Category: transformation

How To Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day

Posted on by Susan Panzica


What did you first think when you read the title of today’s post?
– Leprechauns? Shamrocks? Pot of gold?
– Drunken revelry? Celebrations out of control?
– Green bagels? Green beer? Green painted people?

After working in NYC for years, I’ve seen it all. I find it most curious the way that people “honor” St. Patrick on March 17th. I once witnessed a near-fatal showdown between mounted police and carousing, green-faced partygoers who spilled out of a bar and blocked 33rd St. and nearly became a casualty myself!

Since St. Patricks Day in Ireland is a religious holiday, I wondered how these American traditions developed. MSN.com provided a few answers:

Leprechauns
-In Irish folklore, leprechauns were cranky tricksters who you wouldn’t want to mess with. The cheerful, friendly ‘lil fairy most Americans associate with St. Paddy’s Day stems from a 1959 Walt Disney film called Darby O’Gill & the Little People. The Americanized, good-natured leprechaun soon became a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland in general.

Shamrocks
– You may have worn a shamrock tattoo or donned a clover-covered necklace on some St. Patrick’s Day past. According to Irish legend, St. Patrick used a three-leaved clover, or shamrock, to illustrate the idea of the Holy Trinity, versus the good luck associated with the four-leaved variety, a mistake many Americans make.

Green Milk Shake
– Introduced in 1970, and discontinued in 1990, the deliciously minty McDonald’s Shamrock Shake returned to select stores in 2008. Only available for the month of March, the shake has received rave reviews by milkshake connoisseurs, who have entire websites dedicated to finding all of the shake-selling McDonald’s outposts.

Chicago’s Green River
– Chicago has dyed its river green for St. Patrick’s Day every year since 1962, when city workers realized that the dye they used to trace illegal dumping would provide a fun way to celebrate the holiday. They released 100 pounds of dye into the river, which kept it green for an entire week. Chicago now uses just enough dye to last one day in order to be kinder to Mother Earth.

Parades
– The First St. Paddy’s Parade didn’t take place in Ireland but in the U.S. in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched through the New York City streets playing music. In America today, New York, Boston and Chicago boast the biggest St. Paddy’s Day parades, with New York being the longest-running civilian parade in the world. (Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is a wee 75 years old.)

Drinking … a Lot
– While Americans associate St. Paddy’s with binge drinking, the Irish consider it a religious holiday. Until the 1970s, a law required all Irish pubs to close every March 17th. Drinking on St. Paddy’s really only became popular in Ireland post-1995, with the start of a national campaign to attract tourists for the holiday. It worked — over a million people now attend Dublin’s five-day festival.

Corned Beef
– Those who celebrate old-school by eating a meal of corned beef and cabbage are only really getting it partly right: The dish was originally eaten with bacon, not corned beef. Irish immigrants in America couldn’t afford the traditional bacon, so they substituted it with corned beef, a cheaper option they picked up from their Jewish neighbors. (Too bad they didn’t grab some bagels while they were at it!)

The prayer of St. Patrick adds the right perspective to this celebratory day. After reading the words and sensing the heart of this godly man, it grieves me to see the misunderstanding that the celebration of his life has become.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear for me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
Christ be with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise.
Christ in the heart of everyone thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me.
Christ in every eye that sees me.
Christ in every ear that hears me.

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

Oh that Christ would flow through me in such a way that people would see Him when they “think of me, speak of me, see me, or hear me.” May your day today be filled with His presence. And may His presence flow through you to those around you today and everyday.


Aftermath

Posted on by Susan Panzica
On Thursday night, my family, friends and I went to a Hillsong United concert, part of the tour promoting their new album Aftermath.

It was a worship encounter that rivaled any I’ve ever experienced. During the final song, I glanced up and saw the massive painted ceiling of the Hammerstein Ballroom, a vision of heaven that brought my spirit right through the roof to the clouds. I sensed the prayers of the people rising up to heaven as incense.

The next morning, I awoke to the news of the tragedy in Japan. My heart is breaking for the loss and suffering over there. And in the days since, the word “aftermath,” so often repeated, has taken on new significance.

The album was titled Aftermath because “instead of living in the aftermath of our mistakes and sin, we can live in the aftermath of what Jesus has done for us.”

What is the aftermath? According to the dictionary, it is:

af.ter.math – noun
something that results or follows from an event,
especially one of a disastrous or unfortunate nature;
consequence: the aftermath of war; the aftermath of the flood
After natural or man-made disasters, there are the expected devastating consequences.
After the cross, there was and is the unexpected consequence – what appeared to be total destruction and loss one tragic Friday 2000 years ago was complete victory the following Sunday. A victory that is ours today. At the concert, Joel Houston of Hillsong shared, “The cross was a symbol of sin and shame, but Jesus turned it upside down into a symbol of grace and forgiveness and hope.”
“A perfect God sent His perfect Son to an imperfect people in order to perfect them through His perfect love.” Heb 10:14 (Hillsong U. version)

Aftermath
The skies lay low where You are
On the earth You rest Your feet
Yet the hands that cradle the stars
Are the hands that bled for me
In a moment of glorious surrender
You were broken for all the world to see
Lifted out of the ashes
I am found in the aftermath
Freedom found in Your scars
In Your grace my life redeemed
For You chose to take the sinner’s crown
As You placed Your crown on me
In that moment of glorious surrender
Was the moment You broke the chains in me
Lifted out of the ashes
I am found in the aftermath
And in that moment You opened up the heavens
To the broken the beggar and the thief
Lifted out of the wreckage
I find hope in the aftermath
And I know that You’re with me
Yes I know that You’re with me here
And I know Your love will light the way
Now all I have I count it all as loss
But to know You and to carry the cross
Knowing I’m found
In the light of the aftermath



May you, dear friend, find yourself in the aftermath of His sacrifice and love for you.

Hang in there!!

Posted on by Susan Panzica

There they sit, like giant beached whales. Mounds of snow, at the edges of fences, by the sides of highways, in corners of parking lots. For the entire winter, our lawns were cloaked in white. The recent rain, wind and warmer weather washed away much of the snow; yet there still remain piles of graying white.


Each of those snowflakes that fell en masse last December were so delicate, it’s amazing that they are still present in March. What can we learn from these fragile flakes that have such staying power?

1. They stick together.
Despite the fact that one person can make a difference – which I absolutely believe – it is also true that there is power in numbers.
.
We simply were not made to go it alone. God made us to be part of a body, His body. He made us for fellowship. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another. Heb 10:25
.
God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” Gen 1:26 He is one God, but He is a plural God (like one family or one class or one snowstorm are singular, yet plural.) He is in fellowship with Himself. We are made in His image, and therefore, we need to be in the fellowship of believers. We are made that way for a reason. We are stronger together than we are alone.
.
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Eccl. 4:12
.
2. They were pushed out of their comfort zone.
Oh, it’s so much easier to stay within our comfort zone, isn’t it? But those flakes that remained so comfortable out on the open lawn were the first ones to melt away. It was the plowed flakes, the ones that got pushed and shoved around that remained. If the snowflakes could speak, they would say that it sure didn’t feel good at the time. To the snowflake, the plow seemed brutal, a real bully. But it was precisely because it yielded to the plow that it survived.
.
When we don’t understand our circumstances or we have to change our status quo, we have to recognize that there is Someone greater than ourselves in control, Someone who has our best interests at heart.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11
.
Recently, a friend shared this excellent quote with me:
“Comfort is the breeding ground for mediocrity. Hardship makes you find your greatness.”

If you’ve been trying to go it alone or if you’ve been facing a difficult struggle, hang in there. Remember the frail snowflake that first arrived in December and is still hanging around in March; and recognize that you are on the road to greatness!


 

ps – the winner of our giveaway book The Hole In Our Gospel is Marja Meijers. Congratulations Marja, and thank you so much for your encouraging comments and for sharing Eternity Cafe.

Stuff

Posted on by Susan Panzica

I heard a song recently that struck a chord with me. It wasn’t the tune which got me. In fact, when I first heard it, I was ready to dismiss the song as fluff, “gospel-lite”, not worthy of my attention. But the words convicted me deeply.
.
Too often, I’m derailed by small things, things that are so trivial it’s embarrassing to admit I’m bothered by them, “stuff” as Francesca Battistelli calls them. In a world where people experience deep suffering, why do I allow these small matters to rob me of joy and peace?
.
The Bible refers to small annoyances such as these as “little foxes that ruin vineyards.” Song of Sol 2:15
.
Many small things have great impact.
• A poor widow donated two small coins and was honored for it.
• A young boy shared a lunch of two small fish and five loaves, and it was used to feed thousands.
• The mustard seed is the “smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants…” Mk. 4:31-32
• “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” Jms 3:5
.
Small things can have large consequences — negative ones or positive ones — depending upon our response to them. We’re given a choice: to just be irritated OR to allow God to use these irritations to shape our character like a file smooths a rough surface.
.

This is the Stuff – Francesca Battistelli
I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please ‘Cuz I can’t find my phone
.
This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that’s getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I’m blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You’re doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use
…
So break me of impatience my frustrations
I’ve got a new appreciation
It’s not the end of the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HteoxWzAT8

.

Is it too late to be good?

Posted on by Susan Panzica

Santa knows who’s been naughty or nice.
And he’s making a list,
and he’s checking it twice.

Or so the song goes.

He sees you when you’re sleeping,
when you’re awake,
when you’ve been bad or good.

So what does the songwriter tell you to do about it?

You better watch out,
you better not cry,
and you better be good for goodness sake.

Last week, I saw a plaque that read –
Is it too late to be good?

Well, according to Jesus, none of us are good (Mark 10:18). Nope, not a one.
Umm, not exactly Christmas cheer, huh?
Well, actually what Jesus said is, “No one is good – except God alone.”
And frankly, that’s pretty cheery.

God is good.

And because He loves us, He imparts Himself (and His goodness) into us.
And as we yield to Him, we develop Crist-likeness, which is very good.
And it’s never too late to be very good!

We keep striving to become good enough, but in our own strength it’s impossible. It is impossible for Jesus to love us any more than He does already, or to love us any less. He knows everything about us, and loves us anyway!




We can’t earn anything in God’s economy because He already paid the price.
He knows when we’re sleeping and when we’re awake, and so much more:

from Psalm 139
O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.


You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.


You go before me and follow me.
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.


If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.


I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.


You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.


You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.


Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Search me.
Show me.
Lead me.
And if I can’t be “good”, help me each day to be better than the day before.
Jesus, Yours is the only list I want to be on.

Shower of Blessing

Posted on by Susan Panzica

To celebrate our anniversary, Tony and I spent 2 lovely days at the Jersey shore. After a day of salt, sand and surf, my time in the shower was awesome, not just cleansing, but revitalizing. My thoughts drifted to Jesus describing Himself as “living water.”

As the water poured in a steady stream, my thoughts drifted some more. I thought of my daughter, Lauren in Uganda using a bucket for her shower, and how much more will she enjoy a “real” shower when she gets home.

And then I thought about the people she is serving, the people who live there permanently and will only ever have bucket showers. My daughter’s team is small part of a year-round ministry to provide these people with a new well (as well as a sustainable farm and a vocational training center). How much more do these people know what the term LIVING water really means. Their lives depend upon the life-giving water from the well.

When Jesus met the woman at the well, He told her “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”   John 4:14

Thirst is a craving – drinking water quenches our physical need. Jesus, of course, is talking about providing “water” that quenches our soul’s needs. Too often, we seek after earthly means to meet those needs: work, relationships, food, drugs, entertainment. But, as Jesus said, these do not satisfy. We will thirst again and again. Only He can truly satisfy our deepest needs.

As with the Samaritan woman at the well, God comes to us where we are. He meets our needs and arouses in us a thirst that can only be quenched by Him. May we respond as she did, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty…”

To support the life-giving work in Uganda, contact www.ttwuganda.com.

Butterflies Are Free

Posted on by Susan Panzica


So if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed.
John 8:36





Butterflies populate our church. Not real ones, but images of butterflies adorn the walls representing the vision of our church – transformation. What else represents transformation better than a butterfly? What a picture of what God does in the life of the believer. He lifts us out of our miry existence and enables us to soar like eagles.


There’s a story about a little boy who spotted a cocoon squirming on the sidewalk. To be a good helper, the boy opened up a hole in the end. But when the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis, it was crippled, unable to fly. It needed the struggle to break out of the chrysalis to develop strength in its wings.


And it is the struggles we face that strengthen us and provide freedom. When we are in a dark place like a cocoon, we can trust that God is still working. He is transforming us into new creations, no longer to be trudging along, but giving us wings. As in exercise, no pain – no gain.


Sometimes, we see others in the struggle. We want to rush in to save the day for our children, but they’ll never develop their wings if we do. Maybe we have a friend or family member that needs to be accountable, not just assisted. Though we want to be a helper like the little boy, we may need to step back and allow our fellow butterfly to experience their struggle so they can be strengthened for their journey. That can be harder than going through the struggle ourself, can’t it?


I just saw an amazing movie called “The Butterfly Circus.”


It’s 20 minutes, so when you have the time, I urge you to watch it. It will move you beyond words. Click here to watch it. And have tissues handy. 

After you watch the movie, here are some links to clips you’ll want to watch about one of the actors in the film. I can’t tell you more without spoiling the impact of the movie, but be sure to take the time to click on the YouTube videos below. You will be inspired, I promise.



Nick Vujicic – Greg Laurie Interview (21 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Cwx2UbTJA


No arms, No legs, No worries (9 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M
Shows Nick swimming, cooking, grooming, daily activities


I Love Living Life. I Am Happy. (7 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY
Motivational clip of Nick speaking to youth


Nick Vujicic’ s Official Website
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/
.
What impact did this have on you?
Have you ever felt like a caterpillar? How about a butterfly?
Have you ever felt like an oddity, suitable only for a circus sideshow?
How has God transformed you? Used you in someone else’s life?


Susan

Graduation Day!

Posted on by Susan Panzica
Congratulations, AJ!
You have made your Dad and I so proud in so many ways.

I love this picture that my sister took at AJ’s graduation last week. His confident cheerful swagger as he entered the graduation ceremony testifies to his confident cheerful demeanor.

Graduations are reminders of the changing seasons of our lives. While this is the end of AJ’s high school days, it is the beginning of an exciting new chapter of his life. What he learned and experienced in high school contributes to the person he will be tomorrow.
.
Not surprising that I see this as a metaphor for our lives in Christ. The experiences that we have while here on earth serve to mold us into the person that God wants us to be, both here and in the hereafter. As the Apostle Paul said, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Our life on earth is preparation for the job that God has planned for us for eternity.
.
My prayer is that you and I will face eternity with a confident cheerful swagger knowing that the best is yet to come, that we have been prepared to face the future, a future that is superior to anything that we have ever known. May we view our passage as a graduation filled with hopeful expectation.
.
“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.” Psalm 71:5
.
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20

Susan

Satan-proofing

Posted on by Susan Panzica

After writing about responding well to irritations, don’t you just know that I spent too much time yesterday feeling quite irritated and responding poorly!! Oh Lord, help me to apply what I know to be true! Help me to see people and situations with Your eyes! Help these irritations to smooth away whatever in me doesn’t look like you. James says, “Consider it joy when you suffer trials…” The Phillips translation of this verse says, “Welcome your trials as friends…” Wow! That’s a challenge, but I can welcome trials if I recognize that God is using them to produce Christ-likeness in me. Please, oh please, help me to be swift to respond as You would have me.

I received this email from Ron Hutchcraft ministries. It is so worth sharing! Enjoy!

Whenever we’ve had a young grandchild come over to our house, it was almost all good news. The reason I say almost is because of the preparations we have to fly into to get ready for the arrival of like a two-year old. Yes, I said two-year old. That’s two as in “super inquisitive.” See, our little grandchildren have had a way of exploring, experimenting with every object within their reach. There are two kinds of things that need to quickly disappear before a young grandchild starts his little adventure at Grandma and Granddad’s house. Things that can damage either the child or that he could damage. So as we joyfully anticipate a little one being with us, we also fly into a frenzied little exercise called baby-proofing our house.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Satan-Proofing.”

It’s a good idea to remove anything that our grandson can make a mess with. It’s a whole lot better than cleaning up the mess or repairing the damage.

There’s someone who pays regular visits to your life and mine who is not an angel like our grandson. It’s your enemy, the devil himself. He can do a lot of damage unless you anticipate his coming, look around your life, and remove the things that he could use to mess things up. It is called Satan-proofing your life.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Paul talks about playing defense against our enemy’s attempts to bring us down. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, he says we take precautions “in order that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.” Okay, eyes wide open, looking around our lives for what our enemy might use to sink us, and getting it out of the way – Satan-proofing your day.

In the instance Paul is talking about here in this verse, there is an issue of a man who did a lot of damage in the church; a man Paul says they need to be sure that they have forgiven. Why? Because a grudge, un-forgiveness toward someone is something the devil will grab at his first opportunity and he will use it to poison you and everyone around you. But Paul identifies the area that needs to be dealt with “in order that Satan might not outwit us.”

Here’s a sentence for you to complete. It will help you defend yourself against the tactics that Satan’s used over and over to bring you down. Finish this: “The devil brings me down whenever I ___________.” What goes in that blank is what needs to go. In a sense, you’re analyzing your past defeats so you can remove what your enemy has used to beat you in the past.

So, Satan-proofing your life today might mean praying for someone you’ve had hard feelings toward, asking God to remove your bitterness and replace it with His love. It might mean staying away from negative people who make you negative, from friends who lead you where you should never go, or staying away from the music, or the Internet garbage, or the TV shows that wear you down morally, or turning your fears, or your worries totally over to God so the devil can’t use them again to discourage or depress you.

When a baby’s coming, you baby-proof to avoid damage. When Satan’s coming, and he will, you Satan-proof to avoid the damage he wants to do to your life. There have been enough times you’ve left out the very things that he’s used over and over to bring you down. You’re not “unaware of his schemes.” So start fighting back so that when the devil comes prowling around your life today, he will find that what he usually uses to make a mess, you have put way out of his reach, because you’ve given it to Jesus.

Susan

The Hammer, The File and The Furnace

Posted on by Susan Panzica

Yesterday’s post has a followup that has ministered to me greatly over the years. In his book, “Encourage Me”, Chuck Swindoll related the story of “The Hammer, The File and The Furnace”. Here is an excerpt from that tale:

The hammer is a useful and handy instrument. It is an essential and helpful tool, if nails are ever to be driven into place. Each blow forces them to bite deeper as the hammer’s head pounds and pounds. But if the nail had feelings and intelligence, it would give us another side of the story. To the nail, the hammer is a brutal, relentless master – an enemy who loves to beat it into submission. That is the nail’s view of the hammer. It is correct. Except for one thing. The nail tends to forget that both it and the hammer are held by the same workman. The workman decides whose “head” will be pounded out of sight…and which hammer will be used to do the job. This decision is the sovereign right of the carpenter. Let the nail but remember that it and the hammer are held by the same workman…and its resentments will fade as it yields to the carpenter without complaint.

The same analogy holds true for the metal that endures the rasp of the file and the blast of the furnace. If the metal forgets that it and the tolls are objects of the same craftsman’s care, it will build up hatred and resentment. The metal must keep in mind that the craftsman knows what he’s doing … and is doing what is best.

Heartaches and disappointments are like the hammer, the file and the furnace. … As difficult as it may be for you to believe this today, the Master knows what He’s doing. Your Savior knows your breaking point. That bruising and crushing and melting process is designed to reshape you, not ruin you. Your value is increasing the longer He lingers over you.

May you be willing to yield to His plan, knowing that He can be trusted and that He has your best interests at heart.

Susan