How Can We Be Silent?

 We live in a day and age were we are told to shut up when it comes to what we believe. We are told that we might “disturb” people or make them feel “uncomfortable”. And what do most Christians do? Most listen to them. Which is wrong. When we have Christ in us we should be shouting him praises from the roof tops! We shouldn’t be ashamed of the fire that is inside of us! If we have been saved from death and been rescued by Jesus’ death on the cross we should be proud of it. The only thing we are to boast in is the cross. I want to share some song lyrics with you that I love on this topic.

 “Tell me who’d have thought that we would be so controversial
And stand against the normal
Are we too outspoken, loud, and messing up the comfortable?
Well we’ve been messed up also
But how can we be silent
When a fire burns inside us?”

-Barlowgirl, Million voices

“What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak? What will people do when they find out it’s true? I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak, there ain’t no denying the truth.” -DC Talk, Jesus Freak

Stand up, stand up, for what you believe in. Believe in God, he’s the one to back up. He’ll stand with you, He’ll stand with you. – Rad, Shac, and Benny, Veggie tales

“If we don’t speak, who will?
If we don’t fight, we’re still
Stuck without a voice and we are tired of being silenced
Look out you will find out
That here I am so far from then so
I take my chances
I don’t live for you
I’ll say what I have to
I don’t care I don’t care
Fears are what I lose
We are set apart
We’ve been chosen now
We are children of God
So what holds us back
What’s holding us back” _Barlowgirl, Take My Chances

“Jesus, Jesus how Your name offends us
Why are we so scared to tell this world You’ve saved us
When all of the hope of the world’s in Your name
Why are we so scared to say
Oh Jesus” Barlowgirl, Keep Quiet

“They tell us to shut up, they tell us to fall sleep, so we listen to them, we don’t even make a peep. I’m tired of staying silent, I am tired of being asleep, we are become part of this world nothing sets us apart from the rest.   Wake up wake up stand up for what you believe, you so called children of the king do something. We have forgotten how to fight, forgotten how to breath.” _Olivia, Wake Up

“Shout it from the roof tops give it all I got. Shout it from the roof tops so you can take your best shot.” Tobymac, Yours

I’m not ashamed to let you know I want this light in me to show. I’m not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ. What are we sneaking around for? Who we trying to please? Shrugging off sin, apologizing like we’re spreading some kind of disease. I’m saying “NO WAY. NO WAY.” _ Newsboys, I’m Not Ashamed

I know that was a lot, but there are so many songs that I love on this topic. This is a very serious topic. Jesus said that if we deny him he will also deny us. (Matthew 10:33) I hope this gave some of you encouragement! If anybody has anything to add to this, feel free!

In Christ, Olivia <><

8 Reasons Why People Don’t Share Their Faith

I love this video!!!!! I found it through the Rebelution video channel on YouTube. I hope you enjoy.

What are the reasons that you don’t share your faith? Are they reasons on here, or do you have some other reasons? Please share them with me! Just to review these are the reasons (also for Erik):

8)Might get beat-up, 7)Wont make sense, 6)Might be made fun of, 5)Wont know how to start, 4)I’ll be a bad witness, 3)I’ll say the wrong thing(Remember, as the Buddha, he was the holy cow, who ate the golden tablets…Wait! That’s not right!), 2)They will think I am a religious nut, 1)I don’t know enough.

I Also recommend going to my friend Erik’s blog and reading his series on evangelism. (http://www.ecbrownblog.com/evangelism-series/) It is very good. Also, the whole series came out of a request I had for him. So that is sweet. I can’t wait to hear back from all of you.

In Christ,

~~~Nobody~~~

Sam Finally Has A Blog!

 Ok, those who don’t know who Sam is, he is my older brother. He is a totally awesome guy and one of my closest friends (thought I have barely seen him this summer). I am so excited to be able to read his thoughts! He might even have some of his poetry and song lyrics (if he can find a way to copyright them) on the blog. So please check it out and comment. He just got it started and could use some people to read it. In the words of Trey Edwards, “What good is a blog if no one reads it?” So check it out here: www.speakwords.wordpress.com.

In Christ, Olivia <><

CAMP WAS A BLAST!!!!

 OK, before I start talking about camp I want to say how sorry I am for the virus!!!!!! I totally started freaking out when I heard about it, and as Trey said, I was out of town so I had no clue anything was going on. It frustrates me how people can get joy out of doing random evil to people. Thanks AGAIN to Trey for stopping it and all that. And to Trey’s brother (I am not sure which one it was, he has 4), thanks for finding it. Again I am so sorry and I hope it didn’t affect anyone. The good part about this happening when I was gone is the fact that my computer doesn’t have good protection against viruses (at least I don’t think it is very good, I am not very familiar with software and stuff) and it could have damaged my computer that we just got over a year ago. Ok, anyway, what’s done is done.

 Well, camp was a blast. It started out with being able to share the gospel (my dad and me) with the girl that was riding to camp with us. Then I got to camp and found out that a friend of mine was a Jr. counselor (sort of, she is 17 and more of just extra staff), but it was really fun to talk to her since I don’t see her much. I got to hang out with all my old friends and meet new ones.

 Chapel was great. It was a lot of the same stuff as last year (I actually had the exact same notes from one of the sessions) but it was still really good. Dan Hubbard is just a great, hilarious guy! 

 As you can imagine with Jr. High girls, there was a good deal of crying. I got a really cool opportunity to comfort some of my friends. To hug them and promise to pray for them was really cool. The funny part was that I didn’t cry during chapel or when I was praying, but rather when I was hugging the other girls that were crying. Also the last night we worshiped for about an hour and when we were singing slow songs and a bunch of girls were raising their hands in praise to their saviour and God, the presence of God was so strong and overwhelming. God was truly there! It was amazing! I did start crying. It was just so wonderful.

 I just really hope these changes last. He told the girls to take a stand for Jesus and most of them decided to. There were also girls there that accepted Jesus as their Savior. Pray that it was a true heart thing and it will be truly something that will change their lives and hearts. The girl that we had shared the gospel with accepted Christ. I hope that they wont go back to her broken homes and decide that Jesus is not enough and that he can’t mend their hearts.

 Well, if you guys have any other questions about how my week went, feel free to ask. I don’t want this to get too long so I am not posting every detail.  Oh, one thing that was awesome was the skit! We did this skit about Esther when she was in the harem and all the girls were doing the beauty treatments and had to decide what they were going to wear before the king. It was great!

In Christ,

Olivia

The Wonder Of The Bible

Most of us that have grown up in Christian homes have always been told that the Bible is “God’s letter to us” and “A priceless Treasure”, but how many of our youth today actually believe that? We would much rather read Harry Potter (which I do NOT read) than the book that is breathed out by the creator of the universe! People have died just to be able to get Bibles to people. That is how valuable it is! Yet we have 3 copies at least of the Bible and the only time we open them is at Church or youth-group.

 The Bible also talks about how valuable it is. The longest Chapter in Psalms, which is 119, is all about how amazing the commandments and the word of God is. Most of us have learned verses 9-11 (for sure 11) which is, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.” and 105, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path”. But do we really believe them?

 2 Timothy 3:15-17 talks about how scripture is breathed out by God. Shouldn’t that make it the best thing is the world? It does. Yet we still don’t take it seriously. We just brush it off and just say that we don’t have time to read the Bible or the common phrase, “it’s just SO boring!” or “it’s hard to read”. Yet if we are truly seeking Christ we need to seek out time with him. If I want to be close with my friends I have to spend time with them, it isn’t any different with God.

 So this week I challenge you all (that are not doing so already) to read your Bible EVERY day. This has made the biggest impact on my life! I have learned so much and I can’t tell you how much my relationship with Christ has grown in the last year that I have read my Bible everyday! I have learned so much and it refreshes me. There have been days that the passage that I am reading has to do with something I have been thinking about or something someone had asked me about and it is such a blessing. If you want suggestion on what to read post a comment or email me. Let me know if you do this challenge then tell me how it went and what you learned. Also, for those of you that read the Bible daily already, tell us how it has impacted you.

In Christ, Olivia <><

Virus

Hi, my name is Trey Edwards, from Youth Of Eternity.  Olivia is out of town right now, so that is why I am posting.  A few minutes ago, I opened this blog to be presented with a Spyware ad.  Somehow, her account had been hacked, and someone had planted a virus on her blog.  If you have viewed this blog yesterday or today (7-21,22-2008),  I suggest you run a virus scanner on your computer, just to be safe.  The virus is gone, as far as I know, and I have taken steps to ensure that it does not come back.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Prayer

Just some notes I took on prayer. Feel free to add your own. Hope you enjoy!

THINGS TO PRAY FOR:

• For God to forgive you. (1 John 1:9)
• That you wont fall into temptation. (Matthew 6:13, 26:41)
• That our basic NEEDS are met. (Matt. 6:11)
• That we will be able to forgive. (Matt. 6:12)
• That God’s will will be done. (Matt. 6:10, 27:39b)
• For wisdom. (James 1:5)
• People who wrong you. (Matt. 5:44, Luke 6:28)

WHEN TO PRAY

• Continuously (I Thessalonians 5:17)
• In all circumstances (James 5:13-15)

HOW TO PRAY

• Humbly (Matt. 6:5-7)
• Not babbling (Matt. 6:5-7)
• Believing with faith
• Praising God (All of Psalms)

I hope my little notes on prayer are a blessing to you guys! Feel free to add your own notes and points.

1,000 views!!!!!

YAY!!!! I have 1,007 views. This is awesome! Thanks you much for all of you regulars, and those who have just dropped by once of twice. Thanks again!

In Christ, Nobody

Can We “Figure out” God?

It is totally mind blowing and earth shaking how holy and glorious God is. Perfect, pure, without ANY sin, the maker of the entire universe, yet care enough about us to send his song to die, it is beyond human minds to comprehend. Sadly though, we live a time where people fail to see how holy God is. They think of God as this big guy that sits in the clouds and tells us what to do. Or maybe people just associate God with “good feelings” and think that he is sort of flaky. Most people make one of the wort assumptions ever; that God is “simple”. Most people think they have God totally figured out.  Even more so Christians.

 We have heard the Bible stories. We know that God is good, loving, he hates sin, he is our comforter, he sent his son to die for us, he does amazing things, yada, yada, yada. But how well do we truly know God? Our small, simple, finite minds can’t even begin to comprehend a God so amazing, so awe inspiring. And a lot of people don’t even try to. They make a huge mistake.

 When we seek to know God and to understand him, we are truly blown away. No one that truly understands God can not just want to worship and fall down at his feet in adoration. When we went to Montana I was blown away by seeing the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Looking at God’s creation and knowing that he is bigger than all of this, blew me away. I tried to capture my feelings in a song, but there really wasn’t a way to do that. It was just so beyond me. Especially being on top on a mountain, just looking out over miles and miles and miles of land. Seeing all these other mountains around me… it was amazing!

 A great song on this subject is What Do I know Of Holy, by Addison Road. It is a wonderful pop-hymn about the holiness and glory of God. I wrote down my thoughts on this song and I will share them with anyone who wants them. Really take some time to explore God’s amazingness and holiness. It will bring us to our knees.

In Christ, who is glorious and praiseworthy,

Olivia

National Day For Justice

 I just remembered that today is the National Day For Justice. So I wanted you to take a few minutes to pray for justice, and those who are fighting for justice. Zach Hunter (who I mentioned in my post on slavery), and all the people fighting to end slavery in particular. Funny, I was just working on some things for my church’s campaign to end slavery. I just sent some stuff for the person who is doing the bulletin insert for me. Ironic hu? So I am going to go upstairs and work on a few things for my current fight for justice. I think that is a good way to spend the rest of Justice day. Ooo, I got to order cups! I almost forgot! Well I have to go! Take a look at my post on slavery, entitled “Slavery”.

In Christ,

~~~Olivia~~~