Love and Tupac?

Remember that time when I had this blog where I used to write really cool posts about Jesus n' stuff and then for some reason stopped writing because [insert really good excuse here]. I know I know, it's been forever since I've written anything on this bloggity of mine but since the world didn't end this year I decided to redeem myself by writing again starting the new year! Well, it's a day after but who cares. I'm actually really excited to start writing again because the Lord has been showing so much and life has brought so many changes and surprises these past two years. For instance, lately I've been thinking of becoming a rapper. Like Tupac but for Jesus. I kid internet. There will be no thug life for me but perhaps instead of a rapper I can be a poet, which is kind of the same right? Ok, it's not the same but I think Shakespeare totally had the potential of becoming an MC. Anyways, this is totally not at all what I planned this blog post to be. Let's just say I've been jotting down a lot of the things the Lord has been showing me and lately I've just been writing them in poems. And one of the things he's been teaching me is love. Something completely complicated yet simple and beautiful all at the same time.  Our concept in regards to love can become so easily distorted with how the world defines it in comparison to the way scripture defines it. One is simply a false imitation of the real deal and the other is a sacrificial act that challenges us to become like Jesus. And honestly, the second one sounds better. 


Teach me to understand love
Apart from feelings or tangible emotions
Apart from my own understanding or blurry notions
Not the kind of love that is portrayed on the screen
But the kind that hung on a tree to set the captives free
The kind that bled and died for me
Because in reality, love is simply more than male and female attraction.
In fact, that's not even a fraction of what it truly is but simply a distraction from the truth
It's "Even if you don't love me I sill choose to love you."
It is far beyond us
Far than what we can ever express
Even if we try we can't even begin to scratch it's surface
But one thing I do know and this I know clearly
And that is that love came down so that I could have life eternally
Love put himself last so that we could be first
Love sacrificed Himself for a sinful us
Love? Love is defined by a man named Jesus.


Take THAT tupac!!!!

It's time to answer the question....

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

 ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

   ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

 ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Mathew 16:13-16

The religious leaders of Jesus' time believed he was nothing more than a blasphemous mad man who crazy talked his way through life. 

Others believed he was God incarnated who died a gruesome death to offer a perishing humanity eternal life. 

C.S. Lewis observed, "You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to" (Mere Christianity 

2,000 years later, who do you say He is?

Life with a cold...

I've been sick with a cold these past two days and the horror that comes from throat soreness and germ infestation has left me quarantine. And to be quite honest I haven't been feeling inspired to write anything that's, I dunno, inspiring. So to those five people who read my blog, I'm sorry. The only thing I want right now is a healthy immune system, something other than herbal tea and a shower. According to my mother, showering when you have the flu is bad because it makes it worse. She's a mom, so she must know what she's talking about. Oh, and the putting Vicks vapor rub inside the nostrils trick really must open up the nasal cavity. As long as my nostrils have a clear pathway to oxygen, I'm not complaining. However, I do have to say that my scalp being oily is sooo not attractive. Dear Jesus I need some HEALIN' up in hea'!!!!  For the next couple of days my best friends will consist of tissues, a pillow, and like ten naps a day. I really wish I could write some super cool, spiritual posts that make you wanna go end world hunger, or something like that. Instead I'll be in bed fighting off this preposterous disease. I'm completely exaggerating, I know. It's all for good story. haha!

So carry around some hand sanitizer, eat some chicken soup, and don't walk around the house barefoot, because my mother told me that cold feet can give you the flu. Duh!

Happy flu-less Tuesday! :)

The things we don't talk about....

"We just don't talk about that in Sunday school" he said, with his hands folded on his knees. With an awkward and uncomfortable demeanor this church leader made it very clear that talking about sex in Sunday school was a topic too risky and controversial to cover. [Insert my squinted eye and lifted eyebrow in total confusion here.] I wanted to fling both arms in the air in total drama queen status and ask DUDE ARE YOU CRAZYYYY!?!? WHY DON'T WE JUST STOP PREACHING THE BIBLE ALL TOGETHER WHILE WE'RE AT IT!?! But before I could hand someone over my earnings and ask my mom for a hair tie I managed to sit there and listen to his argument, even though it was making me twitch.  A church leader and I sat in my living room a while back and he politely discussed his concern about the topic I had chosen to go over in Sunday school that previous weekend. As he happened to walk in on the lesson that morning I just so happened to be talking about this very subject. His concerns about the matter were raised and therefore decided to bring those concerns to my attention by letting me know Sunday school was not the appropriate place or time to talk about the sanctification of biological procreation.  If you don't speak nerd and wanna put it in lamens terms it's baby makin'. There. My class is made up of middle school students who attend public schools with pregnant thirteen year old girls and homosexual and lesbian affiliated clubs.  And this is just middle school!! I still fail to understand how talking about a bible based subject to hormonal driven teenagers is inappropriate. I am in no way condemning the opinions of this church leader or diminishing his love for God or the church, however, if the body of Christ is called to preach the word of God, and called to use the word of God as the primary mechanism to teach, rebuke, love and instruct the members of the church, then that means that every aspect of the scriptures is inspired by God and useful for teaching. Yes, even sex.

When the church begins to taboo certain subjects that bruise and wound the body of Christ then it fails to be the primary source of help to those who need it. Topics such as sexual immorality, pornography, homosexuality, lesbianism, masturbation (SweetBabyJesus even that!?), witch craft, politics, suicide, should Christians have tattoos or not, the hooking up culture, sexting and others are subjects that have been glossed over by various congregations. For fear of controversy and dispute from members of the church, topics such as these rarely reach the pulpit or small group studies. When the church decides to remain silent it gives the world a voice to educate the Christian community on matters such as these, leaving members confused and at times ignorant. We should not be afraid of culture and it's questions. Our culture around us is constantly changing and adopting new philosophies, trends, and belief systems. Ignoring them will only make us ill-informed and weak.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Should Christians shy away from cultural matters or learn ways to talk about them? I'd love to hear from ya'll! :)

Love,
Nanda <3

Video Post: October Baby

I saw this clip yesterday on my friend's Facebook wall and I literally was like WHAT!!??? But like in a really excited kinda way. October Baby is a film (coming out next Spring :)) that documents the life of an extraordinary girl named Gianna Jessen. Homegirl is an abortionist survivalist who boldly and passionately shares her triumphant story about her survival of a saline abortion, the power of healing, and the beauty of life to anyone who is willing to hear, weather it's to liberal politicians or her fellow Christian believers. The number of abortions per year in American are approximately 1.37 million and approximately 3,700 per day. Where worldwide it's 42 million a year and 115,000 a day.


Who's having abortions (age)?
52% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 32% of all abortions; Teenagers obtain 20% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%.


Why women have abortions1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).


At what gestational ages are abortions performed:52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.

When it comes to this subject it's important we get informed and that this subject is made fully aware within the church. Thousands of unborn fetus's are being aborted daily mainly due to woman's rights. It's time we took a stand for the right of an unborn child.


Check out Gianna in Australia give her amazing testimony!

Quick update...

So it's been a while since I've paid any attention to this lonely bloggity of mine. And as much as I want to find a legitimate excuse that justifies my abandonment of this small web space of mine I can only come up with my laptop breaking down but that would be a lie and lying is a sin. Duh. These past two months have been, let's say, interesting. For one, my parents and I completely lost our home and we've now been living with my sister and brother in law for the past month. We're super grateful that they've so generously opened their home. The only downside is that now I have to sleep in the home office on a twin, air mattress that always reminds me how much I miss having, oh I don't know, a BED!! Whatever. At least it's making me practice humility because honestly, nothing is more humbling than sleeping on an air mattress that makes farting noises every time I move. And the fact that my sister and brother in law have Netflix I've grown to develop a fascination for reality television and a little comedy show called The Office, which by the way has become more of an obsession. Say Yes to the Dress and Michael Scott are seriously making me anti social. Or perhaps a little emo because all these wedding reality shows remind me that I'm still single, which is worse than sleeping on an air mattress every night. Ok, I'm kidding. Being single is great. Except when you watch chick flicks.

Life is like a bowl of fresh strawberries mixed in with rotten tuna and when you mesh them together you make strawtuna. [Yes, I just compared life to food and made up a new word] Don't hate on my similes or my word making skills. Anyways, back to my highly philosophical point. Life is a mixture of bitter sweet moments. For the past few months I've been an unemployed, 21 year old,  graduate student whose had no luck finding a job that will finally get her a decent phone with texting. Because as of now my smartphone still has no texting and I've recently added some clear tape to the keyboard because it's falling off. I'm ghetto, I know. In the midst of waiting it's easy to get anxious, or desperate if your like me. It's so easy to make a huge deal out of the small things that can easily get better or get fixed. I know a job will come along eventually if I continue to search for it, I know the Lord will provide my family with our own place to live, and I know I'll finally be the cool kid who has texting just like all the other cool kids do. It's always comforting to know that the Lord truly has every circumstance under His control. He doesn't abide under mans limited time but works out all things in His perfect timing.  I do have to say that these months of having no work and no homework to do has really lead to me to be in scripture and in prayer more than I've ever been before. I don't have as much distractions around me that I sometimes allow myself to keep me from spending time in scripture or prayer. But even when we are busy our intimacy with the Lord should not change and it should not be considered less valuable. I keep on telling myself this because next January I'll be starting the teaching credential program and I have a feeling I'll have no life. Jesus, I give you permission to strike me with lightning if I don't read my bible. :)

When life throws you strawberries and rotten tuna, make strawtuna. Ok, that's gross. When life gives you lemons make lemonade. But make a bomb lemonade with a slice of lemon on the edge of the glass and everythang'. Make the best out of every circumstance you're in and be confident in the fact that God has every single aspect under his control. He will never give us more than we can handle.

Faith that Works: Day 3

It's the middle of the week and it's the the third day of the Faith that Works series! :) Today's verses are verses 20-22 which read:

20You fool! Do you not want to be shown that faith without works is useless? 
21How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son isaac on the altar.
22Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions.

In yesterdays post I went over verses 18 and 19 which focused on how a faith that is not accompanied by good works is not a true and authentic faith. The faith that James is talking about is a God given faith that naturally produces good fruit. In today's verses, James brings up Abraham. A man who, in such a powerful way, demonstrated what a true faith looks like. We see this story in the book of Genesis. Abraham's wife Sarah gives birth to their only son Isaac at an old age and God promises Abraham that through Isaac  he would make him a great Nation. However, despite His promise, God asks Abraham to offer up his only son as a sacrifice. How difficult would that be!!??  Nevertheless, we see that Abraham is obedient and that he was willing to sacrifice his only son.

Abraham had faith. True, authentic, and real, God given faith. He knew that God never backed down on His promises. If God had promised that through Isaac he would make him a great nation, He was going to do just that. His faith in God's promises assured him that even if his son died at the moment of the sacrifice God would raise him from the death. And for those of us who know the story, we know that an angel of the Lord stopped Abraham's hand form sacrificing Isaac. Abraham's faith was put into action.

Faith allows us to fully put our trust in the Lord. It enables us to be obedient to whatever God commands us to do, regardless if don't understand why.

Questions to be asking ourselves:
* Do I fully trust in God's promises?
* Does my faith produce in me obedience?

Just two more posts ya'll! Stay tuned for tomorrow! :)