Children's Sunday

About once every quarter of the year, we have a children's Sunday at my church. The songs we sing are usually "fun" ones that have motions, or you sing it really fast, or sing about the basic of God's love for us. In one of the songs, the kids actually make a train and march around the sanctuary. Some of the kids even wave around streamers. The purpose of this is so that we make the kids in our church understand that we love them and that they are as much a part of the church as the "big kids." The kids don't perform or anything like that, (thank goodness-is it bad that I'm not fond of the sound of kids' voices singing??) but the music and message is geared towards them. The speaker, Ed, talked to the kids about the fruits of the spirit. He brought in and even ate some good looking and tasty fruit, as well as some old brown bananas and a mushy kiwi to explain that we shouldn't be like those fruit, but producing fruit in our lives like kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, etc. So, after missing church (well, my church) for two weeks, I came back to another atypical service. I haven't yet blogged about a typical Sunday at Ephrata Mennonite, but to be honest, there really is no typical Sunday at EMC!

Sunday, March 30th

I'll blog about church in tomorrow's blog-maybe. But I have to be honest-something I'm really struggling with right now is patience. Not necessarily patience with the little things like customers at work or waiting for the printer to print after a fake paper jam, more important stuff, bigger stuff. I'm ready to be done with school-NOW. After this semester I'll be half way done. If I could afford it and they offered courses I need, I'd take classes over the summer to get done sooner. But really nothing I need is available at LVC over the summer-I'm into lots of specific classes now for my major. Also, my patience is being tested with my relationship with Jason-I know he'd agree with me. We're both mentally ready to get married but it makes sense to wait a little while so that we don't have tons of my school expenses. But yes, we're both ready for that step and are praying about when is ok to do so. I must admit I was scared to post that because people would freak out-"Woah, she's only 20!" But with all I've been through, I often feel like I'm 30. A lot of people think I'm older than I really am just because of the mature way I act. Besides, Jason is already 23. Anyway, I need patience with school, which often feels more like a hinderance because I could just be out in the real world working and already making money, as well as get married to Jason. I know not many people aspire for this job, but I always thought I'd like to be a secretary. I'd thrive in that organized environment! I wasn't ever sure I wanted to go to college-but here I am, I refuse to waste the money and quit. As a Christian, I often wonder, am I doing my own thing or is this what God wants me to be doing...??

a few lines...

...lines of a song that is. I really like the lines of this song I heard on the Christian radio station I listen to. This song is by a band called Barlow Girl, a band I'm not fond of, but these lyrics are moving. (I, for some reason, tend to enjoy guys' music more than girls'.) These words, however, are not those of Barlow Girls', but are instead words from a Jewish man who wrote them on a wall in a German Concentration camp:

"I believe in the sun, even when it's not shining,
I believe in love, even when I don't feel it,
I believe in God, even when He is silent."

What do you think???

hey bob

Hey Bob! What are you thinking of all this stuff? I think that you should post comments on our blogs!! OR...you could make one too! I'd love to hear what you're thinking of this crazy Christian girl.

The Social Gospel

So, I'm going to go a little philosophical on you here.
Today in Religion in America we talked about "The Social Gospel," an idea backed mainly by a man, now deceased, by the name of Walter Rauschenbusch. I have to write a reaction paper for next Thursday about my reaction to his theory and that of the Gospel of Wealth as well, which I will gladly post when it is completed. Anyway, Rauschenbusch said some interesting things in his "A Theology for the Social Gospel," a lovely and complicated document that can be found in my world famous American Religions Textbook.
Here are some of the things I particularly liked:
"The individualistic gospel has taught us to see the sinfulness of every human heart...but it has not given us adequate understanding of the sinfulness of the social order and its share in the sins of all individuals within it."
"The social gospel seeks to bring men under repentance for their collective sins and to create a more sensitive and modern conscience."
"The social gospel is based on the belief that love is the only true working principle of human society."
more on this tomorrow maybe...
here's some info on Rauschenbusch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rauschenbusch

A little something

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to share a little something with you from the reading and writing I've done during my devotional time, that is, the time I spend reading my Bible and then reflecting on what God's word has to say.

This is from 3/18/08, but I was thinking a bit about it today.
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Matthew 20:28
"Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see."
Matthew 22:9
This is tough!! Some people are intimidating and it's hard to tell them. I lack courage too. I don't invite enough! But, this verse IS the Great Commission in a nutshell, and both these verses are the reasons for my existence-to serve others in the name of the Lord and to bring others to the Lord.
3 Important points from the second verse quoted:
1. Jesus said EVERYONE-not just some, not just the clean, good-looking, moral, etc.
2. It is an INVITATION-not meant to be forceful, rude, or pushy. Christians already have that stereotype anyway-need I say Jarbos??
3. It is a COMMAND- Jesus told me to do it, he didn't ask me if I wanted to or not. This shouldn't be taken lightly.

AM I DOING THIS? ARE YOU DOING THIS?

Basic #1: God

Mennonites believe..."that God exists and is pleased with all who draw near by faith. Mennonites believe the one holy and loving God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally. God has created all things visible and invisible, has brought salvation and new life to humanity through Jesus Christ, and continues to sustain the church and all things until the end of the age."

- taken from "Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective" Mennonite Church C1995 Herald Press

first of all, what a terribly designed cover!!! second of all, a lot of people struggle with the first and foremost point of my faith-God exists. And understanding the trinity is tough as well. Think of a flame: there are 3 elements to the flame-the heat, the light, and the color of the flame. All three coexist in one thing-a flame. You can't have one without the others. That's how you can kinda grasp the trinity. Good analogy? let me know what you think. this is enough to swallow for now. have a great day!

busy

Yesterday was obviously pretty busy for me, so I didn't get a chance to blog. And I again wasn't at my church :( Jason's achapella group sang yesterday at his old church, so I went with him to hear them sing. They did a great job :)
Anyway, when it comes to churches, it amazes me how different churches can be. Yesterday they talked in church (the one we were visiting) about how we should be really excited about Jesus' resurrection, but it really didn't seem like anyone was really pumped. I know for sure that at my church the music would have been truly rejoiceful and enthusiastic. The people at Ephrata Mennonite seem real, enthusiastic, genuine-not robots pretending to be a-ok like at some other churches. Not that the one we were at yesterday sucks or anything- I just think that there's a unique and realness about the people at my church-they're understanding and really care. When they ask you how you're doing, they want an honest answer. At the church we were visiting, however, not a single person came up to me and asked me who I was and how I was doing unless I was with Jason(other than Jason's mom)-something entirely inescapable at my church!! The funny thing is, the church I was visting with Jason was a mennonite church. How odd that one church can be so different than the other. As promised, some basic beliefs for tomorrow.

Thankful

At the end of the day, I, like most people I presume, reflect upon the events of the day. What did I do today? I worked 9-2, I hung out with Jason till 6:00, then Jason and I went to my Dad's place for dinner, where we spent the rest of our evening. (Picture to left is me and my dad).

Sounds ordinary, right? But did I really count my blessings today? The hundreds of little things that I take for granted? I think that as Christians, we tend to take the blessings for granted. I need to be more thankful everyday.

Today:

I'm thankful that I even have a job.

I'm thankful that I got to spend time with my boyfriend and with my family.

I'm thankful that even though my car's front left tire is getting flat, we made it to my Dad's house ok.
I'm thankful that I had warm running water for my shower this morning.

I'm thankful that Jason forgave me when I put him down today

I'm thankful for the air in my lungs.

I'm thankful for the food I ate today.

I'm thankful that Sunday is coming...that Easter Sunday is coming.

On the third day, he will have the temple up and running. (And in better shape than ever before).
Is my heart prepared for the joy of tomorrow? Am I thankful for the hope that tomorrow has to bring, not just for a day, but for my eternity? Are YOU ready for tomorrow?

-time for bed...zzzzzzz

Good Friday

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I promise you'll get a double dose today to make up for it. Not much went on yesterday, or atleast not in 2008 in my little world. I had to work at the Pharmacy for a good part of the day and then Jason (my bf) and I hungout. We watched the Passion of the Christ movie.
(PS_ this image is actually worth seeing...unlike that other junk)
I had actually never seen the film before. Jason had seen it before. I definetly cried during the movie. I'm pretty sure the scenes were all fairly accurate, with the exception of how involved his mother was with the entrire proceedings of Christ's death/crucifixtion. I really don't think that Mary would be allowed to get so close to Christ during all this, with the exception of at Christ's feet at the Cross. Also, where was Joseph? Or was he there and I just didn't comprehend who was who? Kinda hard to tell consdiering nearly everyone looked the same-like Jesus. Overall, however, fairly scripturally accurate. Not a "pretty" movie in the sense of what you saw in the scenes, but beautiful in the sense of what happened as a result of the crucifixion-forgiveness-if you want it.

my testimony

Here's a copy of my testimony. I read this when I joined the church on March 9th. It's all truth-enjoy!
My name is Kristen Shuey, I’m 20 years old. I’ve lived in Ephrata my whole life and was raised in a Christian family. I am the youngest of three children. I grew up knowing Christian doctrine because I was raised in a United Methodist church. Although I was baptized at age 12, I never understood the personal relationship aspect of being a Christian until I was older.

At a young age, I was exposed to some tough family issues, including both my father’s cancer and my parent’s divorce. I began a real prayer life at age 12, when I started praying every night for my Dad while he was at Johns Hopkins University for cancer treatment. God proved his awesome power to me by healing my Dad of his lymphoma, and he has been in remission for 8 years. Later, my parents ended up getting divorced and I felt distant from God. I began attending Lancaster County Bible Church and realized that the circumstances I had been facing were not curses from God, but a result of our own human choices that God allows us because he loves us so much. Eventually, I also learned that these tough times were blessings in disguise, shaping me into who God wanted me to be. I’ve been coming to Ephrata Mennonite since my senior year of high school, and I’m now a sophomore English major at Lebanon Valley College.

I love it here because this is truly a welcoming and thriving church. I’m particularly pleased to see that Ephrata Mennonite has the Gen-X class for post-youth-group –aged people. I’ve grown so much through Gen-X and have made lots of awesome friends who push me to really utilize my leadership and teaching skills. I look forward to being a part of Ephrata Mennonite because your church has their priorities in perspective. This congregation is all about Jesus and is willing to step-out of their comfort zone to share God’s love. Most importantly, this church is not about manmade religion, but about relationship with God.

To Print or Not to Print-that is the ?

Yesterday in Intro to Mass Communications (with the world famous Bob Vucic), Bob brought in some disturbing and offending pictures taken by Photographers of the Patriot News. He asked us that if we (the students) were the editor, would we print these photos on the front page. The pictures included photos of a man shooting himself at a press confrence, a really bizarre picture of a little girl holding a bloody deer leg during deer season, and a picture of an innocent 15-year-old boy that was shot in school over a drug issue. So, would I print these pictures? Right away I knew I was outnumbered. My answer is NO.

Being a Christian, thoughts of God permeate every area of my life-not just some. Somehow, I just knew that God would not want these pictures published. God wants us to dwell on things that are holy, pure, and uplifting. Some things are just not positive, be it music, pictures, movies, books, language, etc. When these things, images in this case, get stuck in your brain, you can't stop thinking about these things- a dangerous place to be in if you ask me. A place that pulls you away from God.

Alot of the students argued that the picture made the story, but I don't think so. If it's an awesome story, the article and headline will speak for itself. Back in the good ol' days they didn't have pictures in newspapers, and guess what-people still bought and read newspapers. Also, as a Christian, I am not pretending that these horrible things are not going on-I fully hearby acknowledge that total crap is going on in the world. But I don't think we need the photos to prove it. I could go on and on about this issue, and I'm sure Bob would love to keep reading, but this blog is getting long. This is enough for today. SO...not to print-that is the answer.

Some clarification

So yesterday's blog mentioned some funny stuff about kids, so I thought that I should probably share at least a few of those funny things:

At a Catholic school, there was a small sign by a pile of apples in the cafeteria. The sign read, "Please take only one apple-God is watching." Some totally funny kid put a sign up farther down the lunch line by the pile of chocolate chip cookies. His sign read, "Go ahead, take as many cookies as you want-God is watching the apples."

A Sunday School teacher asked her students if there was any sort of rule regarding how kids should treat their parents. A little girl replied, "Yes, honor thy mother and father." Later, the teacher asked the kids if there were any rules about how siblings should treat one another. A little boy said, "Yeah, thou shalt not kill."

In school a teacher was teaching her elementary students about whales. The teacher explained that it was physically impossible for whales to swallow people, so they really shouldn't scare the kids. One student raised his hand and said, "Jonah was swallowed by a whale." NO, that couldn't have happened, it's not possible," the teacher responded. Thinking about this for a second, the student said, "Well, when I get to heaven, I'll ask Jonah how it happened." The teacher, playing devil's advocate, asked the student, "What if Jonah didn't go to heaven?" His response- "Then you ask him." classic!

Sunday the 16th

Today I was not at my church, Ephrata Mennonite, because Jason and I went with Mike and Vern to hear Mike and Vern speak at another church. It was pretty cool! They both did a great job. Mike reminded us all about how God wants us to be like children, embracing the love of the father. He told some pretty funny stuff all about kids. Something I struggle with is viewing God as my father. I think a lot of people, myself included, don't have the best examples of an earthly father. So, to equate God with your earthly father doesn't always make much sense. That makes God look pretty lame. Something I'm working on I guess. Vern gave his awesome testimony of how God transformed his life entirely from drug dealer to devoted daddy and man of God. Maybe I can get Vern to help me out by posting his testimony. Good Stuff...

To check out my church & its sermons, visit http://ephratamennonitechurch.com/

The Basics

Just so you know, I will shortly begin to write blogs, piece-by-piece, about what exactly the Mennonite faith is all about. I don't want to write one big blog about that, cause ugh, that's a lot of reading for one time. So, in my own words and from those of the publisher of the booklet from my membership class at Ephrata Mennonite, I'll fill you in! Thanks! :) Have a great day!

Persuasion & Pie

Something irritated me today in the commuter lounge (go figure!) Somebody brought in some Boston Cream Pie to celebrate the occasion of Pi Day, 3.14. He said that he might share if he felt like it and I said something to the effect of, "Oh, I might have to persuade you to share." OF COURSE, he smirked and the guys in the lounge made oral sex gestures. Seriously, do you think I'm that kind of girl?? I would never give someone oral sex for some Boston Cream Pie, are you kidding me? By "persuade" I certainly did not mean any sexual innuendo.

If people would take the time to get to know me, they'd understand that I'm not giving ANYONE oral sex for any reason-it's not who I am. I know that God would not approve of something like that, so I don't do it. When I tell people that I'm not having sex till I'm married, they look at me like I'm retarded. But really, I think it's the world that has been retarded. People took God's perfect plan for sex: one man and one woman-husband and wife-and changed it so it met their desires. I'm positive that sex is awesome in a marriage setting, but certainly not as a means of persuasion, especially for Boston Cream Pie! Just another reminder of how I'm different than alot of people.

Switchfoot: Straight to my heart

I must admit, I was never really a switchfoot fan until their most recent album, "Oh!Gravity." But I'm really in love with their latest album. Last October, my Boyfriend, Mom, (yes, my mom likes switchfoot) and myself went to go see them live at Shippensburg University, and they were just as good live as they were on the CD, which I don't think happens very often, or atleast with the bands I've seen live. We'll, the reason I'm blogging about Switchfoot is because their lyrics really hit home for me. Music has a tendency to do that with me. And yes, in case you did not know, Switchfoot is a Christian band.

A stereotype of Christian music that I really hate is that people think its all hmyn-like. Not the case! In fact, you'd be surprised of the music I have in my car-a lot of heavy rock with lyrics that are not about sex, drugs, and material things. In Short, the Christian music I listen to may be deemed "worship music," but a majority of it just talks about living the Christian life, frustration with this world, and deeper thoughts.

So, what I love about "Oh!Gravity" is that the theme really is all about the futileness of the typical American Dream/materialism. America has this mentality that more stuff will satisfy you, complete you, make you happier. You can buy all you want, but this doesn't work. As a Christian, I think that the only thing that can truly satisfy your soul is knowing that Jesus has got you and your sins covered-something he wants everyone to accept.

In short, here are some of my favorite lines from some of the songs on their album, some of which I feel are the anthem of my heart:

"I wanna live and die for bigger things. I'm tired of fighting for just me. That ain't my American Dream."

"Like a puppet on a monetary string
Maybe we’ve been caught singing
Red, white, blue, and green"

"If you only get one shot, if you only get one life, if time was never on our side, well before I die I wanna burn out bright."

"I wanna wake up kicking and screaming, I want to live like I know what I'm leaving
I want to know that my heart's still beating."

"Everyone I know
Needs love like drugs
Like a common cold
We could never shrug"

"Let your love be strong enough, that I don't care what goes down."

there's like a thousand more I could put up, but this blog is getting too long. See what I mean though, I suppose their lyrics are like "in disguise Christian" lyrics. Have a GREAT weekend everyone! :)

Effective?????

Yesterday Chelsea Clinton came to campus to "converse" with the students. I guess that's a pretty cool idea, but I didn't go because, being the studious student I am, I had to catch-up on some reading for a Lit class. Anyway, I heard that the secret service people were way cooler than Chelsea herself, which is very believable considering they always wear suits and shades, or they always do in the movies, and movies are ALWAYS a reliable source, right? (wink, wink) Kayla later told me, however, that she really didn't see too many secret service people, but they were probably "incognito!"

You can read about Chelsea Clinton coming to LVC Here:
http://http//www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1205373309316350.xml&coll=1

Anyway, seeing as LVC is located in the metropolis of Annville, two elderly people (a couple perhaps?) decided to "protest" the stances Hilary Clinton takes on some issues, specifically gay and lesbian marriage and abortion-issues that have beaten to a pulp into the ground. UGH! I've just been informed that they are "The Jarbos." Thanks Molly! So, continuing on with my story, these protesters are obviously Christians, as evident by the tracks they handed to me and Tony- "Who is Jesus?" and "10 Questions." I suppose that handing out tracks can sometimes be effective, but more about that later.





But what really confused me was that these Jarbos also had signs that read "Hilary is Pro-Homos and Pro-Abortion" as well as something to the affect of "Your sins will be revealed." Christians? Let's get back to basics here people: As Christians, we are to reveal the truth and love of Jesus Christ with just that LOVE! And now I must ask this question: How effective were their condemning signs? Do they really think that by holding fluorescent signs they are going to win people for Christ?

I'm a Christian, and the way I witness to people is to honestly get to know them, see what they believe, what they're all about, then I tell them about myself-all the while respecting that they might think my beliefs are bunk. I know, not everyone believes what I do. Even if they don't, I'm not going to get in their face and tell them they're going to Hell-cause really, is that going to help? NO! I will present the truth with kindness, love and gentleness, no violence-insinuating flurorescent signs necessary. These people give Christianity a bad name- that we're crazy, rioting, argumentative, rude, and pushy people. No- that's not true, I mean, it's not supposed to be. So, this is just one of the ways that people give Christianity a bad name...and that kinda ticks me off!