The New Christian Thread

[Cybernaut]

non-denominational shoutout from los angeles!

i just saw this thread and i think it's great.


"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

[brew25]

non-denominational shoutout from los angeles!

i just saw this thread and i think it's great.


"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

Welcome to the thread! God Bless!

[kensterz]

Hello, everyone.

[tom288]

Whats up fellas?

[Blau]

Of Montreal is entrancing music.

Randomness for the night.


Oh, BTW, did you know a New York Times is like $5.50 on Sunday. I was baffled!

[tom288]

Got into a shouting match with a trainee at work today. Cursed. Lost all credibility now. Jesus takes another nail courtesy of me.

All you can do is apologize to the trainee and try to slowly rebuild that relationship, pray for God to help mend it.

On a sidenote, anyone listen to Hillsong or Christ for the Nation Institute? Also, this may sound weird but I really like Barlow Girl too lol, one of my guilty pleasures I guess

[jsewell0203]

BP,

Thanks for the book, very good read...., keeping me company here in 'Nawlins'.

I want to tell everyone that you owe it to yourself to take a week and come to New Orleans. The parish where I am working was once the home of 35,000 families. It was completely destroyed. I am talking about St. Bernards Parish. About 10% of the homes have been renovated in two years. Habitat for Humanity here has plans to build 1500 homes in the next five years, more if they can get the volunteers.

The volunteers build homes but more importantly they do wll the necessary cleanup so the homes that are gutted can be rehabbd and made livable again. Aside from the monumental physical damage here it is obvious that this City has been destroyed emotionally. The Church that we worshipped at Sunday had 250 members and now has about 75. Of those who are here, one brother told me that he basically 'on-faith' told his boss that he was staying here, even after he was warned that they would not be reopening the office and he would have to move. He was blessed for staying, doubly so, but most have relocated permanently.

Those who have tried to stay and rebuild their lives here, because they love this city, face incredible hardships. The City marks homes with a yellow and red X, (involuntary demolition). If you do not appeal within 30 days (most people are not here, do not know their homes are going to be bull-dozed) the City dozes the home and they apply 10% of the cost of the demo and trash removal fees as a lien against the parcel/lot. If the owner does not pay that as well as his/her property taxes within a fixed period of time the property reverts to being owned by the City/State and is sold at auction. If an owner appeals the ruling they have 60 days to get the home cleaned out (trash, mud, water, furniture, etc) or the demo order is carried out. Most people here, elderly, poor have no means to hire anyone to clean out these homes, so they are losing their property and will be permanently displaced.

Aside from all of this their is the emotional destruction that is so painfully obvious. Divorce, Suicide, Crime, Bankruptcy, Mental Illness, Abuse, it is all here in excess and due to the storms for the most part. Peoples lives are ruined and the normal safety nets that hold other communities together are just not here, not fully functional.

As we drove through this City we passed neighborhoods that are gone. Home after home, street after street where nothing remains but destroyed or gutted homes that represent families that if they were lucky, simply relocated to another City.

If you have the ability to come here, if you can spare a week out of your year and 100 bucks (cost of room/bd here at camp for a week) then you will help yourself tremendously, help your faith to come here and serve these people. I can't imagine that America has ever seen a tragedy like this. We are here as a Church Group and many of the volunteers here are from Churches, at least half. We need to add to their number. The plans that Habitat has are all dependent on a steady flow of volunteers coming here for the next five years.

I am up early, getting ready to go out and work today (100 degrees outside today - we will be gutting homes).

It is a great feeling to be here. I think it pleases God very much that we should help eachother. It is another reminder that we are all part fo God's extended family and we 'must' come to the aid of our brothers and sisters when they are in such need. And the need here is as great as I have ever seen it.

God Bless!

[gecko2424]

Got into a shouting match with a trainee at work today. Cursed. Lost all credibility now. Jesus takes another nail courtesy of me.

have you aplogized to the trainee for the way you acted and asked him/her to forgive you for the words you used? Even if you were right?

How a Christian treats their mistakes is what separates us from non-Christians. How you right this wrong is your testimony to your coworkers. Everyone screws up sometime. You can't be sinless forever.

[gecko2424]

Interesting..

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

God working through Paris Hilton? This could be interesting. I'm curious where she'll be in a year.

[ElderJefferson]

God working through Paris Hilton? This could be interesting. I'm curious where she'll be in a year.

A tree shall be known by its fruit.


She wouldn't be the craziest nut God has cracked. Nebuchadnezzar, anybody?

[user5390530-54380-]

I want to tell everyone that you owe it to yourself to take a week and come to New Orleans.

You convinced me! I'll be there next week! Sorry that's the earliest I can make it!

As we drove through this City we passed neighborhoods that are gone. Home after home, street after street where nothing remains but destroyed or gutted homes that represent families that if they were lucky, simply relocated to another City.

Thanks for sharing that -- it will be good to have an inkling of what we will face when we arrive.

If you have the ability to come here, if you can spare a week out of your year and 100 bucks (cost of room/bd here at camp for a week) then you will help yourself tremendously, help your faith to come here and serve these people.

For me the cost is a little more, closer to $150 with registration and staying a bit more in town, I guess.

I can't imagine that America has ever seen a tragedy like this. We are here as a Church Group and many of the volunteers here are from Churches, at least half. We need to add to their number. The plans that Habitat has are all dependent on a steady flow of volunteers coming here for the next five years.

Yep, amazing that so much destruction happened as a result of one storm, well two. I pray it is a wake up call for America to repent of our sins and return to the Lord and live for Him.

It is a great feeling to be here. I think it pleases God very much that we should help eachother. It is another reminder that we are all part fo God's extended family and we 'must' come to the aid of our brothers and sisters when they are in such need. And the need here is as great as I have ever seen it.

God Bless!

Yeah I am really looking forward to going next week and helping those people. Thank you for again helping me realize that it's not about what I'm doing but about what God is doing through me and what He wants to accomplish -- so much MORE than we can ask or imagine!

It will be an awe-inspiring trip, life-changing. It really proves how fragile life is and how great our GOD is that HE protected us from those ravages of storms. I'm sure my dependence on God will grow dramatically as a result.

[brew25]

Interesting..

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

God working through Paris Hilton? This could be interesting. I'm curious where she'll be in a year.

If God begins working through Paris, I will definitely be surprised and captured into watching how he works with and through her. All things are possible through Christ who strengthens me. I hope she'd actually listen to God.

[Blau]

I'm interested in this whole Paris Hilton thing.

I give it a 99.9% that she goes back to where she was. She just enjoys acting like a child far too much. Keep in mind, every celebrity who gets in a pickle pulls the God card. Lindsay Lohan was carrying a Bible in her car, wearing religious stuff, doing all of that when the paparazi were around, doing it over the top so that she'd get seen doing it, and then going out at night and snorting ******* and drinking until she had to be carried home, right after she got out of rehab.

[gecko2424]

I really think Paris has played the dumb card intentionally though. I have no doubt that she really is that materialistic and shallow, but I do think she's smarter than her public personality. She found a way to make money/fame without working and played that game well. It's caught up with her though.

I am glad that they're sticking to the sentence. I have empathy for her as a person, but not for the socialite lifestyle her and others have gotten away with for so long. It's a terrible example to the children of this country.

[Blau]

I agree. She was as dumb as a fox and she played it all the way to the bank.

Yeah she messed up, but she should be glad she didn't get charged with something more intense. I think it's important to stick to your guns with enforcement, especially for people like her, because you have to show that no one is above the law, and you have to set an example. Paris has been a terrible role model for young people in this country for a long time, and her being punished properly is an important step in making sure others know the consequences of their actions ultimately do affect them.

[farmerlee]

Personally i feel this incident is very similar to another incident that happened no too long ago. I forget the ladies name who was involved but basically she was told that if she converted to islam she would be allowed to be released. So naturally she becomes a muslim and get released then not too long after that denounces islam and goes back to her old ways. I'm thinking that Paris will be no different. I hope i'm wrong and that she will stop 'acting dumb' but my gut feeling is she'll be the same old Paris not too long after shes released. The justice system in the U.S definitely leaves a lot to be desired imo.

[jsewell0203]

Well,

The first day that we got to work, it was 99 or 100 degrees depending on your sources, w/90% humidity. I have been a lot of hot places, but this was the hottest day of my life, bar none. We had two guys that were showing signs of heat exhaustion and another girl that had to be taken in an ambulance after she fainted. We are building homes on lots that were cleared because the previous home was so badly damaged it had to be destroyed.

There are a lot of great people here, but the residents of New Orleans are pretty amazing. We have about 40 volunteers working on two houses side by side. We have coolers with water, gatorade, all the tools you could possibly need. We have every resource we could possibly need.

As I am working on the roof, I noticed several of the residents nearby working on their homes. St. Bernards Parish was completely destroyed. Every home was under water, now full of mold damage (humidity here is off the chart) I could see several of them working and accross the street were two women trying to clean out there house with a little baby in tow, sitting in a stroller while they work in some of the hottest most miserable conditions I have every seen. Next door a gentleman was working on his home, obviously alone. So many of the homes have a homeowner struggling to do what they can, without much assistance.

It sort of blew my mind. Working by themselves it will take them months to make a dent in some of the home I walked through, not to mention that you can't work safely in those homes without a respirator, because the mold is so pervasive.

Pray for these people. Organize a group from your Church, from your job, whatever. GET DOWN HERE, THESE PEOPLE NEED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ButteryPancakes]

This is very humbling to read. I will do what I can.

[IntensityX]

Just a quick question are slient prayers just as good as spoken prayers can God hear my thoughts???

[ElderJefferson]

Just a quick question are slient prayers just as good as spoken prayers can God hear my thoughts???

"1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD. " Psalms 139

"27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8

[IntensityX]

"1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD. " Psalms 139

"27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8

Thanks

[PowerBuilder08]

Just a shout-out to all of my lifting brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm in Maine right now for a camp, it's so nice here. God bless all of you.

[IntensityX]

Just a shout-out to all of my lifting brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm in Maine right now for a camp, it's so nice here. God bless all of you.

Sup Adog

Just a small rant ever since I've found Christ I'm trying not to get angry but it's hard.I was working in my department today as usual.I break down the boxes that the freight comes in and put them into a shopping cart to be taken to the back room for the bailer.Well I had a good amount of broken down boxes in there so anyway I put the cart in my usual place that I keep it when I'm either done with one of my sections or I go on break so I went on break came back ready to put out more freight then I saw my cart is gone and my boxes on the floor knowing full well that a customer did it.At this point I'm standing there grabbing my broken down boxes trying not to get angry well I eventually didn't curse in my head but man oh man was it hard.

Sometimes people can be so inconsiderate and rude and it's hard especially for a Christian not to get angry or upset I just wish people would show a little bit more consideration and compassion to others but especially people in this town where there is a high amount of really mean,inconsiderate,rude and compassionless people.It's like swimming in a sea of sharks.

Oh well on a brighter note I'm home now ready to relax

[ButteryPancakes]

Matthew 6
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

These two verses have guided me in my work since the first day I believed in Christ. No matter how rudely or thoughtlessly you are treated, choose to forgive immediately, truly, and from your heart in full view of God's eyes and be amazed at how the anger dissolves into peace and joy and people start saying "Man, nothing gets to him"

[PowerBuilder08]

^^^True advice there.

We all make mistakes sometimes IX, the biggest thing is going to be to not get down on yourself when you do. Ask for forgiveness, move on, and remember.

[IntensityX]

Matthew 6
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

These two verses have guided me in my work since the first day I believed in Christ. No matter how rudely or thoughtlessly you are treated, choose to forgive immediately, truly, and from your heart in full view of God's eyes and be amazed at how the anger dissolves into peace and joy and people start saying "Man, nothing gets to him"

^^^True advice there.

We all make mistakes sometimes IX, the biggest thing is going to be to not get down on yourself when you do. Ask for forgiveness, move on, and remember.

Thanks guys

[jsewell0203]

Today is Friday and we are headed out to work on some more 'home-builds'. So far we have only worked on building new homes, not gutting homes, as most of that work has already been done in the past two years. There is more to be done I am sure, but H4H is focused on getting people into homes now for the most part.

We have a lot of volunteers here from all over the country. Wolrd Changers is here, they are part of the Southern Baptists Convention (I think that is right). We of course are here with Hope Worldwide and most of our volunteers are from Churches of Christ all over the country. We have brothers and sisters here from;

Columbia, SC
Charleston, SC
Charlotte, NC
Bronx, NY
Dallas, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Lubbock, TX
Riverside, CA

We had an awesome service Wednesday night. We sang several songs and it was beautiful, really encouraging. I have to tell you that I was asked to pray for our gathering and about halfway through I had to stop and get myself together emotionally. It is very hard seeing these people suffer the way they are, have. Everything within you cries out that this is just wrong, that people shouldn't have to go through this. We had a beautiful service, many folks heard the singing and came to join us. It was interesting because you don't know who is a Christian and then we started to sing and it was awesome because people just started coming. The scripture that was shared was very powerful. We have to leave right now,

It is the one where Jesus says;

When you gave me water to drink, when you gave me clothing to wear, when you visited me in prison... Sorry for the very poor paraphrase. Maybe someone else can find it. Have to go.

God Bless you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ElderJefferson]

Just a small rant ever since I've found Christ I'm trying not to get angry but it's hard.

"26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27Neither give place to the devil." Eph 4

Nothing wrong with anger; it's how you respond to it that matters. Christ has the power to give you the control on your anger, as opposed to it being the other way around.

[gecko2424]

^^^^^ exactly what I was going to say.


Anger is natural, just don't let it turn in to hate or hateful

[JC-orginalbdass]

Just a shout-out to all of my lifting brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm in Maine right now for a camp, it's so nice here. God bless all of you.

Where in Maine? That's were I live. Come to my church this Sunday!