LIM Stories - 2016

content

Words From The Editor 3O Me! O Life! 4Becky Ostil 5

From a Youth Pastor’s Desk 6 Interruptions

All That's At Stake 7Mary and Martha 8

Identity, Image, and Instagram 9The State of Love 10Beauty Matters 12

Love is Moving Journal & Study 16Feeling Alone? 20Hello From the Other Side 21No Passport Required 22

Trinity Fashion 24 Appropriate and not?

Five Ways To Stay Focused on God 26

On Fire For Worship 27 Encouraging the Art of Worship in our Chruhces

Reset our Viewfinders 28 How To Take Good Pictures On This Summer's Mission Trip

Welcome Home[coming] 30

2 LOVE IS MOVING | JULY/AUGUST 2016

From a Youth Pastor’s Desk

INTERRUPTIONS

Have you ever been interrupted before? One thing that really gets me riled up is when I get interrupted during a really good show or movie! Am I the only one? Let’s just say that with a six-month-old son I rarely make it through anything without being interrupted somehow.

Have you ever had your faith interrupted? Is your faith currently interrupted? Many times in my life I have felt far from God, alone among a crowd of family and friends encouraging me and guiding me back on the right path of a deepening relationship with Jesus.

The reality is that being far from God will always result in the feeling of emptiness. The world has gotten pretty good at finding some counterfeits for filling the void that can only be filled by our loving Creator, but these things always end up creating a larger space to be filled, a bigger gap between us and what we need most.

The beautiful thing I’ve been learning about God is that His heart is always to restore, to recharge, to reset, and to restart! No matter what, His desire is that no one would perish, and that all would have eternal life. That means along the way everyone needs all of these things to happen.

The even more amazing thing is that we don’t even deserve it once! But we have this gift whenever we need it!

Of course, it’s so easy to stray and find yourself in a place you never thought you would be, doing things you never thought you would do. But it’s the act of a loving God who hits the reset button to restore us. After an interruption, it’s God who brings us back to how we were created to be, recharges our call and restarts the work

He created us to do.

Wherever you are at in your relationship with God, however old you are, we all need this sequence in our life. We all fall short, we all get interrupted and we all miss the mark.

What is the dream that is hidden in your heart? What have you been created to do? Who have you been created to reach? How have you been created to do these things?

Every day we are given the opportunity to humble ourselves and allow God to nudge us back on track and give us the tools we need to succeed.

Are you interrupted? Ask God to step in and hit the reset button.

Nathan and Sarah White

Damian Zaleski / unsplash.com

6 LOVE IS MOVING | JULY/AUGUST 2016

Identity, Image, and Instagram

How much time do you spend scrolling the newsfeeds on Facebook and Twitter, or posing for the perfect selfie on Instagram, hoping your post will get likes and comments from your friends and followers? To get those likes, you post what is – according to social media standards – pretty, popular and acceptable.

You hide the messy parts of your life, play up the fun times and maybe even twist the truth a bit so you look a little more interesting. But is the identity you are presenting an authentic view of your real self?

Deep within our souls, we long for validation. We want to be liked. We all have that need to be accepted. That need is rooted deep within us, and it stems from our need for Christ. Our souls long for completion through an intimate relationship with Him.

It’s not really the number of likes. What you’re truly looking for is to be accepted and loved (or liked). That type of love and acceptance can only come from having a relationship with the Creator of the universe who loves you regardless of the number of likes you have on Facebook or the number of followers on Instagram.

Social media has an increasingly stronger role in our notions of value, worth and identity. We live in a world where the

number of likes and retweets can too easily steer our sense of self-worth and send it flailing in different directions. This is a spiritual problem.

Although social media has its benefits, it can become another tool to deceive us with the oldest of lies, that we are what others think we are, not who God made us to be.

Maintaining this false sense of identity is a gravitational force pulling our hearts away from Christ. But we can’t allow social media to overshadow our identity in Christ. Social media doesn’t define your worth. The number of likes you get on a picture or the number of views you get on your Snapchat story have zero correlation with your value.

It’s time to drop the masks and embrace our true identity in Christ. Go ahead, close your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, spend time in the Bible and pray that God would empower you to live knowing that you are fearfully and wonderfully made regardless of how many choose to like your pictures and statuses.

“

It’s time to drop the masks and embrace our true identity in Christ.

Candace Maxymowich

Described as peace seeker, resilient, and human

Jay Wennington / unsplash.com

JULY/AUGUST 2016 | LOVE IS MOVING 9

The Stateof Love

I

still believe in love But how can I When I look at the world it’s hard to deny When I see it with my own eyes That the lives of babies are on a steady decline?

I’m inclined to think love has left us I’m inclined to think infant euthanasia would be a step up Dancing around the truth so we dab around a gushing wound Destined to bleed out while waiting for soon While we’re waiting for someday or some place There’s someone waiting for us to see that we do not add up to the sum of one

Our tears don’t seep into the concrete for no reason But being cemented in the rock will help us through those seasons Love moves, it cannot stay stagnant When it’s truly realized it has the power to shift a planet

I love you, you love me All those childhood weekday afternoons and we still don’t understand it And that’s not our fault We always acted “good” when we needed something, so love was always synonymous with “action”

10 LOVE IS MOVING | JULY/AUGUST 2016

FEELING ALONE?

God can work with that

Loneliness is a scary word. Though many

of us wouldn’t admit it, loneliness is something we’ve probably all felt or dreaded feeling. If you’re experiencing it now, take the courage to admit to yourself that it’s real.

Maybe you’ve had a recent move to a new city, or switched churches and don’t know anyone yet. Or maybe you’ve experienced the loss of a relationship.

One of the main ways we experience loneliness is feeling we don’t belong or we aren’t being part of something. In the church community, we have a habit of saying, “But you’re never alone. God is always with you!” There is an incredible truth to that, but when we are in the depths of feeling alone, such a blanket statement can be hard to take in.

“Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” says Isaiah 41:10.

This is a promise. So, how does that pan out when you feel your prayers aren’t being

"It’s an opportunity to experience the perfection of relationship with God"

answered and your desperate cries to God are met with silence?

The problem is we see a black and white answer as to how God can help us feel better. Maybe the answer is for you to find new friends, to move back to your old home, or get back to your high school friends. Or maybe God is just asking you to stay and be still in His presence.

Loneliness can actually draw you to God – whether you feel He’s with you at the time or not. When no one else can satisfy your need to feel loved, validated or a part of something, sometimes that’s when we are drawn to the one and only relationship that can satisfy all those needs.

Although people usually talk about loneliness as something to be avoided at all costs, actually loneliness is useful. Feeling alone is an opportunity to allow God to fill you more than you have ever been in your life. It’s an opportunity to experience the perfection of relationship with God, who would do anything to encourage and develop your character to become more like Christ – even allowing you to feel alone.

In that place of loneliness, choose to trust. Trust that God will fill your needs. Trust that He is enough, even when you can’t feel Him there. Trust that in His timing He will restore you. In the meantime, learn from the pain of loneliness and draw closer to Him.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:6-10).

Emily Cook

Described as genuine, kind-to-a-fault, and “probably in the top 7 funniest people my friends know.”

Greg Rakozy / unsplash.com

20 LOVE IS MOVING | JULY/AUGUST 2016

Hello from the other side

It is 4:15 a.m. The blaring alarm stings my ears. I have no choice but to get up off my bed and get ready. As I look at my suitcase for the last time I rehearse in my head all I need to bring. I am packing to start a new life miles away. As I wave my last goodbye to my parents and make my way through the gate to board the plane, it finally dawns on me what is actually happening.

I’ve heard it said before, “If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” I don’t think I understood that quote untilI said goodbye to all that was comfortable and familiar. I think many times we desire to say “hello” to what is new; whether it is a new set of friends, a new environment, a new identity or a new way of thinking, but often the fear of “goodbye” is greater. We only rob ourselves of what could be.

There is a story in the Bible about this, the story of Lot and his wife. Lot was the nephew of Abraham. Lot and his family had to leave the city where they lived because God was about to destroy it for rebellion. The angel of God very strictly

told Lot and his family to walk and not to turn back. Lot walked forward but his wife, in a split second, looked back and instantly became a pillar of salt. When we resist the need to move forward, we can look a lot like Lot’s wife.

When I contemplated moving to Belize for medical school, it scared me for months. Fear paralyzed me. Fear gripped my mind and heart. I could only think of what I might lose or what could possibly go wrong.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind” (1Timothy 1:7). That scripture became my saving grace. I had heard it before, but I needed to hear it again. I needed it to sink down where my heart was trapped by fear, and release me from the prison of illusion. Fear really is “false evidence appearing real.” Remember, when fear says you have no control, power gives you the authority to control what is necessary (Luke 10:19). When fear says you will be hated and rejected, love gives you the

"God has given me all that I ever needed to not only survive, but also thrive!"

ability to connect with God and man (John 13:35). When fear sends you confusing thoughts, a sound mind makes you capable to make good decisions (1 Cor2:16).

Fear wanted me to believe I would be unable to survive but God has given me all that I ever needed to not only survive, but also thrive! I may be saying goodbye to what I am comfortable with – maybe you are in a place where you have to as well – but never forget the most important thing: God is with you in your “goodbye” as well as in your “hello.” He will not leave you. Neither will He abandon you. It is just not in His nature.

Rosemond Ennin

Described as funny, caring, and reflective

Kazuend / unsplash.com

21 LOVE IS MOVING | JULY/AUGUST 2016