Ministry update March 31, 2008

I Peter 5:8-10 (NKJV)
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

While you and I are busy seeking God, our enemy, the thief, is busy seeking who he can devour. How can we keep from being his next prey? Peter spells it out clearly.

Be sober! I looked this word up in the Greek dictionary. It has two meanings- to be watchful and to refrain from the abuse of alcohol. We live in a day where we have to be sober in all ways in order to resist the thief and his seductive ways.

Be vigilant! This means that we are to be mindful of the threatening dangers around us. I believe the closer we draw to Jesus the more mindful we need to be that the lion’s roar is right behind us looking for any way he can get at us to shake our faith and to become discouraged.

Resist Him! I love the Greek definition for this word: “To stand against.” It takes two feet to stand for any length of time and we need to have our feet planted firmly in the Word of God in order to resist our enemy.

Remain steadfast in faith! How can you and I remain steadfast in our faith? There’s only one way I know to do that, prayer and hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) Daily we need to be asking the Father to strengthen our faith and we need to be committed in spending adequate time reading His life giving Words.

Realize that you are not alone in your times of suffering! Our brothers and sisters around the world suffer daily as their faith is tested and challenged.

Rejoice in the fact that God will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you down! What a promise! Whatever our challenges and sufferings, in due time we have the assurance that God will use it to permanently establish and strengthen us. As we experience His faithfulness in each trial He will settle our hearts.

“To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (I Peter 5:11)

Sometimes I feel like I am the last one to catch on to the roaring lions attack. Several days ago as I was struggling with the physical manifestations or self imposed stressed, I was crying out to God for help. I felt so weak and overwhelmed as I thought about the future of JoyShop Ministries. It is so easy to take on the heavy yoke of ministry instead of putting on Christ’s yoke of rest. I didn’t even realize I was doing this until my body started giving the warning signs!

To be honest, it took about four days to come out from under the heavy yoke I had allowed myself to come under all because I hadn’t been sober or vigilant. I praise God for pulling me out of that heaviness and settling my mind. He gave me the strength to resist the attack by constantly going to Jesus in prayer and feeding on His Words.
Now for a ministry update!

This past week, Phil Gascoyne, Jack Pieklo, and myself met with Max Zug of Max Films. We are taking a giant step of faith in believing that now is the time to start the process of preparing to professionally tape JoyShop so that we have the necessary video clips to put on our web site and to use for media purposes. We had a great meeting and feel excited about this opportunity. We will have to raise about $25,000.00 for this project but I know that the Lord will provide the necessary funds. If He doesn’t provide the money then we know it is not His timing and I have a perfect peace about that.

As a result of the JoyShop at LMH this month, the Lord has opened the door for me to go to Penn Manor High School to do a portion of the JoyShop for the students that are members of the club First Priority. I will be going in on April 9 and 16 during their club period and will have about 50 minutes each session. I am so grateful for a young woman, Amanda Charles, who attended the LMH JoyShop and had the desire to bring the message to her friends at her school.

Last week, I felt led to send a message to my Face Book group, “Seeking the Face of Christ.” I hesitated hitting the “send” button after I had written this lengthy message on how to deal with the feelings of “life is meaningless.” I don’t want these dear students to get annoyed with my messages so I try to limit my messages. Yet at the same time, I had to trust that the Lord had me do this for a reason, even if it was just to help one person who might be struggling. So I worked up the courage and pushed the “send” button as I whispered a prayer to Jesus to use it as He sees fit.

What a thrill to receive this message from a young man by the name of Josh, a few days later:
"Anita, thanks for your note the other day on “finding purpose in life”. I used your note to help direct my thoughts for a devotional I led for my group. It went well. Your note was just what I needed and what my team needed. Thanks for taking the time to share your heart. Many notes I just skip, but I always read yours. I have already used your quote, “Love is not a feeling it is an action” many times. It’s like this old DC Talk song, “Luv is a Verb”. God’s love is truly an action that he showed and continues to show us, we just happen to get good feelings sometimes. That was perfect and I am holding to that now that I have been feeling spiritually kinda… blah, lately. I have gotten through this before and with God’s help and mercy, I will get through it again. I just have to remember that God loves me and that is apparent by everything I see around me. Thanks!"

The month of April is going to be tremendously taxing. It is the busiest month I think I have ever had and I am grateful for the team of people I have around me that makes it possible for me to even survive a month like this. Please pray that all we do will be pleasing to the Father and that we can operate in the calm and strength that He supplies.

Seeking God Together!
Anita

Ministry Update

This past weekend Paul and I were hanging out with friends. As I was listening to the conversation at the table, all of a sudden some scary thoughts popped into my head, "I can't do anymore JoyShops. It's the same message...over and over...how long can I keep this up?" Even though I knew these thoughts would pass, fear seized my heart. The next morning as I met with Jesus I was grateful that he knew all my thoughts and so I asked him to minister to my heart. I just needed some extra encouragement. As I read through my daily assignment and wrote down the verses I was re-energized and filled with His joy! He knew just the words I would need for that day. I'd like to share these verses with you from the NKJV.

Isaiah 46:9 "For I am God and there is no other...there is none like me."

Psalm 105:19 (reference to Joseph) "Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him."

This passage particularly encouraged me in that like, Joseph who had a dream about his family bowing down to him, I had a "vision" about this ministry and how far reaching it would become. Even though I know that God will bring it to pass, I have to wait out his timing and planning. Sometimes I feel "tested" as I wait and I wonder if I just imagined the whole thing, yet in my heart I know that God is unfolding the vision even as I type this. Could it be that we will never see all the lives this ministry touches until we get to heaven?

Psalm 37:5 "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."

As the JoyShop team keeps plugging away, one JoyShop at a time, we will continue to commit our way to the Lord, trusting Him to bring to pass our desire for the message of SEEKING GOD FIRST to go globally, for the benefit of the body of Christ. Psalm 37:24 "You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me in glory." Yes, He will guide us with His counsel. I would have never stepped out in faith and started this ministry two years ago if I hadn't had this assurance and I am grateful for the many people who pray for this ministry.

• This last passage from Revelations 3:7-8 really made my heart sing as I applied it to JoyShop Ministries: Summed up it says--
  I know your works
  See I have set before you as an open door
  No one can shut it
  For you have a little strength
  You have kept my word
  You have not denied my name
  

God sees our work and I believe he has opened a door that no one can shut. He is right when he says we have a little strength, yet we strive to keep his work. We exalt his name!
God's Word is a constant source of encouragement to me as I face the daily work of ministry. Not only His Word, but the many words I receive from youth and adults who have attended a JoyShop.

Last Friday night nearly 100 people attended the JoyShop held at LMH. 90% of the audience was youth! I was thrilled with the families that showed up as well with their teen children. Comments that I recieved over the weekend from the teens:

"Thank you so much for doing the joyshop! I loved it so much and I have to say I was quite excited when I got up this morning to get in the Word. Your ministry is awesome..."

"Just wanted to say thank you so much for doing the JoyShop at LMH! It really challenged me and made me think about spending more time with Jesus. I started this morning, getting up at 6:45 to have devotions before I went to work, and my day was a whole lot better because of it! Thank you so much!

"Yeah, JoyShop was wicked challenging and if you do it again, I am definitely inviting people. Thank you for doing it. I started the 21 Day Challenge this morning and plan to keep it up, so pray for me if you think of me. I trust that things are gonna change if I keep walkin' with God. It's kind of crazy, but I'm ready for a change. Thanks again. God bless. Jesus loves you."

"Thank you so much for you time and passion. It really made a difference. I'm sure you get this a lot, I just wanted you to know that it really motivated me to get closer to God and answered a lot of questions. I always tried to do devotions but never really set a time and it always stopped after about a week. I’m really excited to get up in the morning now. Thanks again!"

The following message I recieved this morning from someone who had attended an event I spoke at near the end of last year.
"Just wanted to send you a note to thank you again for your ministry. Just today, I finished reading the Bible through for the 1st time in my life! I'm thrilled about it but also ashamed because I'm 41; I've been a Christian since I was 12. I was never discipled well; always struggled w/ my devotions. When you gave your testimony about your struggles; told us how you weren't a morning person, I could relate so much. I so look forward to my time in God's Word each day. I am not so easily influenced by Satan or my flesh when it comes to carving out time for it. Thank you again so, so much! May our Lord Jesus bless you immensely for your faithfulness to Him."

What a JOY to recieve these emails and have the blessing of seeing the fruit from this ministry!
I am grateful that I have off the next two weeks, at least from any speaking engagements. The operational team and board would appreciate your prayers as we continue to make decisions for the future, including professionally taping JoyShop in 2008. Continue to pray for opened doors in churches, colleges, high schools, and youth events. I am not closing the doors to women's retreats, just limiting the amount I do so that I am freer to minister to the youth.
HAVE A BLESSED EASTER as we celebrate the RISEN LORD!

Anita

I LOVE GOING TO JOYSHOPS!

I am probably way too tired to be sitting at a computer trying to write on my blog but since I don't know if anyone will really read this anyway....why not say what's on my heart, tired or not tired?

Tonight I just finished my 77th JoyShop which was held at LMH. Around 100 students/adults were in attendance. It's hard for me to believe that I have continued on with the same message for three+ years. I can still remember the first JoyShop I ever did on Jan. 15, 2005, at my home church, Manor Church. My heart burned with the message of JoyShop, "SEEK HIM FIRST", and I wanted the whole world to hear it. Of course, at that time I did not know that I would ever teach another JoyShop. It was just a way to serve my church. Little did I know how God would use this simple workshop on reading your Bible, to motivate others and to bring hope to all of us struggling Christians.

Sometimes I come home from a JoyShop and ask myself, how much longer can you go on this one message? Won't you get tired of telling the same message over and over? Well, amazingly I have not gotten tired of the message...it still burns in my heart and I still feel that I have to tell the world. What keeps me going? God's strength, the knowledge and confidence that he has called me to this, the team of support volunteers God has given me, and the encouraging remarks I get from every age group to keep going with this message that the Church needs to hear.

Tonight I confessed a dream publicly that I have only expressed very privately to few people. I told the audience that I am asking God to send me to Creation and The Call to encourage all believers to become persistant God Seekers, and not part time seekers like the trap that so many of us fall into. I have noticed in the Church that there are three types of God Seekers:
The Pretend Seeker
The Partime Seeker
The Persisitent Seeker

The Pretend Seeker goes to church every Sunday just because it seems the thing to do.
The Part time Seeker seeks God when it is convenient with his schedule which is almost never.
The Persisitent Seeker rises every morning to Seek God and to grow in intimacy with his Father.
Webster defines the word "seek"--to look intently, to want to find. Are we really looking intently for God? Do we really desire to find him, or are we just too busy doing life that we have no time to seek God?

O God, forgive us for our lack of interest in really caring enough about our relationship with you to seek you daily.

Well, this God Seeker's brain is starting to shut down so I want to close by saying thank you to Jesus for allowing me to serve the body of Christ through the JoyShop. It brings me great joy even in the exhaustion. "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." II Corinthians 15:58 AMEN and AMEN!

Another first....

Ill never forget the day that I was sharing with one of the young adult pastors at LCBC last summer about my desire to minister to the younger generation. Since I was new to the "web site" world, I asked him to check out my web site and tell me what I was missing that teens or young adults would look for. He told me I was lacking two things: Face Book and a Blog. I was like, "Oh on, Lord, don't make me do that! I am a 51 year old woman and barely know how to navigate on the simpliest of web sites!" But something told me that this guy was right on.

A few days later, there were a group of young adults hanging out at my house with my amazing twin sons, Josh and Ryan. When I mentioned Face Book and that I was pondering joining this foreign world they immediately asked me what I was waiting for and ran back to my office. With in two minutes, Scott Umble had me on face book. I was scared out of my mind. I was actually nervous. I layed in bed that night with my stomach turning flip flops wondering what in the world I had just done!

A few days after that, another group of young adults was visisting and when I told them I had joined face book they immediately told me I needed to start a group as well. What in the world was a group? I had no idea what they were talking about! They assured me it was no big deal and thought I should go for it. Without hesitation I knew what the name of my group would be, "Seeking the Face of Christ." Actually, I thought it was a cool idea. The reason behind that name, I wanted to remind all these amazing youth that Jesus is one face you should want to see EVERY day by reading the Gospels in the New Testament and every other book in the Bible. I am happy to report that months later there are over 300 members!

I still don't know what I am really doing in Face book. I am afraid to accept any invitations because I don't know what its all about. So until someone feels like taking the time to explain all the decorations and symbols, I will just stick with what I do know....how to write on someone's wall or send a personal message.

Well, now my friends, Phil Gascoyne and Karl Diffenderfer, who are my "techie" gerus, have given me my own blog. What does one do with a blog? I guess I will figure it out in time but just bear with me in this new adventure. Actually this is just practice:-) I am sure that I will find a blog a great place to put my thoughts in writing.