Prophetic voices

As the Father takes me through the fire, I often focus on the pain, on how hot the flame is, on how much it hurts to have things burned away, removed, changed, and how uncomfortable life is in the middle of it.

At times, the process is slow, like with these candles above; the steady flame of the Spirit glows brightly in us, not only providing light to dispel the darkness, but also beauty, in the early stages of our journey with the Lord.

Then the flame delves deeper into the heart of who we really are. The colors grow richer and deeper, but the burning begins to change our being, our very nature. His flame, like the flame of this candle, finally breaks through the hardness and we begin to melt, and the natural reaction is to try to contain the "mess", to keep the candle "together" somehow and not let it lose its shape.

We finally give up and let the melting unfold, declaring we'll clean it up once the flame has completed its work. It no longer looks beautiful and "together"; in fact, it's all over the place and we know will never be of "proper use" again as the candle it once was.

Suddenly, in the midst of the burning, melting, misshapen, gooey mess, a trickle of wax breaks free and begins to pour forth in a new place, a new shape, and form an entirely new thing.

I could not have planned, orchestrated, formed or forced the wax from this candle into the heart-shape you see in the above picture. In fact, when I finally noticed it pouring onto the black table, I got up to blow out the candle and was stopped in my tracks as the trickle of wax flowed perfectly into its new form, without my help. Isn't that the stunning picture of God's perfect work in our lives? His love burns away to the innmost parts and brings forth His flaming heart of love to go forth into a dark world that desperately needs to know and experience His transforming love!

Some winter tree shots from KC

I couldn't quite capture the sparkling trees...but here are some pretty ones!

"Taken" by toddlers!

The Lord has blessed me in the past couple of days with distant "encounters" with toddlers. I captured a couple in pictures...enjoying being in the presence of the Lord at services! :-)

Party time at IHOP

Fun times with my precious friend, Michelle!

It's so much fun to see the Lord continue to pour out His love, grace and mercy here in Kansas City!

So, the cat is out of the bag....

Well, I couldn't just show you the picture of the roses without letting you see the giver. This wonderful man's name is Paul Czaszewicz...yes, that's 3 'Zs" in that last name...and we are having a blast building our friendship.

The short story is that he found me on facebook in December...we knew each other at university 24 years ago, and have both landed in Kansas City! We both love Jesus and are putting Him first in everything!

you know it's been a long winter when....

....you are excited about the sunshine and you go outside in shorts and a t-shirt in 37 degrees F. weather and say, "Thank you Lord for spring!"

Yesterday afternoon, I came home and the sun was STREAMING in my sliding glass door window and so I made myself a sandwich and turned my chair toward the sun and pretended to be a cat! :-) I actually fell asleep in that chair in the sunshine. The warmth flowed through me and every muscle relaxed in the gentle grip of the sun's rays.

Ah, that this would be a constant reality in our relationships with the Son!

Roses....my first ever for Valentines Day!

Aren't these gorgeous! :))))

Friends are the greatest!

I'm beginning to understand more and more each day what God means about friendships. He's a good, patient, loving God who desires to see us walk in His freedom and in good, healthy relationships with each other. I love freedom in friendships...freedom to BE who God has created each of us to be and to love one another as God gives opportunity!

The more healing God does in me, the freer my friendships and relationships become because the junk inside has been taken to the cross and left there, replaced by the sweet healing blood of Jesus and the fullness of the Holy Spirit! His perfect love truly does cast out all fear!

Winter images

My neighbor's tree.

In my front yard.

On the deck out back.


My reading chair on the front deck.


Toby, venturing out onto the front deck.

Biting winds greeted me this morning as I stepped out of my car to go workout at the YMCA. So, I decided it was high time to share a couple of winter pictures.

Yet another blessing!

Two weeks ago, I arrived at New Hope Church where I am serving on Tuesday nights as an assistant leader for Pure Heart, a Christian inner healing ministry. I myself went through the eight-week course in the Fall as part of Intro to IHOP.

Much to my surprise, a young lady there who is also serving as a leader, said she lived in Hungary for 6 years!!! So of course I broke into speaking Hungarian, and with delight, she could understand, but since her latter years before returning to the U.S. have been spent speaking Russian while living in Ukraine, she could not respond in Hungarian!

"That's ok!" I declared, I'll just talk to you and you can answer me in English!

So as we are all saying goodbye to each other in the parking lot that evening, I yell out to this young lady, "Jo eszakat, edesem!" I hear an audible, "AWWWW!"

How much fun to see my worlds colliding once again in such a precious way!

No DUH!

I read with interest this article below. My first response was, "No Duh!" God's been teaching abstinence since the beginning of time; we've just chosen to ignore it. How true there really is nothing new under the sun!

Groundbreaking Study Proves Abstinence Education Works

News Release (February 3, 2010)

"Abstinence programs show kids there are too many great things riding on their future to risk it to STDs, pregnancy and broken hearts. Abstinence is a message our kids want to hear…"

(Sioux Falls, SD)—A new study released today shows that abstinence education is highly effective in reducing sexual activity among youth. It also showed contraceptive sex ed programs to be ineffective.

The decrease is noteworthy; the study followed students a full two years after completion of the abstinence class. One third of students showed a decrease in sexual activity, compared with those who didn't participate in the class. Whereas, condom-promoting programs didn't affect youth behavior at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use. (Photo by: Israel Papillon)

"Finally, a study that proves what those of us who have been teaching abstinence have known for years. These programs help develop self control and self esteem, teaching kids they do not need to fall prey to the game of Russian Roulette with condoms," said Leslee Unruh, President and Founder of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse. "Abstinence programs show kids there are too many great things riding on their future to risk it to STDs, pregnancy and broken hearts. Abstinence is a message our kids want to hear—this study shows youth are making healthier choices and changing their behavior in response to this refreshing message," Unruh said.

The study, involving black middle-school students, appears in the February 2010 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. It was compiled and released by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott from the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Geoffrey Fong from the University of Waterloo and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Waterloo, Ontario.

This study utilized state-of-the-art evaluation techniques, using random assignment. For more information about this study and its design, click here.

Source: Abstinence Clearinghouse

Party with fiery women of God!

I am so incredibly blessed with new people in my life that the Lord continues to bring! In the third picture (just above) on the far right side, is my dear friend, Linda Valen. Linda served as Jill Austin's personal assistant for 15 years, and just happens to live about 3 minutes from me here in Kansas City!

Linda hosted a party of firey women of God, all of whom love Jesus passionately and want to grow closer to Him and see people set free in their walks with the Lord! We shared lots of laughter, great food, wonderful fellowship, powerful worship and prayer time and touches from the Holy Spirit! I continue to stand amazed by the Lord's goodness in folding me into various people's lives and blessing me beyond my wildest imagination!

Quote from "With God in Solitary Confinement"

I just ordered this book from which this quotation comes. Can't wait to delve in!

"Have those who thought out these theological systems and wrote them down in such perfect order ever carried a cross?" He went on. "A man cannot think systematically even when he has a bad toothache. How can a man who is carrying a cross think systematically? But a Christian has to be more than the bearer of a heavy cross; he shares Christ's crucifixion. The pains of Christ are his, and the pains of all creation. There is no grief and no suffering in the whole world which should not grieve him also. If a man is crucified with Christ, how can he think systematically? Can there be that kind of thought on a cross?
Jesus Himself thought unsystematically on the cross. He began with forgiveness; He spoke of a paradise in which even a robber had a place; then He despaired that perhaps there might be no place in paradise even for Him, the Son of God. He felt Himself forsaken. His thirst was so unbearable that He asked for water. Then He surrendered His spirit into His Father's hand. But there followed no serenity, only a loud cry. Thank you for what you have been trying to teach me. I have the impression that you were only repeating, without much conviction, what others have taught you." (Pp. 120-123 in With God in Solitary Confinement by Richard Wurmbrand)

I cannot help but think and believe with every fiber of my being that this awakening that the Lord started here in Kansas City on November 11, 2009, which is spreading across the globe, where people's hearts are being set free, bodies are being healed, Salvations are happening, and Jesus is being glorified through it all, is a great preparation for what the Bride of Christ must be ready to face. We in the West need to be broken in the way this man, Richard Wurmbrand and many others like him, have been broken, so that we too can embrace a non-systematic theology that has as its sole passion intimacy with Jesus.

Avatar

Me and my friend, Paul...I think I win the beauty contest when it comes to the 3D glasses!

What a great film! I loved it! There's so much spiritual truth in this film that one can chew on for days! Plus, as you can see from the pic, the 3D glasses are just way too cool! My friend Paul and I had a blast at this amazing theater in downtown Kansas City!

Holocaust Rememberance Day

Below is an article worth reading. First, may we never forget. Second, may we never let another holocaust happen again and we must take a stand TODAY for LIFE and FREEDOM!

On Holocaust Day: Remembering a French Village "Where the Most Remarkable Expressions of Love" Were Sacrificed in WWII

Teresa Neumann (January 27, 2010)

As Holocaust Day, January 27, is noted, an historian says: "A small community of Protestant Christians, descendants of Huguenots, were faced with a choice that would challenge the very essence of their faith. Would they live what they preached or would they put their own safety first?"

(France)—Somehow, stories of faith and heroism resonating from WWII continue to inspire us. Perhaps it is because we are still connected to the war by parents and grandparents who fought in it. Perhaps it is because in our times of tribulations there are more lessons to be learned from those who encountered similar trials before us.

Case in point: Le Chambon sur Lignon, a small village in south central France set on a plateau high in the mountains. It is where, according to reporter Russel Bowles, one of the most remarkable expressions of love of the whole war occurred when the Christian inhabitants defied the Nazi occupation and provided a safe haven for thousands of Jewish people—many of them children. No Jew that requested shelter was turned away.

As reported in Inspire Magazine, it was the pastor at Le Chambon, André Trocmé, who challenged his small flock with the question of who their neighbors were in the Biblical context. Soon, the small flock—risking their lives to do so—began taking in Jews.

According to the report, eventually the pastor and his assistant Edouard Théis were arrested. "However, amazingly, they were released before they were due to be deported to the east. The Gestapo also arrested the Pastor's cousin, Daniel Trocmé, and he died in Majdanek extermination camp."

"Bad as these events were," writes Bowles, "it seemed that the Almighty had His hand of protection on the village, for in all about 5,000 Jews were sheltered when the Nazis were leaving no stone unturned elsewhere in their pursuit."

Slideshow of Derek Loux's funeral service

This is a long, but beautiful slide-show of Derek Loux's funeral service. Enjoy.

http://www.shelleypaulson.com/slideshows/derek/

Haiti update - CRI

Here is an update on what Crisis Response International, based out of Kansas City, is doing in Haiti.

Haiti Update-Ground Assessment- Wk 1 from Crisis Response International on Vimeo.

OUCH!

Ok, here is a blast from the past. Remember the film E.T.? Pretty much the only scene I can remember is when the kids are saying goodbye to E.T. and everyone is crying and E.T., with his long-outstretched alien finger points to his heart and then points to the little girl and says, "OUCH!" communicating that his heart is hurting at the goodbyes they are experiencing and the separation.

That's my heart today. Whoa, Arden, being a bit vulnerable on the blog! It's not "ouch" because of saying goodbye to particular people (that happened 7 months ago), and it's not "ouch" because anyone here is leaving. It's "ouch" because of the reality of just how much our hearts long for deep intimacy and life-long "connection" but it simply cannot happen with people to the level or degree that many of us desire. Life is life and with all of it's amazing, wonderful, challenging dynamics has a way of short-circuiting the deepest longings of our hearts for true intimacy. So right now, there is a deep "ouch" in my heart, which God is allowing because of the 'end' that He has in mind:

Intimacy with Him. Deeper intimacy with Him. Complete heart-abandonment in Him. True fulfillment in His love, His embrace, His ability to meet every need and desire of our hearts solely in Him.

So, where does that leave relationships? Necessary? Yes, because in relationships, we are refined, and others see the love of God. Aha, that's it...just got some new revelation as I'm sitting here typing...maybe it's not surprising that people are not flocking to Jesus by the droves because He Himself said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) Are we disciples of Jesus loving one another as He loves us? Yet back to my first question: where does that leave relationships? Necessary, yes...but as the sweet icing on the cake.

I love cake and sometimes I even like it without the icing, but a GOOD icing makes the cake even better. When the icing is too thick, it robs the taste of the cake; but when it is spread way too thinly, you are left wanting more. It's the balance of cake and icing that makes the enjoyment beneficial for all.

So, the E.T. "ouch!" is pretty pronounced today. The icing is spread pretty thin right now, but that's ok because the cake is still in the oven, and His perfect flame is making, refining and making me increasingly solid in His love and in Him alone so that I'm ready for the perfect layer of icing.

Click here for Brennan Manning video

Here's a video worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQi_IDV2bgM

What a video!

I copied this video link from my friend Tom's blog. As he said, I hope you have the time to watch the full 8 min. 33 sec. as this is an incredible depiction of life in so many places in Europe over the course of the past century. For all of you artists out there, enjoy the WAY it is depicted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo&feature=player_embedded