1. 6 Jun



    Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.
    — A.W. Tozer - Pursuit of God
     

  2. 11 Mar



    Unadoptable Orphans - Make Way Partners

    Make Way Partners (MWP) is a non-profit organization “committed to prevent and combat human trafficking and all forms of modern–day slavery by educating and mobilizing the Christian Community.” Their strategy is to prevent human trafficking & modern-day slavery by caring for orphans and widows, who are the targets of such injustice in war-torn countries around the world. They currently are working in Darfur, Sudan, the DR of Congo, Romania and Peru.

    This video will be shown at the Orphan Summit at Saddleback Church in Southern California in April 2012, presented by Christian Alliance for Orphans. Make Way Partners’ focus and mission at the conference is to round up the core of the Christian Church in America to begin to “adopt” the “Unadoptable Orphans.”

    You can find out more information about Make Way Partners at MakeWayPartners.org & KimberlyLSmith.com.

    (Source: stonestreetcreative)

     

  3. 2 Jan



    “new” book :: celebration of discipline

    “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satification is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”

    - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

    As I begin this new book, Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, I am constantly reminded of the call on my life to be humble, contrite in spirit, have integrity, and a healthy fear (reverence, bowing of the head) of God, to walk out the call I have on my life :: to love.

    I began this book when I was 15 years old, but did not know what I was reading really.

    Now, I believe I am ready, and this book is very timely.

    I look forward to the wisdom and life of simplicity that will result from reading this book.

    Any time we read, we ought to be compelled to live simply and honestly. Now go forth.

     

  4. 28 Dec



    Jonah, Matthew, & Jackson Baer - What the Hell?

    Remember that story of Jonah, the guy who gets swallowed by a big fish because he is running from God’s call on his life?  Jonah does something similar when describing his experience in the whale.

    In the Old Testament book of Jonah, chapter 2, Jonah writes, “To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever” (NIV).  I can’t blame the guy.  I know what it’s like to be stuck in traffic for hours, literally, and it feels like forever.  His time in this whale, or big fish, must have felt like forever, like an eternity.  How long was he actually there?

    3 days, not forever.

    Translators didn’t use the proper word, the word that was said or intended.  The YLT says this for the very same verse, “To the cuttings of mountains I have come down, The earth, her bars [are] behind me to the age.  And Thou bringest up from the pit my life, O Jehovah my God.” What he’s saying is that it felt like forever, it felt like an eternity.  Jesus was saying the same thing in Matthew 25.  He’s warning us that there is a real judgment waiting and your punishment is not going to be pleasant, it’s going to feel like an eternity.  This doesn’t lessen the holiness of God as some claim.  What it does do is fit with the character of who God is.  It makes sense.  Some Christians ignore logic and common sense because they think it’s trusting in themselves instead of God.  Don’t forget who gave you that common sense and ability to reason.

    - A quote from Jackson Baer’s book, “What the Hell?”

    In this you find an answer to a question. What is “eternal punishment” through the lens of scripture interpreted with scripture.

    Think, ponder, pray, seek, find. God is a good God, and though He brings grief, He will have mercy. (Lam. 3:31-33)

     

  5. 10 Dec


    (A promotional video I produced earlier this year.)

    Im so stoked to finally being making this long awaited blog post!

    My good friend and fellow artist, Jenna-Clare Allen, has just released her new southern novel, As the Spark Flies Upward! I just purchased it and cant wait to get my hands (and eyes) on it! Jenna-Clare has a unique style of writing that reminds me of Jane Austen. You won’t regret reading it, that’s for sure! Click HERE to purchase to book or learn more about it!

    As the Spark Flies Upward is a novel centered around four generations of a family living on the banks of a river in the Depression-era south. The story follows the lives of Grace Canton Kelley, her sister Athena, and their two best friends as they respond to the turmoil caused by an alcoholic, abusive stepfather and the poverty and dangers that surround their town. Grace, the meek, bookish second-born, grows up in the shadow of her magical, beautiful, yet dangerous elder sister;her timidity and lack of self-confidence are only surpassed by her passion to protect those she loves and the burden of responsibility she feels to hold her family together.

    The book visits the unspoken, unyielding bond of loyalty between siblings, yet highlights the stark contrast between Grace and Athena, shown perhaps most vividly by the way they ultimately deal with the abuse of their mother. Most of all, the book offers a poignant look at the problem of evil and its lasting reverberations within the intertwined fates of a family. As the Spark Flies Upward is a compelling story filled with love, laughter, pain, grief, vengeance, forgiveness, and hope.