Click Here for Change

Grrrr. I am waiting for the (lots and lots of) new songs I just downloaded to finish uploading to my iPod. And it is taking a really long time. And I begin to complain (inside, because no one is around to hear and give me sympathy). And the Holy Spirit begins to convict me…and it reminds me that I often get impatient with how long it takes me to change in one area or another. So many times I can read something in Scripture or hear a message – “download” – and wish the application or change – “upload” – would be complete and instantaneous. I quickly find an annoying error popping up saying “Download Incomplete.” Then I can be tempted to give up…except that I remember that God has provided so many Tech Supports (far more than Apple ever could!) to help me along the way. Enter Next.*

Change may not come nearly as quickly as I would like – I’m a sinner saved by grace and one who will not be able to “upload” what I learn and know at all times. But God is faithful and will finish the good work He began in me!

* Important notice: Next, and those affiliated with Next, do not pretend that this conference can in any way, shape or form change an individual’s heart. Only the Holy Spirit can accomplish this. The conference is simply intended to be a means of grace – a tool or a help – in informing, teaching and training. Next is not affiliated with Apple – use Apple products at your own risk.

(C’mon, it wouldn’t have been complete without a disclaimer! :-))

(originally written for the Next 09 blog)

Marriage: ONE man, ONE woman

Well, for those of you I haven't forced to listen to a rundown of my day last Friday, read on! =) I was able to help out with a breakfast John Stemberger hosted for Central Florida pastors regarding the upcoming marriage amendment. It was soooooo amazing and I learned SO much! I took lots of notes but there's no way to communicate everything that was shared in the four plus hours of presentations! (I hope to soon post some of the things I've learned, though.)

As Danny reminded us Sunday, there is very little time left before the state will vote on Amendment 2...25 days to be exact! This is not a cultural "issue" but a challenge to God's direct mandate for marriage to be between a man and a woman. Yes2Marriage needs your help to communicate this - to get the word out and inform the voters of the opportunity we have on November 4th to fight something God hates (not the people - the sin!) and protect what He loves (the sinner - not the sin!).

Metro Life Church will be hosting a phone bank every weeknight from 6-9pm and on Saturdays from 10am-1pm. A phone bank is where you call people from a list and leave a short message on their voicemail or have a simple and short conversation with the person who answers. It's not difficult, everything is spelled out for you and basic training will be given when you arrive. And you can come as often as you can or just once if that's all you're able to do. I hope to be there often and would love to make history happen with all of you (think about it - what would the future of Florida look like with gay marriages? How will this affect your family? Do you know? I didn't. More on that to come =).

If you're closer to First Baptist of Orlando, they have a super-cool system set up so you'll have to tell me what it's like. =) If you're in our area and you'd like to help, leave a comment here or email me at jenniferlightfoot@gmail.com. If you are outside of our area, click here to find out how you can get involved in your community or county - I don't think we realize how desperately these individuals who are leading this cause appreciate our time.

Believe it or not, there are people who don't know about this amendment! Florida is the only state that requires 60% to pass and polls are showing we're about 50-something%...Your call could make or break it!

Below are some pictures from Friday...

John Stemberger: "Watch me now!" Really, he was amazing - never heard him speak before. God has really gifted him in this...

Jannique Stewart works with First Care Family Resources gave an amazing presentation on HIV/AIDS in Florida. You would be shocked with some of the stats. For example, FL is 3rd in the nation with the number of people living with AIDS; 1 in every 188 people in CENTRAL FL! are living with AIDS/HIV; since 2004 - FL had the 2nd highest HIV/AIDS incidence among kids 13-19, and Seminole County is 5th out of 67 FL counties of HIV/Aids. Wow.

It's true...

At the end of the morning, the group gathered around John & Olivia and prayed for them (see Danny on the far left? =).
And then...the press conference. =) Oh yes. I was so excited. It was a real live press conference with the mics on the podium and everything. TWO stations, four media people (all with their little notebooks taking notes =) and a whole lotta me taking pictures.

Go, John, go! The footage aired on the 5pm news Friday night!

In my spare time...

I will be spending some spare time here, at the Biblical Study Group blog. Recently, a study was just finished on prayer (the first post here, with a link to the Spurgeon article) and before that, on the holiness of God. We are beginning a study on the book of Ephesians on Monday if you want to follow along!!

Oh yes, thank you to all of you for your amazingly kind and precious comments. We are so overwhelmed by the number of people who have been praying for us as a family and for Joshua's salvation in particular. We had no idea! And still you continue to let us know how affected you are by his testimony, remembering words you've had and shared with us or him, etc. Our family just cannot comprehend it all and we are so blessed. I know Joshua appreciates your continued prayers as he begins the Christian life. What a blessing our church family has been to us all! We love you!

I gave in...

I am soooooooooooooooooooooo, so, so, so excited!!! I finally got my new ESV Bible!!! I have been holding out for years until they come out with the ESV Leather Study Bible. Until then, I was determined to use my current Bible - an NIV.

It has been hard to think of getting a new Bible when so many Scriptures were underlined. I can look back over the past 10 years (my parents gave it to me when I was 18!!!) and see some of the ways God used those very Scriptures in my life - and multiple times! It has traveled to many New Attitudes, Celebrations and Xtreme conferences with me. It has been read through several times - cover to cover (most recently, this past year with the Metro Mom's Blog). It has attended countless Undivided and Deluge and Sunday morning meetings with me. And it has gotten more and more use over the past few years as my hunger for the words it contains has grown. It is so worn that I can hand you many portions of it - yep! The pages are literally falling out in chunks. I love to see the expression on people's faces when I ask them if they'd "like a Psalm" and hand them 20 or 30 that are still attached. :o)

And that is why I decided to cave. It was becoming challenging, even in my quiet times, to use it without the pages starting to tear. But why the deliberation? Why not just get a new Bible? Part of it is sentimental...and part of it is out of a desire to not commercialize something so precious. There are millions of people who read Scripture in "chunks" like my Bible has become - because they would be beaten if it was found in their home...or because they have no money...or because they aren't readily available at the closest bookstore...or because it's not yet fully translated. So maybe it was out of respect for those who cannot that I did not. I want my Bible to be a treasure and something that tells my personal story through all the notes and underlinings and worn pages...not just the latest cute cover or great version. All that is to say...I'm very excited about this - even though it's bittersweet! :o)

Now, my good friend Janine Warner excitedly kept me up to date with when the Leather Study Bible would come out. Recently, I found out that it was due out in October (perfect timing, huh??? :o). So, my plan is to get that one and use it at home for my quiet times - and hopefully it will last for decades...long enough to tell my children of the Gospel from its pages and pass on to them.

(wow, totally didn't mean for this to be such a long post!!!)

**update: i do not intend for this to come across as self-righteous or condemning...i just wanted to share my excitement. :o/ **

Respectable Sins

I (fiiiiiiiinally) started reading this book by Bridges the other day and am loving it! I can't wait to read the next chapter! I came across this quote that just summarizes what sin is:

"It is not just the breaking of a single command; it is a complete disregard for the law of God, a deliberate rejection of His moral will in favor of fulfilling one's own desires." (p. 20)

Wow. All sin. My sin. It is a DELIBERATE rejection. It's a rejection of His good and perfect will, plan and purpose. It is a rejection based on the motivation of doing what I want to do. It is placing my desires and preferences above His.

The fact that I'm stopped short by this definition clearly shows how much I've bought into our culture's lies that soften sin and make it less of the offense that it is. Wow. Off to read the next chapter...

He Took Our Punishment...

Real quick, a story.

So the other night I was watching my girly-girls which is always a favorite for me. This night in particular was quite hysterical. Ask me (if I haven't told you already) about the very interesting diaper Kenzers gave me. It was lots of...fun.

As I was putting the girls to bed, we were reading the most amazing children's Bible (a plug - every family needs this version). The girls were telling me the story they had just read when Jesus died on the cross. They started asking me questions (well, Katelyn did....Hallye just, well, she just did Hallye-stuff ;o) about why He had to die and why He didn't want to die. Me and my big mouth (shut up, Kathy ;o) decided to try my hand at explaining. So I came up with the amazing illustration of how Jesus had to take our punishment for our sin which would be like Katelyn telling Mommy that she would take Hallye's discipline for her. Hallye's ears perked up right about then and said she thought that would be great! Then we asked Hallye what she thought about doing that for Sissy and getting a discipline that SHE deserved. Hallye was quiet for a minute and then said, "No, I would scream."

I will leave you with that and the knowledge that I shall not try to explain the Gospel to children under five right now. ;o)

'Next Blog'.......no more!

So recently it was brought to my attention that you can easily find inappropriate sites (even through Blogger) by clicking on the 'Next Blog' arrow at the top of most Blogger blogs! Not good!!!! So, someone found a solution! If you want to get rid of that ability, go to your 'Edit HTML' page and scroll down to the section under 'Footer'.

You'll see this line: /** Page structure tweaks for layout editor wireframe */

Right under it you'll see this line: body#layout #header {

Replace it with this (you'll just have to put this sign '<' at the beginning of each of these three words and the '>' at the end of each of the three): noscript body /noscript

And there ya have it! A blog safe enough for the littlest ears in your family….oh good grief! :o)

For those of you without blogs, I'll post somethin' else soon. ;o)

Desiring God!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note that TODAY and TOMORROW Desiring God Ministries is discounting all their books to $5! This is an amazing savings, so I just thought I'd letcha know about it. :o)

Happy reading!