over the walls

God doesn't believe in boxes.

God pays no attention to the boxes we create, no-

In fact, he came to abolish these boxes.

Jesus got in trouble for stuff like this a lot, we read about it in the gospels. 

Like, he was hanging out with those people.

The "unbelievers."

The "sinners". 

And the Pharisees were all like, "Come on, what's your deal? These people aren't Christians. They're not spiritual. They're outsiders."

And Jesus? 

He essentially proceeds to blow all their labels to pieces- declaring that "he came for them".

For the broken.

The busted.

The "Outsiders".

Jesus never labeled them anything other than his beloved. The ones whom he came to rescue and redeem.

He didn't stab an accusing finger at them and scream "Sinner!" or "Unsaved!" or "Outsider!"

No.

Jesus never did this.

And if Jesus- who is the pure, unabridged expression and person of God -didn't label people like this?

If Jesus didn't point out "sinners",

and didn't call people "outsiders", 

What on earth makes us think that we should?

What makes us think that we should judge?

When Jesus explicitly tells us, in John's brilliant book, that he came for the whole world-

the whole world, as in,

me,

you,

the drunk on the street,

your pastor,

the messed up kid in rehab,

your youth group leader,

the criminal on death row-

that kind of whole world.

Literally everyone.

In fact, later on, in the book of Acts, Peter gets this revelation- when God speaks to him, saying "Don't call unclean, what I have made clean."

This wasn't just about animals. This, for Peter, had deep, infinite meaning, 

and this is why he declares to Cornelius the next day, when he falls at Peter's feet, that "I am but a man also." aka, "We're equals."

There was no 'holier than thou' or 'in > out' crowd scenario.

No, Peter boldly declares that God is no respecter of persons.

That he loves us all. Has cleansed us all.

God wanted Peter to know that he wasn't okay with some of his children being called "sinners" and "outsiders".

Jesus died on the cross with and for us all- not just some. 

Jesus wasn't okay with the labels Peter had started to allow to slip into his thinking.
He wasn't okay with it then,

and he's not okay with it now.

Jesus sees everyone through love. And God's desire is for us to see things from his point of view.

Because our identity is in him.

And in him? There are no boxes.

No labels.

No dividers.

In this brilliant book called Genesis, it's written that Joseph- a type of Christ -is " a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall"

Jesus told us that he is the vine.

He is the fruitful vine that runs- unstoppable -over all of our walls- reaching and entangling absolutely everyone.

He never built the walls.

We built the walls.

But Jesus doesn't even pay attention to them.

He goes over them.

And he invites us to join him.

..Just a few thoughts.

price tag

Had to share this... <3



Donate here

scandal of grace

I can't even explain how much I absolutely love this song. It's beyond words. <3




Grace, what have You done?
Murdered for me on that cross
Accused in absence of wrong
My sin washed away in Your blood
 Too much to make sense of it all
I know that Your love breaks my fall
The scandal of grace,
You died in my place
So my soul will live

Oh to be like You
Give all I have just to know You
Jesus, there's no one besides You
Forever the hope in my heart

Death, where is your sting?
Your power is as dead as my sin
The cross has taught me to live
And mercy, my heart now to sing
The day and its trouble shall come
I know that Your strength is enough
The scandal of grace,
You died in my place
So my soul will live

Oh to be like You
Give all I have just to know You
Jesus, there's no one besides You
Forever the hope in my heart

And it's all, because of You, Jesus
It's all, because of You, Jesus
It's all, because of Your love
That my soul will live

Oh to be like You
Give all I have just to know You
Jesus, there's no one besides You
Forever the hope in my heart

today (again)

Today I discovered that I absolutely love Hillsong United.



...Need I say more?

-Kate

something incredibly exciting...

So, you can read a lot more about this HERE (at my other blog- Dream Sailor), but my favorite Jesus-loving bands is doing a kickstarter project for the release of their new album, and I would like to ask, implore and quite possibly get down on my knees and full on beg you to pledge to the project and spread the word via your blog, facebook, twitter, smoke-signal network- whatever.

It would mean SO much.

Check it out below- and if you've never heard their music? *tense, epic, pause* You. Need. To. Like, right now. Urgently.
In fact here- put on your best pair of headphones and listen:



Yeah. Exactly.

Now pledge here, pretty please with cherries on top:



Love,
Kate

fix m y e y e s . . .

H I T   R E W I N D 

(click delete)

I'm face

 TOFACE 

[with a younger me]

a l l   o f   t h e   m i s t a k e s ,

all of the heartbreaks-

here's what i'd do 

d i f f e r e n t l y : 

I'd fight for the weak ones-

{speak out for freedom.}

Live life for another,

take time for a brother,

I'd love like I'm not scared-

give when it's not fair

find faith in the battle-

stand tall but above it all:

I'll fix m y  e y e s 
on  y  o  u 



(IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG.)
(Love these guys!)
(http://www.forkingandcountry.com/)
(-Kate)

proverbs four

The title says it all!

Like Jesus told Martha in the gospels, the one and ONLY thing we need is HIM.

Cling to Him, to his wisdom and his understanding.

Because if you lean on your own 'wisdom' and experiences? It will never work. For we have died with Christ- and it's no longer 'we' that live. IT'S ALL HIM!

So how can be possibly lean on anything other than Him? Nothing else exists BUT HIM.

He is all that we are and all that we need.

We are nothing other than what he says we are in the word.

He has nothing more to say about us than what he already said in Jesus!

That we are clean, beautiful, righteous, pure and married to HIM!

So I can and will strive to settle my mind and heart- knowing that I can rest in my true identity which is simply Christ in me- the hope of glory!

He put the color in our eyes

A few quick thoughts-
It should never become to us a simple and foundational thing, to ponder with infinete wonder and awe the awesomeness of who we are in Christ.
For he himself formed us in our mothers womb, put the color in our eyes and breathed the air into our lungs.
Christ designed us to be a living breathing reflection of himself!
We were not made to mimic the behavior of mere humans but to reflect and mimic and dance in- live in the divinity of our Christ realities!

today

Today I stand before a mass of beauty- inexpressible. Complete and for the enjoying.
I delight in being overwhelmed by this finished work of Christ.
I rest in Him, knowing that all things are being revealed to me.
I delight in being a silly, happy child; open and trusting and pure. Hanging on His every word.
I strive to not become brain-bound- too intellectual. I toss reason to the wind.
Today I embrace to awesomeness of Christ and the depth and height of his character inside of and around and throughout me.
So let us relax and scribble and sing and simply delight in Him this day.
It's His day and He's in love with us.

-Kate

today's reads

Today I was kind of aimlessly flipping around in The Message, letting God show me what I should read this morning; I ended up reading most of Jonah chapter one and some of chapter two, which rocks the Bolder, CO in the Message, especially this part- have a read:

^1-9 Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed:
   "In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God.
   He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, 'Help!'
   You heard my cry.
You threw me into ocean's depths,
   into a watery grave,
With ocean waves, ocean breakers
   crashing over me.
I said, 'I've been thrown away,
   thrown out, out of your sight.
I'll never again lay eyes
   on your Holy Temple.'
Ocean gripped me by the throat.
   The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
My head was all tangled in seaweed
   at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
I was as far down as a body can go,
   and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive,
   O God, my God!
When my life was slipping away,
   I remembered God,
And my prayer got through to you,
   made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds,
   walk away from their only true love.
But I'm worshiping you, God,
   calling out in thanksgiving!
And I'll do what I promised I'd do!
   Salvation belongs to God!"

...I just love that. I JUST LOVE THAT.
I mean, seriously. "You pulled me up from that grave alive" --we were raised with Him. <3
In awe.

Take From Jesus

My sister forwarded this devotional to me today- and it was totally uplifting, inspiring and downright exciting to me!
Our God is amazing and I can't help but be head-over-heels in love with him. This totally boosted me:

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41–42

Take From Jesus

You know the story—Martha was busy serving Jesus while her sister, Mary, sat at His feet and drew from Him words of life. Martha didn’t like it that Mary wasn’t helping her, so she complained about it to Jesus.
Who do you think Jesus defended? He defended Mary.
Many believers think that it’s better to give than to receive. Now, that’s true in our relationships with people. But when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, it’s better to RECEIVE from Him than to try to give to Him! Jesus describes Himself as the “bread of life”, in essence telling us that He wants us to partake of Him and receive from Him all the nourishment, strength, healing, provision and abundant life we can take!
Beloved, our Lord loves it when we take from Him. That’s why Mary pleased Jesus. So I encourage you to be a Mary today. Our loving Savior loves it when we draw from His unending reservoir of strength, wisdom, favor, peace and life!

Resurrection

Happy Resurrection day!
Jesus has redeemed us, embraced us and loves us beyond all comprehension. How can you help but fall in love with Him?

So my family and I were watching The Passion last night (my favorite film ever) and so I thought I'd share some of the stunning music with you guys (and also the trailer in case you haven't already seen it...even if you have seen it, you should just watch it again anyway. Chills every time. <3).

I found an awesome verse as well that I really want to share with you guys too, but that will be it's own post, hopefully later today.

In the mean time, HAVE A HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY- AND REJOICE IN WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!










And feel free to shoot over to my personal blog to check out this amazing video I came across called "Resurrection". Must watch. SO powerful. God is Awesome!

REJOICE!
-Sailor

Why Good Friday is Good

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him"

That, my friends, in the very essence of why we celebrate Good Friday- because Jesus' death was our redemption.

His suffering was our healing,

His sacrifice was our liberation,

His sorrow was our joy,

and His death was our life!

So rejoice in the life we all have here and now in Christ Jesus, for as Paul wrote:

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:4)

It's not about what we've done, but about what He did.

The cross is a love story.

 

Keep your eyes open

This morning's reads: Luke 11.29-36:

^29-30As the crowd swelled, he took a fresh tack: "The mood of this age is all wrong. Everybody's looking for proof, but you're looking for the wrong kind. All you're looking for is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. But the only proof you're going to get is the Jonah-proof given to the Ninevites, which looks like no proof at all. What Jonah was to Nineveh, the Son of Man is to this age.
 ^32-31"On Judgment Day the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about 'proofs.' On Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that condemns this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon's is right in front of you, and you quibble over 'evidence.'
 ^33-36"No one lights a lamp, then hides it in a drawer. It's put on a lamp stand so those entering the room have light to see where they're going. Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don't get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room."

new look

So I haven't been blogging here in eons, but that's all about to change (WOOT).
I messed around with the layout, and I have to admit, I totally dig it.

...And you know what else rocks? Resurrection Day is THIS SUNDAY.
My favorite holiday. EVER.

Because It's SO much more than just a holiday- Jesus' Resurrection is the very essence of who we are.

I'll be blogging about it every day up until then. Maybe even more than once a day. We'll see. ;)

But be sure to follow- the follow buttons and all the goodness are waaay down at the very bottom of this page. So yeah. Start scrollin'.

In Him,
Sailor

photographs

will be betrayed

^17-19Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve off to the side of the road and said, "Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive." -Matthew 20

I've been reading and rereading this scripture a lot lately, wondering many things, but mainly, I cannot stop asking myself:


What did the disciples think?


How did they respond to that?


What were their face expressions?


What did they say- if they even spoke at all?


Matthew doesn't answer any of these questions for me.
So, I sort of answer them for myself by putting myself in their place,


Imagining Jesus Christ, Son of God, My personal savior, turning to me and telling me about his soon-to-come, graphic, violent death for the salvation of the world.


...I'm not sure how I'd respond.


But I think we should keep in mind the kind of relationship the disciples had with Jesus.


I mean, these 12 guys (plus many other followers) were with Jesus throughout his entire 3 year ministry.


They were there when Jesus stood in the temple and spoke those astounding words "destroy this temple and I'll rebuild it in three days!"


They were by His side when he called a dead man out of his tomb.


They were there to watch Him restore sight to a blind man.


They hung on every word he spoke,


saw every step he took,


every act of love,


every compassionate look


and now...


...Now they were wondering if they were going to watch this totally dynamic, beautiful, God-in-the-flesh savior of the universe ...die.


I mean, did they wonder if that was even possible? Could "The Light of the World" perish on a cross?


How could this happen?


I can practically see the gears in their minds whirling.


And I can't say that I blame them; I'd probably feel the same way.


But, the disciples, though they feared to imagine it, did witness their worst nightmare come true before their very eye: They would watch their best friend and teacher give up his life on the cross; dying the most brutal, and horrific death imaginable.


Though, as, Jesus explained to them at the last supper in John's gospel; They didn't understand now, but they would understand later.
And that their sadness would soon transform into joy.


True.


But, this was their best friend telling them this. Telling them that they would soon watch Him die.


...And stunningly, the disciple's responses are not written. We have no idea how they reacted.


So within this 'Biblical Blackout' we have have this brilliant opportunity to turn the table here and put ourselves in their sandals.


The opportunity to look into Jesus' eyes and absorb His first person, preface of His own death. In His own words.


The death He would die...for us.

don't cave in

Jesus has a way of totally blowing my mind. In a totally good and awesome way.


Frequently, I will let my bible fall open in my lap and read whatever it opens to.


This happened yesterday: Matthew 10. Shoot the Moon.

I really feel like sometimes we unconsciously estrange ourselves from the bible.
We often view it as a "Holy Book", an "Instruction Manual" or even a "History Book".


We're missing it.

It's not a 'book', it's a person,

It's not an 'instruction manual', it's life,

and it's certainly not a 'history book', it's a love letter.

A love letter to us.

Matthew 10 speaks to me in a very profound way; It's all about the cross. The death and the Resurrection and what that means exactly for us.

Jesus is sending the disciples out, explaining that they're now part of something truly radical and that the world is going to hate them for that, but to be of good cheer because they are, quiet literally in God, and nothing can change that or shake the core of who they are.

We, also, are Jesus' disciples. He's talking to us too. He knew we'd eventually be reading Matthew 10. (Of course.) So I take this extremely personal.

Jesus is love


and he was hated for that in the world.


And because we are one with Jesus, one with God, we will also be hated and rejected by the world.

So when we see the world hating us,

rejecting us,

fighting us,

we know we're on the right track. Because "They hated me too" Jesus tells us.


(From The Message)
"When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit. Don't cave in."


"Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands."


I have experienced all of the above, and I feel so encouraged by these verses because God himself, Jesus Christ is telling us, that the world will hate us, but that we don't have to fear, or back down, or shut up, because our lives are in his hands; He is living inside of us and we are living inside of Him: Totally One with God. He is working in and through us on this Earth. His voice is our voice.


So...


be a rainbow in a grayscale world.

Desensitized

“…Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit…”

　

　
…Did you ever get that “I’m missing something” feeling?

Like when you misplace a pen and search around for it for ten minutes only to find that it was right behind your ear the whole time?

I get that feeling. A lot.

Especially when I’m reading scripture, and especially when I’m reading scriptures like the one above;

…It’s like I’m missing something that’s before my very eyes. Literally.

I know what you’re thinking; Every Christian knows the story of the Cross: Jesus came to Earth, Lived, died and saved us from our sins. End of story.

I’ve heard it told like that countless times.

But I believe the Cross is far more than that;

Because the Cross isn’t a pass-tense noun,

It’s a present-tense verb.

It’s an action. It’s a radical act of love beyond human comprehension.

And that’s what this blog is all about; We’re studying the cross for the verb that it is; ever present in our lives and in all that we do.

We hear sermons about the Cross on good Friday and Easter, we read it in the scripture, we sing songs about it, we even wear it around our necks.

It’s safe to say, we’ve become desensitized.

I’ve noticed it in myself, as I read the last chapters of John; I know the verses so well and I remember exactly what happens from Gethsemane right through to the Resurrection.

…That’s what scares me.

Because when we read the text for the stereotype image of the cross, we are seriously missing it.

Because throughout the gospels, we see that Jesus is totally dynamic; every word He speaks has interminable

meaning, oceans of wisdom flowing from His every action, from His every thought.

And it doesn’t stop at the cross.

So this blog is all about sensitizing ourselves to the Cross and looking at it from a totally different, fresh perspective.

Because this is a love story of terrible beauty.

In fact,

It’s the story of us.