Athentikos

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Isaiah 58:6-12

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

I see a need. When I heard who Jesus was, the King who stopped for the poor, the broken and the needy I realised that helping those that have a need is a natural heart response if you love the Lord Jesus because you can't help but care about the things He cares about. However, to have this revelation on my own isn't good enough. I want to raise the alarms, I want others to see the need too because of the love they've encountered from the living God. The video above is a video created by my big brother Alex showing a need and showing a hope. A need in Guatemala that isn't going away any time soon unless more people start to join together to respond and it crushes God's heart but an amazing hope that there is a movement of motion pictures aiming to raise awareness for God's people to respond to this need. I will be showing this video tonight to the group of young people that I help to lead. I want them to see the need. See Guatemala's struggle that they are trying to push past and see the potential in God's beautiful young people that live on the street.

There is hope because there is LOVE.

Fogo de Deus!

God told me that I'm made to be someone who, like a bee travels from flower to flower tasting their sweetness, travels from place to place and marvels at the beautiful things God has made. I went to Italy on Friday 21st September till Tuesday 25th September with some others of the older youth age to spend time with a Brazilian church 'Centro Alleanza'. Treviso, the town that we stayed in, was so beautiful and I noticed a similarity there between China and Treviso; in that there was such a relaxed atmosphere as you walked down the street unlike busy, busy London. It felt so surreal as Katie and I sat in the back seat of a car with no seat belt (!), without a clue where we were going and listening to the Brazilians chatter away to each other in Italian/Portuguese. The different languages that we spoke I originally thought that would be a barrier but one thing I took away from this trip is that with God's love there are no barriers. I can't say grazie/obrigado enough to the people from Centro Alleanza because they welcomed us with open arms, literally! We embraced their culture and they did the same with ours. It was as if family was coming together as we took it in turns to sing the line in a song 'nothing compares to the promise I have' in our different languages. It touched me every single time when the pastor would tell everyone during worship to prophesy over each other and the people next to me didn't hesitate to hold my hand and start praying for me. In my head I was thinking 'this is church!'. So I took back with me in my heart that I would do all I can to make church about love and relationships. It was then in the midst of love that the fire of God came down, hearts were changed by messages of God through worship, dance, talks and drama that our England team presented. We took a day trip to Venezia where we had a lot of fun shopping and looking at picturesque views of clear water and elegantly designed buildings. Now did I mention the food?! Pizza and pasta! ahhh yum! I don't know how all these Italian girls stay so slim! I'm really looking forward to where God is going to take me next :)

As I looked out at beautiful Edinburgh...

Change is part of life and as some things in my life have been moving out of their comfortable positions lately, this truth hits me straight in the face again. I arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning to the smile of my good friend Avril who goes to university there. One of the things we decided to do was climb Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is the main peak of a group of hills that are an extinct volcano, which rise above the city to a height of 823 ft. The climb was tiring and at various points my legs were yelling 'you've seen enough!' but as I looked out at beautiful Edinburgh I knew I wanted to reach the top to see the city in all it's glory. I pondered as I climbed that sometimes God places experiences in our lives that can be tiring and all up hill but all of that 'climbing' is worth it when God reveals through it a different perspective and blesses us in ways we can never imagine. When I got to the top...wow! The view was magnificent. All the different buildings that I saw close up, I saw how they looked in the grand scheme of things. Then God gently reminded me of the Louis Giglio talk 'Indescribable' where he shares facts about God's amazing universe and how small we really are, and I thought of how small I really am standing on this huge extinct volcano that seems so big to me: a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things but God still loves me more than I can ever imagine. So as I was overcome by these thoughts that were brought on by the fantastic view of Edinburgh city, my unsettled heart finally settled with the acknowledgement that God is so big and therefore how could I not trust Him? I can definitely trust that He's got me.

My Treasures

I went out to lunch the other day to catch up with my friend Sammi, who had just passed her A levels. She was telling me about the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling; which she had read alongside other poems lately to keep her mind challenged since she had stopped revising for her A levels. I read it today and I did find it was an interesting poem with mind-probing ideas and written well. I decided to entertain myself by reading a few more poems and stumbled across this poem that I

enjoyed reading therefore I thought I would share it with you.

MY TREASURES by Robert Louis Stevenson

These nuts, that I keep in the back of the nest,

Where all my tin soldiers are lying at rest,

Were gathered in Autumn by nursie and me

In a wood with a well by the side of the sea.

This whistle we made (and how clearly it sounds!)

By the side of a field at the end of the grounds.

Of a branch of a plane, with a knife of my own,

It was nursie who made it, and nursie alone!

The stone, with the white and the yellow and grey,

We discovered I cannot tell HOW far away;

And I carried it back although weary and cold,

For though father denies it, I'm sure it is gold.

But of all my treasures the last is the king,

For there's very few children possess such a thing;

And that is a chisel, both handle and blade,

Which a man who was really a carpenter made

What I love about this poem is that it took me right back to when I was a child and would find something small and insignificant to others but to me it was so special and valuable, giving me so much joy to have. That is a wonderful ability that most children have, no wonder they have so much fun. This also gives one of many reasons to explain why God wants us to become like children to enter His kingdom. When I on purpose look for the beauty around me, I find God does reveal so much more little things that people tend to overlook because of the 'busyness syndrome' that I do receive a lot of joy from. Perspective is everything I'm coming to learn. On another note if you have any poems that you liked reading, share them with me! I'd love to check them out :)

Can you hear the sirens?

It's funny how something starts to feel all the more of a serious issue when it reaches your 'own front door'. Last night facebook was bursting with constant updates of London's residents reporting news of the riots spreading. On Saturday night, a riot erupted in Tottenham in what seemed to be in response to a police shooting of a man named Mark Duggan. Police cars, buses and buildings burnt to a crisp, shops looted and smashed, people injured physically and emotionally. In the media, the Duggan family declared that they did not condone any of this violence. By Sunday, the riots were spreading to other areas such as Enfield, Chingford, Ponders End, Islington and my own areas of Walthamstow and Leyton. My boyfriend's place of work, Tesco, was smashed and looted; with the unprotected night staff running to get to safety. I highly think that the people that are carrying on the riots now actually don't seriously care about the death of Mark but are just using the events in Tottenham as a greedy and careless excuse. It makes me feel so sad that people can want to do this. Eventually a lot of them will get caught as there has to be loads of CCTV cameras. As I laid in bed, the sound of sirens whirled from outside. Time to pray.

Hans Zimmer! :D

If you're looking at the title of this post and thinking 'I have no idea what Hans Zimmer is' then you need to get to know! Hans Zimmer is a musical genius. He has composed the music for over one hundred films: 'Pirates of the Caribbean', 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'Gladiator' to name a few and won many awards. Last Saturday I was very blessed to be able to see him perform with John Powell (another film composer) and an amazing orchestra in Northampton. The event was mainly focused around the 'Kung Fu Panda 2' movie but I was so glad that they played compositions from other films too. It's such a touching experience to see an orchestra play live and I think I underestimated that before I went. I highly recommend that you go to see an orchestra play if you have the opportunity. Not only was it a fabdabbydozy musical experience but it was a great opportunity to spend some time with my family; introducing Alex, my Guatemalan brother, to some traditional English grub: pie and mash ofcorse! before we left for Northampton. I also bumped into a couple of my good friends, Avril and Melissa, who I hadn't seen for a while so that was great :) That day I will be holding close to my heart and I think my musical appreciation has only just begun.

Here is a link to a youtube clip that has a selection of Hans Zimmer compositions for you to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_dyTkFbG0

On another note, today is our annual church fun day, which should be another good day but prayers asking God to bring out the sun would definately be appreciated :)

Speaking in love

'Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.' Ephesians 4:15-16

The above bible verse speaks of the idea of 'speaking in love', which for a long time I was quite confused with this concept. I suppose the reason for confusion is because I felt that 'speaking in love' contradicted the idea of not judging people.

'Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others,and you will be forgiven.' Luke 6:37

Recently, God taught me about 'speaking in love' through first hand experience. There was a decision that I had made that wasn't right with what God wanted for me and that put myself in a vulnerable position. As we all know, Satan is the 'father of lies'(John 8:44) and he does his best to make sin look appealing and like we aren't doing anything wrong. I was wearing tinted glasses, I couldn't see what the decision I had made could lead to..I was believing the lies. When we're in that place, we need a wake up call. Not only was I wearing tinted glasses but I was also not hearing properly from the extremely loud headphones I was wearing so to speak. God always talks, I just wasn't listening. So God decided to speak to the heart of someone who would hear clearly; someone who I have been building a friendship with who I value her words. She told me that the decision that I had made didn't feel right and she was there to pray for me, give me hugs and listen. That is speaking in love. When God stirs your heart...you see someone that you care about doing something that you know isn't right with God and that will not benefit their walk with Jesus and you tell them in a gentle and loving way, which means privately too. It is a heart matter. You want to help them, not criticise them and make yourself feel better. You tell them something that is not just based on your own opinions and schemas but from God's heart. It is a tricky situation that someone could possibly not want to hear clearly therefore fighting against your words but if you feel God has encouraged you to do so, you should trust Him and do so anyway. God wanted us to be in community, not trying to do it on our lonesome.

Since God had been teaching me about 'speaking in love', it was only quite rightly that He would give me an opportunity to put what I had learnt into action. I saw that some of my youth who I help lead were doing something that put up a 'come in!' sign to the devil and his evil followers. My heart ached and I knew this was God saying 'come on Daz, let's gently open some eyes'. So I wrote them a private message, which I completely believe God was writing with me, explaining what the implications could be of what they were doing and that I was here to talk and pray about it if they wanted. They responded in a positive way, which was really good and showed me that I handled the situation in the right way. If you come across a situation where you feel that you need to shine some light on a loved one's actions then my advice would be, check your heart: is the issue something that you and God disagree with or just you? how would you like someone to approach telling you if the roles were reversed? and don't do it alone, let your Heavenly Dad lead you through it. I know I've still got a lot to learn on this topic but I just love it how God isn't satisfied with our confusion but is patient with us to catch up if it is something we need to understand :)

Just discovered!

Well, you all know how a long while ago I was trying new things and to be honest I think I can say I have kept that up in different ways. My boyfriend Ramone told me lately about a new fruit that has been discovered called 'strasberries'. At first I wasn't sure if he was just winding me up because that is part of his character but then he showed me in the tesco where he works. It sounded like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a new invention and then I thought of in Bruce Almighty when he creates a new flower 'tudaisy'; a mix between a tulip and a daisy to try and impress his girlfriend Grace which made me chuckle. They are a just discovered fruit, a mix between strawberry and raspberry from South America. They kinda look like crumpled strawberries in appearance but the taste was really nice. They have the furry texture of raspberries and the taste is sweet but not as tangy as strawberries. Quite an expensive buy of £3 for one small punnet but hey, they are just discovered.

Then, today when I was out with my good friend Ruth shopping in Sainsburys I found another fruit that I had never seen or tasted before. It was a 'sharon fruit'. It looks like a firm mirky orange tomato. So I bought it and tried it. It was ok, I wouldn't say it was delicious but it was better than the dragon fruit that I tried a while ago which it's taste was a total disappointment in comparison to it's appearance. The closest I could get to describe the taste of the sharon fruit is like a weird apricot.

If you've got any suggestions of weird and wonderful foods for my palette to test then suggest away because it is quite exciting that I may find a new favourite taste. God is just totally amazing, completely indescribable in what He's made! The more things I discover, the more of His beauty and craftsmanship is revealed :)

Practise leads to patience

When Alex Ortiz came to England into my life from Guatemala, he brought with him many wonderful things. One of those things was his incredible passion for music. Suddenly my spirit was being (and still is) exposed to all these amazing musicians/composers such as Yanni and actually nourishing my spirit like music should do. For a long time, I always admired musicians as I thought it was something that I would never be able to do, especially piano because my hands are small with chipolata fingers. However, I met my friend Jamie Joiner who plays piano and guess what?! he's hands are not large and he's fingers are not long like I expected all piano players hands to be like. Silly me! As God has been leading me into becoming who He made me to be, I made the decision that I would actually love to play piano and that I was going to go for it. I've had two lessons so far with a great teacher and I'm really enjoying it. She says that I am doing well and going further than she thought I would be at this time, although when I'm practising it is still taking me what feels like forever to change keys. This is very frustrating. When my parents asked me how the practising was going I told them what I just told you. Their response was to remind me that it has only been my second lesson. At that point I realised that I am definately not as patient as I should be, apart from when I'm working with children :P Patience isn't the act of waiting, it's how you act while you wait and I was acting irritable when I was struggling to change keys quickly. I want to be able to play a song smoothly now but then the still voice comes to mind and reminds me that that's the goal and what you want doesn't just appear, it takes hard work otherwise there would be not as much joy when you have succeeded at something. Looking at my learning in general and my waiting in general, I do struggle with patience. I get excited! And this leads to reasoning going out the window. A great thing though is that my Heavenly Dad isn't done with me yet....

'Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus' Philippians 1:6

So now I know that impatience is a stronghold in me, I can face it head on. I can say sorry to God for allowing the spirit of impatience into my life and receive Jesus' amazing forgiveness, bind that spirit and replace it with patience. I can, in God's strength, train myself in the act of patience and you know what, just enjoy the ride that learning is..have some fun in those blips! I don't want to miss out because my sight has been on what is to come than what is now.

Choices

I love how God just loves to slide a piece of vital information that could be life-changing, if I allow it to, into a what felt like it was going to be just another regular day. When will I realise that God doesn't want me to allow a day to pass by in ordinary fashion? time is precious. I've been feeling empty lately..lonely, fed up..sick of me being on facebook for a large amount of my day because I don't know what to do with my day. God's blessed me with all this free time, I should be appreciating every moment of it. Once I was sick with this sick and tired feeling, I turned to my faithful friend and BAM! God's gentle and loving voice spoke softly to my heart. It shouldn't be my emotions that are leading me but I should be asking the Holy Spirit what CHOICE I should be making about the way I'm feeling. Emotions aren't reliable, God is. It's only me who decides how to act and if I'm feeling empty I should be making the decision to come to Jesus to fill me and change my heart, not choosing to spend the rest of my day feeling miserable.

Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So I urge you today, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in making decisions on how your emotions will effect your day because like I said time is precious.

Jesus most definately saves!

Well, for a long time now I've had writers block on the blog front and I'm guessing that is because my mind has been quite cluttered. In a sermon some weeks ago, the theme was about being rooted in God's love (Ephesians 3:14-19) and that some of us could be like a christmas tree: pretty on the outside but no roots or like a tree that is ready to be taken from the pot and planted in good soil or like a tree planted in bad soil that isn't growing well. I quickly discovered with every tear that dropped that God wanted to do some things in me so that I could be rooted in His love and ready to face whatever conditions to be thrown at me. I was rooted in the wrong things and my past was pulling the strings as if I were a puppet. That is no way to live, Jesus died and rose so that I could live life to it's fullest. I'll tell you a key thing, ignoring the hard topics of your life doesn't work. Remember, you don't have to do it alone; that's why God made us to be in relationship with others. God provided me with amazing people to go through the process with. If you want to be rooted in God's love you need to get uprooted from any nasty stuff first which means acknowledging it. So I did and it was the best decision I could have made. God is bigger than any circumstance or emotion. Once I acknowledged that I needed to be uprooted from the unhealthy, unsettling soil; God revealed more to me including the next steps that I needed to take. I took those steps and I let go. Such a weight has been lifted. A new hope has been given to me. Freedom. So while Christians all over the world have been reminding themselves of what Jesus' act of the cross means; that He saved us, I can encourage you all by saying that not only does the cross mean that we were saved from death but Jesus won our freedom for now. Thankyou my Jesus, my saviour! To finish I just wanna ask you: what are your roots in? did you sweep anything under the carpet? are you living out Jesus' gift of the cross?

The Lion and the Mouse

Along, long time ago a LION was awakened from his deep slumber by a frantic mouse running over his face. Rising up viciously, he caught him and was about to devourer him because of the untimely interruption.  

The mouse squeaked and stared directly into his eyes.   "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness," offered the mouse. The Lion laughed a hearty laugh and decided to let him go. 

It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground.  The Mouse,

recognizing his  anguished roar, hurriedly scuttled towards the hideous noise where he came upon the lion trapped underneath  net. On seeing this, the mouse began to gnaw the rope with his teeth and set him free.

"You scorned the idea that I could ever help you, now you know that a mouse is just as important as a lion.”

When I read this fable that I will be looking at with my year three class next week, six ideas came to mind.

1) Don't place yourself in a proud and superior attitude, everybody needs help at some point in their life and always from God.

2) Don't look at outward appearances otherwise judgements may come back to bite you on the bum

3) If someone does a good deed for someone then they will be in some form repayed in a good deed/way back because they deserve it

4) If you call out in a time of trouble: especially God, you will be rescued.

5) Different people can get along and help each other

6) Never wake an angry lion!