical theme of Justice and discover how it's deeply rooted in the story-line of the Bible that leads to Jesus.


Good Good Father






You're a good good father
It's who you are,
And I'm loved by you,
It's who I am.




Thursday, February 22, 2018

Women’s Struggles





The evil we see all around us and hear about on the News daily is a result of the sinful nature of every man and woman who walks this Earth. It’s not the animals that are ruining our planet, it’s the humans. We are aware that all humans struggle with sinful desires like greed, selfishness, meanness etc. Some people take it a step further and commit adultery, murder or other horrific acts of evil. The more we learn about the sinful nature of humans, the more we can understand where it originates from and how we can stop it.


There are some specific types of sins that are more common among men, like selfish aggression and selfish passivity. The two main types of sins that are more common among women are comparison and perfectionism. Comparison and perfectionism then gives birth to gossip, slander, quarrelling, jealousy etc. in women’s lives.


In part 8 of a series called “A Beautiful Design” Pastor Matt Chandler from The Village Church talks about the struggles that are specific to women in our society. This sermon was so good for me to listen to because it convicted me of multiple ways that I tend to be mean toward my own husband and others in my community. Step one to be able to grow is to know your weaknesses. Ladies, if you are interested in personal growth this year, this sermon will give you the push you need.


Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Women





Being a woman is hard. Women often wear many hats, and feel judged or criticized no matter what path they choose to go down. So how can we make sure we are practicing self-care and being kind to ourselves? Psychologist and Care Pastor Dr. Merry Lin gives her best advice to women.


Kathie's Story







Rejection, love and loss. 
Joy and purpose.




Mixed Signals From Men





Ashley Brown from the youtube channel Ashley Empowers gives her best advice on what to do when you are getting mixed signals from men.



Love is in the air






Valentine's Day last week was incredible! My husband and I celebrated 7 years as a couple with a four-course dinner at an Italian restaurant in Toronto. My awesome husband also surprised me with a big bouquet of red roses, macaroons and a "Good Morning Beautiful"-coffee cup as a Valentine's present.

My day got even better when I found out that my brother had proposed to his girlfriend during a walk along the beach on Valentine's Day!!! I cried tears of joy when I got the good news. I look forward to their wedding so much! Love is in the air!



What's My Purpose?


Where do I want to live? What type of career would best fit me? Who should I marry? The better we know ourselves, the easier it becomes to answer life's big questions.


We are all gifted in different areas of life. Living out our purpose will require us to figure out what gifts we have so that we can put them to use. The Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers personality test is one way to better understand your uniqueness and figure out what areas you are gifted in. I took the personality test a few weeks ago to see if there are any areas where I’m gifted that I haven’t thought about. The test reaffirmed a lot of things that I already knew about myself and my personality type. It was also funny to see that so many of the things I’m passionate about aren’t really that “unique” after all, they are very common interests for my personality type.

People with my personality type often become activists or involved in politics. The test also showed me that careers where my personality type is very successful are: Psychology and Counselling, Writing, Teaching, Early Childhood Education, Healthcare, Social work, Law and Religious Leadership. If you are interested in learning more about your own personality type, or want to find out what type of careers you would do well in, you can take the test here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp


Embracing Limitation





Have you ever felt like you don’t fit in? Like you’re an outsider? Learn how to leverage your uniqueness for something greater.


Friday, February 16, 2018

Jeanhee's Story





Jeanhee found her way out of a poverty-stricken childhood and worked her way to becoming a business woman. But tragedy showed her the joy she lacked.


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Changed





I look in the mirror
I see in my face
The pain that I've carried
Is being replaced
There's a brighter future
I see it in my eyes
There used to be darkness
But now there's a fire

And now that I can see
Everything You promised me
You're making a new heart
I'm not who I used to be




Monday, February 12, 2018

The Happy Wives Club





The media rarely displays a happy wife. Turn onto any channel or open any magazine and the portrayal of marriage are heartbreaking. With daunting statistics on divorce and affairs, many have lost hope that they could be once again happily married to the person whom they once said "I do" to!

Join us as we hear from Fawn Weaver, an investor, best- selling author, and happily married wife, about her mission to shine a brighter light on this biblical union and how you truly can become part of her Happy Wives Club!


Your Identity as a Woman





Women are beautiful in a way that is more powerful and unique than the world realizes. Our feminine qualities include strength, beauty, intuition, fidelity, self giving, acceptance, and receptivity. These are qualities that God placed in our natures that empower us women for who we are. We also have four qualities that are completely unique to women, the first one is receptivity. Women have a special way of receiving those they love into their hearts and loving them there. Women are compelled and meant to try to form these deep, loving relationships with others.


The second uniquely feminine quality is generosity. Us women desire to give ourselves freely to everyone we come into contact with. We pour our heart and soul into our relationships with other people. We even go so far as to give up our own bodies for the lives of others, through our unique ability to carry a life within us. This is something only women have been given the ability to do. Through our generosity of our soul and body, others are built up and strengthened, guided towards who they are and are meant to be. 



The third quality is sensitivity, which is often seen as a weakness in our society. However, the sensitivity of us women is what allows us to enter into another person’s perspective in a way that men are unable too. Through our sensitivity we can understand another person’s situation and be their strength. 



The fourth quality extends to all aspects of our being: maternity. Motherhood extends past the relationship of mother and child, motherhood means to protect and safeguard humanity and bring it to its full development. When we put our receptivity, generosity, sensitivity, and maternity to use we are able to strengthen humanity with love and care



This is who we are, Ladies. This is how we were built. However, due to a society that has pushed us down, many of us have lost our identity. We have forgotten who we are and are constantly striving to understand it in all the wrong ways. We have no idea how special we are.


The Minimalist Closet





Sticking to a capsule wardrobe saves time, money and is eco-friendlier than having a lot of clothes. What’s better than that? It’s been a few years since I first adapted a Minimalist Style and I still love this simple lifestyle! I have found the colors and styles that I love and stick to them year after year.

My favorite colors are black, white, navy, grey and pastel blue. I also like to add 2-3 colorful pieces to my wardrobe every season. My favorite bright colors are: pink, purple and mint green. I have found seven different types of clothing that fit my body type very well, so every year I wear different versions of these 7 pieces:

1. Skinny jeans
2. Blazers/short jackets
3. Simple one-colored tops
4. Long knits
5. Long Blouses
6. Knee-long dresses
7. Maxi dresses


February



I'm not a big fan of advertisements or commercials but I have to admit that this time of year they add some nice color to our city and light up in the dark.


Some people like to go skating by City Hall on a cold day in February, I prefer to spend my Saturdays shopping.


I love to spend my freetime outdoors but this time of year I like hanging out at the mall, while the snow/freezing rain is falling outside.


On Saturday I went shopping for a pair of new jeans and a white blouse for Spring.


In February I enjoy trying new healthy recipes like this Green Smoothie Bowl. I bought two new cooking books this month so trying new recipes has become a bit of a hobby this winter.


This time of year the sun goes down around 5:30 PM, I enjoy taking a walk along the lakefront at that time of day.



Macaroons continue to be my favorite treat in February. The colorful macaroons light up my day! This week I look forward to celebrating Valentine's Day on Wednesday. Valentine's Day isn't just a day to celebrate love in general, my husband and I are celebrating 7 years as a couple. Seven years ago, this week, we went for our 2nd Date. Time flies when you're having fun together!


Friday, February 9, 2018

What Does Real Manhood Look Like?





Somewhere along the way, our culture lost its definition of manhood, leaving generations of men and men-to-be confused about their roles, responsibilities, relationships, and the reason God made them men. It’s into this “no-man’s-land” that New York Times bestselling author Mark Batterson declares his mantra for manhood: play the man.


In his new book Play The Man Mark Batterson helps men understand what it means to be a man of God by unveiling seven virtues of manhood. The seven virtues include clear vision, raw passion, true grit and moral courage, to name a few. Mark provides practical truths for immediate application so that men everywhere can be the brothers, husbands, fathers, and leaders God created them to be.


Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Loveology




“Love is at the forefront of the experience of what it means to be human. We can choose to try to figure it out on our own, or we can choose to see how the designer of love intended us to experience all this. Loveology guides us straight into the heart of God, who created this wonderous, powerful experience of love, romance, sex, marriage, masculinity, and femininity.”

Dan Kimball


My husband and I heard “loveology” at the beginning of our relationship, and it changed our entire view on love and dating. It exposed and shattered all the “Hollywood movie” lies that were embedded in our minds and replaced them with God’s original design. Following the Loveology principles gave our relationship a sense of direction, saved us from making a lot of painful mistakes many couples make, and answered a ton of questions.”

Naomi and Isaiah







I didn’t grow up in church, which means my view of relationships was partly formed by culture and partly by my family background. I grew up with two parents who loved each other deeply. My Mom and Dad did an excellent job at showing me what a healthy marriage looks like as I was growing up. My parents are committed to each other and love each other very well. For me, the negative influences came through culture, not from my family.


I watched a lot of Hollywood movies as a teenager which strongly influenced my view of love and marriage. When you consume a lot of TV Shows and movies as a teenager the media becomes much more than entertainment. The TV Shows and movies painted a picture of what love, sex and romance was supposed to look like. I specifically remember watching the movie American Pie at age 14 and thinking to myself “I need to fit myself into that type of lifestyle, that’s how it’s done.” Most of the time we aren’t conscious of how much we are influenced by the media, but psychological research shows that we are strongly influenced by what we watch and consume.


We are all strongly affected by our parents’ relationship and pop culture media, another influencer is porn. I was 10 years old the first time my friends and I watched a porn movie on VHS. You can imagine how much a young person’s view of sexuality is influenced when you start watching porn long before you even hit puberty. I don’t want my own kids and future generations to grow up the way I did, exposed to the same destructive lies and distorted views of sex, romance, love and marriage that formed me.





I got married at 26 and at that point I had around 16 years of negative baggage that I brought into my marriage. The more baggage you bring into your marriage the harder you will need to work to overcome those negative past experiences that have formed you. It’s totally possible to overcome your past, but it takes a lot of hard work. I had multiple, short failed relationships before meeting my husband, and he had a few long-term failed relationships before meeting me. When we met and fell madly in love we didn’t want anything to ruin the love we had found. We decided to educate ourselves about love and marriage because “doing things our own way” had led us both to have failed relationships. The more we learned about God’s beautiful design for love, romance, marriage and sex the more we realized why our own ways had not worked. Let me just say that God’s view of sex, romance and love is very different from what porn, Hollywood movies and culture at large are teaching us.


As a society you could say that we are “bad at love”. Statistics show us that around 50% of marriages fail in our modern society. Second and third marriages have even higher chances of failure. Research also shows that couples who live together before they get married have higher chance of divorce than those who move in together after they get married. Couples who lived together before marriage see a 33% higher rate of divorce than those who waited to live together until after they were married. Most of us are fully aware of these depressing statistics, but then there’s another type of shocking statistic. There’s one group of people where research shows that less than 1% of them end up divorced. Man, I want to be a part of that group!!


Couples who pray together on a regular basis have less than 1% chance of divorce. In other words, not couples who attend church a few times a year, but couples who have an active, thriving relationship with God and who seek God together. Those statistics alone is enough to motivate me to prioritize taking time to pray together with my husband daily. In a society where divorce is very common it’s obvious that “doing whatever you feel like” will not lead to a healthy, thriving marriage. My relationship with my husband is far too important for me to risk messing it up. I want to continue to learn more about God’s beautiful plan for marriage every year, and through that get better at loving my husband every day.




Monday, February 5, 2018

A Beautiful Miracle






After four miscarriages, Jennifer and Chris finally conceived, but their baby wasn't expected to survive multiple birth defects. They refused abortion and prayed for the impossible.



The Blessed Life





God wants each one of us to enjoy this life and live a blessed life. It’s not God’s will for us to spend our whole lives walking around weighed down by fear, worries, anxiety or sorrow. We all want to live “the good life” and God has good things in store for us, but how we go after those things matters. We can’t manipulate our way to a good life. We can’t lie, steal, cheat or demand our way to a good life. Taking what isn’t yours to take come with some really bad consequences.


God has good things in store for our future, but He is waiting for us to do our part before we are ready to receive those blessings. What is God asking you to do this year? Is God asking you to obey him in an area where you have been avoiding obedience to His will? Is God asking you to become more generous with your money or time this year? Is God asking you to start serving others through volunteering? One thing that God is asking of all of us is to look for opportunities to do good to others. It’s easy to live self-centred lives but every single day we have many opportunities to be a blessing to someone else. No matter what God is asking of you, your obedience will need to happen before you will see things fall into place in your own life.


I have a very stubborn personality. I took a personality test the other day that said the following about my personality type: “This personality type is very difficult to lead.” Amen to that! Good luck anyone who tries to get me to do something I don’t want to do! There have been multiple times in my life that God has been very clear about what steps He wanted me to take next, but I still chose to ignore Him and do my own thing. The result of my disobedience to God was that I ended up somewhere I did not want to be.


Trusting God can be very hard sometimes, but I know by now that I’m better off following God’s lead than my own plan. I don’t want to miss out on many of the wonderful blessings that God has for me in this life, so these days I’m more willing to listen and follow God’s lead. It’s not always easy to choose trust over control, but the reward on the other side is so worth it!


Tips For Anyone Engaged!





Watch the Lindsey's as they talk about their engagement. They were engaged on Christmas Day 2009. They have vintage footage from their actual engagement, and they talk about the things they learned during their engagement.


Create Your Own Sunshine





This time of year it's easy to get irritated and moody when the weather continues to be grey, rainy or slushy and you're aware that it will stay the same for another couple of months. Ashley Brown from the Youtube channel Ashley Empowers gives her best advice on how to get out of a funk.


Friday, February 2, 2018

Discovering why God made you





Humans are naturally drawn towards money, power, status, beauty, sex, pleasure and meaningful relationships. We want what we want because we are convinced that when we get that thing it will bring us joy. Sometimes these things bring us joy, other times we end up disappointed. The good news is that there’s one source in this life that will never disappoint us and that is God himself. In God we find the deep joy that our souls crave from the day we are born.

In God we find the peace, meaning, joy and satisfaction that we have spent our whole lives looking for. The good news of the Bible is that God loves every single one of us, and that he has a great plan for our lives. Everything in our lives get new meaning and purpose once we get to know God.

Over time we discover how everything in our lives is working together for our good. God uses both our greatest achievements and our worst mistakes to bring us closer and closer to our destiny. Some of our biggest regrets in life will become exactly what God will use to bring us to where he needs us to be, to a place where our purpose in life becomes crystal clear.