Charity Water's September Campaign

Do you have a birthday, an anniversery, a baby shower, a housewarming party, some event where people will be bringing you gifts and presents? Well the people at Charity Water are inviting people to join in their "Born in September" campaign, but this year they are uping the ante and are including any event in September. Is God calling you to be a light to your circle of friends by challenging them to sacrificially give with you this September?

a tribute to Emma McCune

Emmanuel Jal performs his song about Emma McCune, who was the aid worker in Sudan who rescued him. She has an inspiring story which goes to show that one person can make a difference. Go out a touch someone's life today in love!

If you are interested in hearing Emmanuel Jal tell his amazing story go here.

Creative LOVE

Doesn't watching this video touch something within you that makes you want to go out and be creative? This video really captures the essence of what the flow of creativity must look like within every single person. We are all made in the image of God, so we all have the capacity to bubble and flow with creativity. But becuase of sin, we all also have this internal editor that is afraid to be known. To be creative means revealing who you are on the inside. It means allowing others to peer into your heart and soul. It means sharing a little bit of yourself with the world.

God shared His heart with us when He created us in His image. But, He also shared His heart with us when He gave the world His one and only Son (John 3:16). Jesus is the only One who sets people free into the Kingdom of God where we are unleashed to be all who God created each of us to be; where people experience the uncondtional love of God. Without Jesus, perfect and unconditional love will always be beyond our grasp. I believe the greatest evidence of the grace and love of God is when people are fully known and fully loved.

I love this quote from Vincent Van Gogh who said: "The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." So, ask God to set you free into the love of Christ who unleashes us into the creative unconditional love of God. And then go love someone creatively today!

Connecting

If you have ever spent anytime in a big city, then you have seen and possibly enjoyed or been annoyed by a street performer. Now, if you're like me, my natural inclination is to typically ignore them and walk on by. Sometimes I may stop for a second to watch and then quickly move on. Now, there are those rare occasions where I actually pause long enough to reach into my pocket in order to bless their talents with some money. But at no time does it really ever cross my mind to actually walk up to them in order to talk and get to know them. This is why I really love these videos because they give voice to a person who is usually voiceless.

No longer is this street performer just a nameless face, but he becomes Salvador Medrano, a Guatemalan who has a passion for performing because he knows that people enjoy hearing him. And Pablo Cesar Pereira, a Brazilian with an eclectic past who loves connecting with people. Everyone has a story and the more that I grow in loving people, the more that I've come to realize that loving people well means allowing them to tell their story. It means making room for them in my life where their story can intersect with my story and ultimately with God's story. It also means making room for them in my heart where they may experience the love of God that resides within me through Jesus in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

God is definitely stretching me these days by continually reminding me that it's not about me. The Holy Spirit is pressing me to truly give myself over to the Father's will by allowing Jesus to live His life through me. God is asking me to make myself more available to Him, so that He can love people with wild abandon through me. The more I live, move and have my being in God (Acts 17:28), the more I realize that I have a lot to learn about unconditional love. So, this is my prayer for me and for you: "that the Holy Spirit would help us to see the world more and more with Jesus' eyes and to love people more and more with the Father's heart. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Just a really cute video