Living Above the Sun Ministries

One afternoon recently in my quiet time, I've been reading the book Praying the Names of God and was reading about the name Elohim. This particular name of God reminds us that He is God mighty Creator, the one who began it all, the Beginning and the End. In this was His command and will as outlined in Genesis that all trees put forth "fruit with seed." As I read that it struck me, and my mind went straight to the Fruit of the Spirit as found in Galatians. What an interesting thought. Do we ever pause to consider that the fruit we are producing as Christians has seed, and what that means? Oh, it gets me excited! When we produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control where God has placed us it becomes the essence of who we are and how we do ministry. Who we are impacts how we affect people in our ministry. This is how we effectively produce, sow, and even harvest seed. You see when our pastor's though they

"The deepest humility is the source of the truest happiness of a joy that nothing can destroy." -Andrew Murray I have learned that selfless giving is the way into a person’s heart. Jesus knew this too. It is the act of humbly submitting ourselves to another in love. In a world that is selfish, selfless giving shocks another. Sometimes selfishness can even be disguised. Things we as Christians would never label as being selfish suddenly take us away from opportunities to give to another. Such a thing happened to me recently. I left the house to go back to church and just be in a quiet place. I wanted to read my Bible and pray, and maybe talk to a few people back home before band practice started. I got to the church, and it was all locked up. Sometimes I forget that it’s okay to have a life outside of the walls of church and “churchy” things. I’m such a Jesus nerd. It was for good reason the Lord let that happen. I drove to Starbucks and there the Lord gave m

"from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I..." -Psalm 61:2 The above verse has become a favorite verse of mine. The picture of our Shepherd who will rescue us and set us on higher ground brings so much peace to my heart. Yesterday is some of my down time I watched The Hobbit. I love that whole series, and how there are so many Biblical parallels. There is one scene that always gets me, the very last one. The Pale Orc and his army has chased Thorin, his 13 dwarves, Bilbo the hobbit, and Gandalf the Grey wizard to a cliff. Just as they are about to fall off the eagles come in and attack the enemy, and rescue Thorin and his group. They fly all night and are placed on a towering rock which shows them the mountain they have been journeying to is just in sight. I love this scene because in it is this truth: Jesus comes to save us at just the right time, just when we think we can't hang on any longer He

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and it's gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." -Matthew 7:13-14 You want to know how you know you're on the narrow road? If you're called "narrow minded." Ok so that was probably half a joke, but it seems kinda logical to me. I've been in Oregon for the past 2 weeks now as a missionary, and have continuously wanted to blog but there has been so much new that I've had a really hard time soaking it all up and writing. The Pastor my team is working with, Keith Evans and his wife Beverly, took us up to Multnomah Falls. It is so beautiful! I was reminded how awesome our Creator is, not just in the vastness, and power, and beauty of the waterfall, but in every tiny detail. The tiniest flower is as important as the waterfall. Not only that, but the