because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
(Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 NIV)
Living Out loud: little me BIG GOD by Karin Sylvester Soderstrom. Anything that is good that comes from me...is NOT ME... it is GOD! The things He PUTS in my PATH constantly keep me in awe. I am just a common woman with more shortcomings and sin than I thought HE had the Grace for! I WAS WRONG! There is no QUOTA on Grace, just stop putting Him in a box!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Work together
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
(Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 NIV)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
change. where's the fruit?
So what good is it to expose all this "weakness" and share it with you? Paul's words.in his vision and His Thorn
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I have to claim that I don't believe it is because of any great revelation that my "thorns" have not been removed but I do believe that God's wisdom is to use me, thorns and all. I do admit that my greatest fear sometimes is that I keep "defects" he wants to remove to NOT FEEL. That is a circular pattern and my honesty will depend on my TRUE faith.
The mirror of truth --do I really want to look? I can use scripture all day to justify anything but is it in context with the truth?
I'm not sure I have the courage but listen to this song and tell me what you think.
I love the lyrics.......
I love the lyrics.......
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
104.7 The Fish - Celebrate Freedom - Joseph Christie - Lose My Life
Help TrueNorth Church win $10,000 for our land offering! Watch the video below by TNC worship leader Joseph Christie, and then share it with your friends. If this video gets enough views, Joseph will be a finalist in a contest to win. You can get more information at the link below, but remember: Watch. Share. Watch again. Share again. Etc.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
RIP ERIC for his family...i love u
Eric Dale
Phillips July 21, 2010
I am so at a loss for the right words to say right now. My
dear friend just had her son murdered and even though I know they will meet
again the pain is enormous for their family and friends. These were not casual
acquaintances I knew Mom and Dad for years and took them to TNC TrueNorth
Church (my church) and Facedown (our communion service) twice. I worked for the for them for
years...Grandfather John and Brother of Ingried., Hank ...friends I love. Other
family I love. I pray they keep faith IN God....Eric was recently saved. My
GOD.....HELP! He had 2 kids one 10 day old baby. My dear friend has now lost
son and brother to addiction.
RIP Eric Phillips my dear friend’s son, 21 who was murdered
last week in drug robbery. My dear friend INGY, you will see him again in
paradise, amazing he was baptized and saved before he was shot. GOD is awesome
even when everything fall apart.
Eric Dale Phillips
Aiken Standard)
7/23/2010 11:15 PM
BARNWELL -- Eric Dale Phillips, 21, of Barnwell, passed away
July 21, 2010.
Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 25,
2010, at the Mole Funeral Home Chapel; burial will follow in the Barnwell Co.
Memorial Cemetery at the airport. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday
at Mole Funeral Home.
He is survived by father, Larry Ansley Phillips Jr.; mother,
Ingried Hanniford Phillips; children, Owen Michael and Shawn Cole Phillips;
brothers, Larry Chad and John Mitchell Phillips; grandparents, John H.
Hanniford III, Carolyn Reynolds, Debbie Johnson and Larry Ansley Phillips Sr.;
uncles, Danny Phillips and Hank Hanniford; aunt, Tonya Vincent; cousins, Sandra
Morris, Rachal, Ethan and Taylor Hanniford, Zackery Phillips, Morgan, Justin
and Christopher Vincent and Kevin Sikes; and many other family members and loving
friends. He was preceded in death by his uncle, Johnny Hanniford.
Memorial website
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
PANIC AND PEACE IN SAME HOUSE: me!
I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I LIVE ON THE EDGE (SOMETIMES OVER THE EDGE) OF SUCH PANIC AND ANXIETY WHEN I AM A CHRIST FOLLOWER. I SUPPOSE IT'S PART OF MY THORN BUT IT REALLY UNNERVES ME...AND THOSE AROUND ME. AREN'T OTHERS SUPPOSED TO RECOGNIZE ME BY MY FRUIT? I TELL YOU THIS BECAUSE I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT GOD'S LOVE FOR ME AND I CERTAINLY CAN'T BE ALONE. WE ALL HAVE STUFF...DON'T WE? WHY IS MINE SO PAINFULLY OBVIOUS...MAKES ME LOOK LIKE A HYPOCRITE ALL THE TIME, LIKE MANY OTHER THINGS IN MY LIFE. IT HURTS.
JUST A TOUGH MOMENT.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Writing my way into an intimate relationship with God.
Writing my way into an intimate relationship with God.
After more than 20 years of writing I have discovered some really self-disclosing information about myself and my relationship with God. It’s kind of the opposite of the CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters,
with a KARIN TWIST. It’s me and all my daemons begging for God to answer (at that time any God! that would fix me!)waiting and searching for an answer. AA SAID PRAY!
With the exclusions of “diary’s and young teenage journals I was taught to write in letter form. Twenty four years ago I became a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and still couldn’t concentrate for more than 20 secondsflat in “formal praying”. I said I didn’t know what to say or who to say it to anyway. The idea of a “God to my understanding” quickly formed into a god of my
convenience.
convenience.
I was scared and desperate
The best help and direction I got was from a sweet a dear woman who shared this: SOLUTION TO MY DILEMMA ... Write questions [somewhat revised from a faulty memory]. The basics were this, to
start writing letters to “MY Father,” whom I never met and ask and tell him everything.I We had never met each other personally but write and state everything about ourselves. His letters would be in the form of the bible -mine in the form of a journal.
The only difference in THIS FATHER and my real father (who had passed many
years earlier) was that this Father was PERFECT, LOVING, HONEST EVEN IF I DIDN”T
WANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH, AND TO REMEMBER THAT HE WOULD NOT ALWAYS REPLY WHEN I WANTED HIM TO BUT HE WOULDS NEVER FORSAKE ME AND WOULD ALWAYS REPLY IN HIS TIME.
start writing letters to “MY Father,” whom I never met and ask and tell him everything.I We had never met each other personally but write and state everything about ourselves. His letters would be in the form of the bible -mine in the form of a journal.
The only difference in THIS FATHER and my real father (who had passed many
years earlier) was that this Father was PERFECT, LOVING, HONEST EVEN IF I DIDN”T
WANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH, AND TO REMEMBER THAT HE WOULD NOT ALWAYS REPLY WHEN I WANTED HIM TO BUT HE WOULDS NEVER FORSAKE ME AND WOULD ALWAYS REPLY IN HIS TIME.
I was 30 years old around then and still have all those journals. First, they started with to do lists, morning
meditations and nothing of real significance. Then as I look back I see huge
gaps where I don’t tell the worst parts of what I’m feeling, doing, or acting: almost
like Adam and Eve in the Garden hiding from God, ridiculous, but shame does
that to you.
meditations and nothing of real significance. Then as I look back I see huge
gaps where I don’t tell the worst parts of what I’m feeling, doing, or acting: almost
like Adam and Eve in the Garden hiding from God, ridiculous, but shame does
that to you.
Now I’m ready, good and bad, to tell the truth because I found out the most amazing thing. For too long I
believed that by repeating the same mistakes over and over that God would give
up on me …like the is a QUOTA There is no quota, on mercy and grace. I have
learned that God’s love for us IS so huge that even when we are suffering with “unmoved
thorns- I call them Paul’s thorns. That HE THEM AND US AND LOVES US and uses us
for HIS GLORY.
believed that by repeating the same mistakes over and over that God would give
up on me …like the is a QUOTA There is no quota, on mercy and grace. I have
learned that God’s love for us IS so huge that even when we are suffering with “unmoved
thorns- I call them Paul’s thorns. That HE THEM AND US AND LOVES US and uses us
for HIS GLORY.
ON Mother's Day 2010 I started a blog called , littlemeBigGod- Living out loud. I hope it touches you.please come visit me often.
IF HE CAME FOR THE SICK HE’s NOT LEAVING US BEHIND! i'M COUNTING ON IT!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Beyond Opinion (Trade Paper): Living the Faith We Defend by Ravi Zacharias | Book | Thomas Nelson | Publisher of Christian Products
by Karin Sylvester Soderstrom
Beyond Opinion:Living the Faith We Defend By Ravi Zacharias.
At first glance it seemed yet another instruction manual to defend our faith , I WAS WRONG! Within the introduction alone I learned more about Christianity and the perception of people at the time than I have learned anywhere else. THE INTRODUCTION WAS SO COMPELLING I HAD TO READ IT THREE TIMES.. post it notes and highlighters included! This is definitely not casual reading and it is more like a text to me. The next time you give a person a bible... give it to them with a copy of this book and lots of highlighters! The perspective of God, us, and other can be best understood (and altered) by making an effort to see though someone else's point of view. This is the BOOK for that!
Beyond Opinion (Trade Paper): Living the Faith We Defend by Ravi Zacharias | Book | Thomas Nelson | Publisher of Christian Products
This one Belongs on Your Library Shelf!
by Karin Sylvester Soderstrom
Beyond Opinion:Living the Faith We Defend By Ravi Zacharias.
At first glance it seemed yet another instruction manual to defend our faith , I WAS WRONG! Within the introduction alone I learned more about Christianity and the perception of people at the time than I have learned anywhere else. THE INTRODUCTION WAS SO COMPELLING I HAD TO READ IT THREE TIMES.. post it notes and highlighters included! This is definitely not casual reading and it is more like a text to me. The next time you give a person a bible... give it to them with a copy of this book and lots of highlighters! The perspective of God, us, and other can be best understood (and altered) by making an effort to see though someone else's point of view. This is the BOOK for that!
Friday, July 16, 2010
No more straws for this camel!
There is a saying that God won't put on you more than you can handle....but what about the things we bring onto ourselves? I''m fairly certain that most of the troubles and difficulties I have are connected to self made bad decisions (mostly unintentional, but not all).
Now the last of my teenagers needs help and I just am lost. I am doing all the "Mama' things, calling all the resources....but SHE HATES ME FOR IT. AT THIS POINT THEY ALL HATE ME FOR CALLING ME ON THEIR "STUFF", BUT RESPOND BY CALLING ME ON MINE....sure i still have some! lots! I think they may come up with a new diagnostic code for me when i'm finished! Panic times 10, don't want to leave the house again, and more. There is so much going on I am not at the liberty to say out of respect for their privacy but nothing hurts more that seeing your children a mess when all they can do is blame it on you.
JESUS I LAY PROSTRATE ON THE FLOOR FOR THIS FAMILY- I CAN NOT BREAK FOR THEM OR FOR YOU.......
AND THE WEIRDEST THINGS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING...THE OTHER DAY THE FRAME ON MY BED BROKE SO ALL I COULD THINK OF WAS PROPPING IT UP ON END TABLES AND SUCH...VERY CROOKED FIRST NIGHT HAD TO ADD PHONE BOOKS. Well night before last, I dropped my eyeglasses and reached down to get them.... problem............ALL of me went to get them .....160 plus lbs on my neck cut my shoulder and face, almost broke my neck!
I'm so clumsily it's kinda cute.
So, I haven't written since then but need your prayers and as always mine are with you.
Sometime I find it insane that God loves us through it all.....
MAMA
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Hurting.......
Friday, July 09, 2010
I FOUND something yesterday that broke my heart. Once again it is not fair to tell you another person’s business. This ONE almost put me over the edge because it was the last thing I ever expected and because she is my baby girl. First, I had a panic attack, then anger, got down on my knees, called the church, prayed, called the police, and shook and have not stopped since. Plus I haven’t had more than 4 hours of sleep since yesterday. I think if I had one wish from God it would be that we could make believers out of others, especially family. I know I can't and I have tried to get her back into church but the response I got was everyone at church is "fake." I tried to explain that there is a difference between being fake and being human....sure there are some that "pretend" to be Christ followers for deception but most people are just HUMAN. Trying to do better and walking the path at different paces. Of course I'm a hypocrite, I want to be all the things HE wants me to be ...but I am not. I don't pretend to be either. I do admit to giving advice to people that I don't live by myself and that is wrong....no excuse. THAT IS what GRACE is all about....we stumble but plod ahead. FORGIVEN. It's hard to grow from a spiritual baby to an obedient servant. But judging others hypocrisy is just an excuse for not looking at self. I know this because I spent YEARS doing it. Yes, we all have unfulfilled intentions, we are all sinners, we all have room for growth, but blaming others doesn't get you closer to God it pushes Him away. If I focus on others I can keep telling myself "at least I'm not that bad." I have found the only way I can mature is if I include my intimate personal relationship with Jesus (and He left us the Holy Spirit but I have much to work on there too in terms of understanding). I find it very easy to confuse what I THINK GOD wants me to do and what He's really guiding me to do. Lack of spiritual maturity or selfishness or many combined things fog my clarity but it is getting better. God knows our hearts so I feel like the mercy and grace is not limited to a quota. Just keep plodding on…. But as my best friend told me last night as I was crying and saying I was alone …he reminded me “GOD IS ALWAYS WITH YOU.” Yes, the comfort of others is needed but the relationship with God is essential! Thanks dear friend for talking to me on the phone in the middle of the night! Once again, wishing I wasn’t sharing my struggles “out loud” but know HE has a reason for it.
JUST A BROKEN ME TODAY ….I think I need some STOMP gospel to get me going…dance, and sing, and pray with me. YES I am GOING to dance to this video because GOD’s got me and you!
Photo Widgets and Slideshows - Good Widgets
Photo Widgets and Slideshows - Good Widgets awesome addition especially for mission trips, projects, and s succession of events. FREE
The Thorns He doesn't remove have a purpose.
This page is dedicated to Dr. Grant Scarborough, who’s devotion to the poor, homeless, addicted, and uninsured in the Augusta Community inspired me to making any possible resources and information available TO THE HELPING COMMUNITY AT LARGE.. I hope that more information and contributions are made and this blog is always under construction AND growing (like me!) and that others contribute by bringing their voice and opinions to “bridging the gap.”
Brief story …the beginning…6 weeks ago at my regular Dr’s. appointment he confided in me about a nameless person that he couldn’t get out of his mind. I saw his heart broken by a young crack addict who he was tempted to hunt down and admit into a rehab. I was in awe that he considered me a resource and shared the relentless mission on his heart. It dawned on me, that after 24 years in recovery, some of them as a counselor, that most people in the professional fields and pastoral roles have little understanding of addiction and even with the most sincerest of hearts their efforts can sometimes either get them into trouble: (never chase down an active crack addict) or get a high desperate woman in your car alone!) and often leave them frustrated by the circular patterns of addiction- despite help.The pastoral community, as well, sometimes fails to see that they sometimes only confirm to an addict the exact opposite of what they intended! I have also witnessed the reverse damage, to the degree that it cost the actual lives of some, when people in recovery programs give medical advice to someone without knowing the full facts or the medical degree to access the situation.Misinformation can be deadly!
So, my first contribution will be bits and pieces of information, including dangerous Misinformation and myths, that maybe valuable along the way if you have occasion to help someone plagued with this “thorn”. I will also include websites, rehabs, and books, that will help. The ultimate conclusion I have come to is that it takes a combination of resources, that rarely work together, for the best outcome. Again, this is just my opinion, it comes mostly from experience and pain, some from education, some from observance, and I speak ONLY from that perspective. I hope we all can come together and “bridge the gap.”
It is my belief that there is NO FREEDOM from addiction WITHOUT GOD and even then the torment may continue (Paul’s thorn) but if you reach the mercy and grace of God, your experience can be turned into purpose, and JOY despite the trials, will be the byproduct, if your motive is to GLORIFY HIM!
Long road…...full blown crack and heroin addict to the forgiven child of the King…..
Many problems, trials, and temptations, have the same solution although it doesn’t appear that way at the time. This website is NOT exclusively about addiction…...it about THE SOLUTION!
Addiction is just a symptom, there are many other symptoms of a damaged heart or soul.
The solution, however, is NEVER CHANGING CONSTANT GOD!
What’s my role in this? To serve God as one of the people honored with the blessing of bridging the gap between HOPELESSNESS to HOPE! How? However he leads me!
I walk a free woman, full of imperfections, flaws, and sin, but because of our loving and merciful God, I am only viewed by him as HIS PERFECT CHILD. My forgiven sins, paid for at the ultimate expense of the blood of Jesus Christ, are too great a sacrifice to ignore. I can barely see what HE has in store for me next!
My blog: directed more towards non believers, tells more of my own story and path, not a pretty story either, but the truth.and an ongoing journey. HOPEFULLY IT WILL be full of resources and grow in time.
With love and devotion,
God's spiritual baby girl!
Karin
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A New Day!
I just can't imagine where I would be without knowing that every day with God begins new....like a clean chalkboard. The only person who forgets it is me! I carry the weight of old baggage that God has already lifted. Why? Don't I believe Him? What about the NEW baggage I CREATE? YUP, he will lift that too... Faith, or lack of it. Foolish me such a spiritual baby. Well, I'm getting up and for today, remembering my chalk board is CLEAN! My prayer today is to draw a beautiful picture for HIM, a masterpiece of HIS love on my chalkboard!
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Salvation
Posted: 07 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us in sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins.” I John 4:10
Please note: salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man . . .
Grace is created by God and given to man.
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