Church Notes | Joy in Hope

This is a drawing of my new friend Heather, she is pretty cool. The specifics of the drawing belong to her, but the over-arching theme of the drawing and sermon is one of hope, and the joy we find in it. "Find" being the operative word here.

Too often we mistake times of silence and stillness for seasons of darkness. That isn't always the case, maybe even never the case. I would even argue that in most cases the stillness only becomes "dark" when we neglect to seek out God and remind ourselves of his promises. If we took the time to remind ourselves of who He is and His promises the darkness wont come. Darkness, what ever it's form, is always held at bay with light.

Church Notes | Thursday's

This post finds itself in a very interesting place.

Last week the study at church was out of Malachi, and was about this concept of, "Thursdays". "Thursday" being a name for the regular days. The times that are not random, that are neither high nor low. Your routine.

If you frequent my blog you know that when I take notes in church part of my note-taking is drawing. For sometime now I have been praying during, and in some cases even before the sermon for the Lord to give me some imagery that will speak to me or others, and hopefully something that will reflect the message.

Last week the image I got was a man walking down a dark path protecting his "flame". With that image was the question, "Do you guard your flame when you should be stoking it?" That was very stirring at the time, and extremely convicting now. Convicting because If I would have set 30 minutes aside earlier this week to do what I am doing now my week would have been so much more effective and brighter. Essentially if I would have listen to what the Lord said to me and showed me then I would have realized that in this season of "Thursdays" I had only been protecting my "flame" and not stoking it. It's heat and light had grown dim leaving it vulnerable to gusts of wind.

I share this as a reminder for myself, and hopefully others, of the importance of faithfulness in our routines. In this of "Tuesday's", "Wednesday's", and "Thursday's" I have grown quite lax. This image of a man needing to stoke his flame was directly for me and I was too lazy to do anything about it! And I KNEW IT but I STILL didn't do anything about it! A fire can not live when there is nothing to fuel it. Forest fires do not need to be shielded from wind and rain. Lord let me heart not be the light a single Candle, but mingle it with Yours, the men and women who went before me, and those who walk along side me now. May we be a raging fire for You. We are young and we WILL set this world on fire for You!