Evan Almighty

http://www.evanalmighty.com/

GE 5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."
...
GE 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
GE 6:9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
GE 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
...
18 But I will establish my covenant with you
...
GE 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
GE 7:1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
...
GE 7:5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
...
Then the LORD shut him in.
...
GE 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
GE 8:22 "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."
GE 9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
...
GE 9:7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."
GE 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you--the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
GE 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
GE 9:17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."
GE 9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.

pictures and other stuff

There's some good pictures and other stuff at our family blog: http://clarkid.blogspot.com/

Check it out!
Evelyn

MP's new job ;-)

Managing editor
YS Magazine
NHQ - Washington, D.C.
Directs production and
circulation of Young Salvationist.
Ensures promotion of
the Salvation Army mission.
Develops policies and procedures.
Maintains YS website.
Requirements: Must be a
Salvationist in good standing
with bachelor’s degree in
English, journalism or related
field and 3-5 years’ experience
in editorial, graphics, desktop
publishing and photography.
Send resume to:
The Salvation Army
Human Resources
P.O. Box 269
615 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, Va. 22313
(703) 302-8688 (fax)

The weight of responsibility!

from Chris's blog:
My mom always complains that my bag is heavy, and that'll I'll hurt myself carrying it. I think not, it just gives me a workout no matter what I do. But why is it always so heavy? I don't always carry library books in there. Why it's so heavy is very simple. The weight of responsibility. My Bible. My Bible is fairly medium size and weight as far as Bibles go, but that's still not light. But I like that heavy weight in my bag, banging against my butt. My constant reminder of the weight of responsibility I carry. The responsibility to represent Christ in my life, and show the world the way He works in my life. It might be awkward and heavy, but that's one of the best parts. It reminds me. And besides that, I'm always armed to the teeth with a Bible in my bag.

my birthday verses

MK 10:29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

I kept thinking of these words of Jesus yesterday at my birthday party. Wait till you see the pictures of all the pensioners lined up to give me flowers (and hugs and kisses!).

God is faithful.

I have 100 times as much.

Evelyn

suur tänu!

Suur suur tänu kõigile kõigi eest! Ma olen nii õnnelik täna õhtul!

Ja ma tänan teid!!

Armastusega,
Evelyn

Job vs. Ministry

from the UrbanArmy blog:

THOUGHT - Are you in a MINISTRY for God or are you just doing a JOB?

Some people have a JOB in the church; others involve themselves in a MINISTRY. What's the difference?

If you are doing it just because no one else will, it's a JOB. If you are doing it to serve the Lord, it's a MINISTRY.

If you quit because somebody criticised you, it was a JOB. If you keep on serving, it's a MINISTRY.

If you'll do it only as long as it does not interfere with your other activities, it's a JOB. If you are committed to staying with it even when it means letting go of other things, it's a MINISTRY.

If you quit because no one praised you or thanked you, it was a JOB. If you stay with it even though nobody recognises your efforts, it is a MINISTRY.

It's hard to get excited about a JOB. It's almost impossible not to be excited about a MINISTRY.

If our concern is success, it's a JOB. If our concern is faithfulness, it's a MINISTRY.

An average church is filled with people doing JOBs. A great and growing church is filled with people involved in MINISTRY.

What about us?

If God calls you to a MINISTRY, don't treat it like a JOB.

If you have a JOB, give it up and find a MINISTRY. God does not want us feeling stuck with a JOB, but excited and faithful to Him in a MINISTRY.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it ...

ESSAY PROMPT

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below:

People are happy only when they have their minds fixed on some goal other than their own happiness. Happiness comes when people focus instead on the happiness of others, on the improvement of humanity, on some course of action that is followed not as a means to anything else but as an end in itself. Aiming at something other than their own happiness, they find happiness along the way. The only way to be happy is to pursue some goal external to your own happiness.
Adapted from John Stuart Mill, Autobiography

Assignment:
Are people more likely to be happy if they focus on goals other than their own happiness? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Jr. Soldier Camp

Today we leave for Jr. Soldier Camp. Please pray for all of the staff and campers!

Thanks.

mushrooms

If this article from my hometown newspaper doesn't remind you of Estonians, then I don't know what would!

Christmas in July? (thoughts on worship)

Elizabeth asked, "Mama, I'm just wondering, but why are we reading the Christmas story when it's not Christmastime?" :-)

MT 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
MT 2:3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
MT 2:6 " `But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
MT 2:7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
MT 2:9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
MT 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
MT 2:14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
MT 2:16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
MT 2:18 "A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."
MT 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
MT 2:21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

The Magi said they wanted to worship Jesus. Herod also said that he wanted to worship Jesus.

Having truly worshipped, the Magi then (and only then, only after worship) knew truth from falsehood.

I'm becoming more aware (sometimes painfully!) that some things, some truths, cannot be understood or known academically, they must be experienced.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." (Ephesians 1:18-19a)

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

pictures

I hope that very soon we will putting up pictures from our trip to America!

In the meantime, go here for a nice picture of Keit standing in the lobby of our corps building. (Come home soon, Keit!)

Evelyn

Bible reading plan

We're reading through the book of Matthew in our territorial Bible reading plan this summer. We just finished reading the first installment as a family. (Chris wanted to skip the geneologies; can you believe that?!)

MT 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
MT 1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
MT 1:3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
MT 1:4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
MT 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
MT 1:6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
MT 1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
MT 1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
MT 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
MT 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
MT 1:11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
MT 1:12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
MT 1:13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
MT 1:14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
MT 1:15 Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
MT 1:16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
MT 1:17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.
MT 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
MT 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
MT 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
MT 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

It occurred to me that these generations of people had no idea that some day they would be listed in holy scripture as the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah! And we also have no idea what our futures will bring.

Be encouraged.

Evelyn

come to my birthday party!

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=VYHPDXQIPSBPSEPTMVOD&li=iq&src=email