http://rsjames.com/music/



I am excited to say that Miss Rebecca St. James is engaged (at age 33)
and
so am I, on January 29th, wow, can God have a better way with things than this?! Rebecca has been an inspiration to my life and walk with the Lord, and we are engaged the same year!
What a year this has become and will be.
I expect God to do miraculous things this year, I anticipate wonders to occur. Right now I must learn to sit and wait in patience before my Father above who loves me, and understand how He desires to be with me always. I pray for a bridal affection for Jesus Christ.
I want to share my time with young women who need to feel that TRUE LOVE of Christ, so that they will be filled with His living water. "Where can you get this living water?"...said the woman at the well, and Jesus said, "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." I long to share the fullness of Christ with women around me, those who are hurting, empty, and so lovely to Jesus!
If you are reading my words and want to understand this that I speak of, please ask God to show Himself to you, He is faithful and has marvelous plans for your life. I am here for you if you need to speak with someone, but Jesus is always there for you, He has ALWAYS been there for me. I mean this with all the life within my body. He is the only way.

I praise God for my future marriage, all that we will do together for God's glory. Without His blessing we would never be together, but we have been brought together for a purpose, a purpose I cannot fully see now, but trust the Father with. Where ever we travel, where ever we live, walk and speak I pray that our marriage will be a picture of Christ's love for the church and a image of true purity to our generation.
On December 17, 2011 I will be wed to my beloved on earth. Right now I am being prepared as Esther was for the King. March 17, 2011 will be the 9 month countdown to the wedding day. This will be the only 9 month period I will have to wait outside of marriage, the next time I will be waiting that long will be when I am with child-a few years from now. This day is also St. Patrick's Day, and Rebecca St. James will be in Alabama performing at a Pro-life concert. :)

Attending University has been a challenge, and a true blessing. I just finished my first school observation, and loved all the children too much. One little girl hugged me goodbye and said "I wish you could be my mommy" this touched my heart, and I am certain I am meant to be a teacher. Traveling to classes every morning is an adventure, over the river to another state. The feeling of being where I am meant to be is momentous.
Last Friday I tried on my first wedding dress, it was one of my best friend's (who is also named Rebecca) and it fit perfectly, she was the same weight I am now. This next weekend I will be going to Atlanta with my mother and sister to have a wedding dress adventure. I will not be buying my wedding dress though, I am getting it made. This past week I looked at fabric, and spoke to my seamstress. The dress is important to me but I have never planned or thought of a dress before now. Girls tend to plan their wedding years before, but I never did that. This idea is all new to me. An adventure that continues to inspire me to be a Proverbs 31 woman.

Step Into My Life: Christuraj’s Story

Who Was St. Patrick? — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts

The Mountains are waiting, how I dream of climbing them.
Ukraine is not far off, a few more months of Russian lessons and work and I will be on my way, Lord willing. This all seems crazy yet absolutely logical to me. God has been so sweet, so endearing through all my doubting and has led me far.

Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Spirit can teach us. Pray for prayer. Pray until you can really pray. C.S. Spurgeon

Future

The Art of Worship

Rome falls and with it a way of life for its people. The west fell to the barbarians and the east to the new Roman Empire. Under the emperor Constantine III a new societal structure is established on Christianity. Moving the capitol of Constantinople in 330 on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium the empire shifts its eyes to the east. During the centuries that the empire spanned mingled cultures produced magnificent artwork. Byzantine artistry is among the most noted in history due to the circumstances that created it. The Byzantine culture spanned eleven centuries and covered lands diverse in nature. Art was a form of worship for the Byzantines, an expression of heavenly images that seeped down into nations under its reign.

Subject matter of frescos and canvases were for the majority scriptural based. The Eastern Church was known for its icons of faith within and outside the buildings. Artisans crafted depictions of the Christ, saints, and Old Testament prophets. Churches from the Byzantine period show the tremendous amount of attention that was given to each house of worship. Under the previous Roman regime pagan worship brought about many notable artifacts and treasures of the art world; this new Byzantine artwork seemed to spread to all territories and bring a resulting peace among the peoples. In the second period, 961 A.D, Crete was re-conquered and the people slowly became involved with the church. They had been under Arab rule for more than a century and were forcibly converted to Islam. St. Nikon with a group of clerics and monks built many churches there on the island soon after its liberation. Usually the artists did not sign their work, therefore leaving most of the preserved images somewhat a mystery. Christ and his disciples fill the majority of the themes. After the Forth Crusade Crete fell to Venetian rule for 460 years until it was taken by the Turks in 1669. Most of the preserved paintings of the churches are dated to the Venetian period. It has been proven “that although Crete was subject to Venice during the Renaissance period and came under the influence of the Italian religious and secular art, the island’s religious paintings always adhered to the Byzantine tradition” (Kalokyris 23).

Mesopotamia is known for its contributions in architecture. Greek architecture met that of the East in the Byzantine Empire creating spectacular structures never before possible. The Golden age, the age of Justinian, brought the construction of the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia “would remain the largest dome ever built until the Sinan built the Selimye Mosque in the Sixteenth century” (Hooker 1). Arches and cascading structures spanned the metropolitan city of Constantinople. The facades towered within its fortified walls and above its bustling streets. Justinian also was responsible for constructing the San Vitale that is “decorated with a uniquely Byzantine mosaic style…a style that fuses both Roman mosaic realism and other worldly, almost abstract use of simple forms and dramatic colors” (Hooker 2-3). Two types of construction were seen in the empire: Masonry characteristic of Syria-Palestine, much of Asia Minor as well as the border regions of Armenia and Georgia, and Brick and rubble, typical of Constantinople, the western coast of Asia Minor, the Balkans and Italy. Foundational structures were not too sound with most of them being mostly lime with sand. Marble was not used on wide scales, but only for details within churches and columns in town squares. Claude Schaeffner remarks that “ on the floor of St. Sophia at Constantinople, marbles of all hues, alabasters, jaspers, porphyries and serpentines, create the impression of a garden strewn with purple flowers” (26). Many cities were fortified with strong walls and gates crafted to display the wealth of the government to the trade merchants. Basilicas were first developed in this age. They “could have either three or five aisles usually separated by colonnades; a transept…and a clerestory or a gallery” (Mango 61). The importance of the basilica in this time was centered on the ethereal emphasis that reigned over all the land. Sweeping up to the heavens, taking up many blocks of city space, and intricately designed, these buildings became a symbol of inspiration to the people.

Russia was heavily influenced by the Byzantine Empire. Richard Hooker says that “in many ways Russian and Slavic culture is the continuance of Byzantine culture and many Byzantine cultural practices and beliefs are still practiced today” (7). Slavic connection was made around 988 when The Great Prince of Kiev, Vladimir, converted to Byzantine Christianity. This event happened in the midst of the Second Golden Age of the empire under the Macedonian dynasty which began under the rule of Basil I (Schaeffner 51). Vladimir takes all the customs of the new faith including literature, painting, mosaics, and architecture. At the fall of Constantinople, Moscow declares itself the third Rome; with their rulers taking the Russian title of Caesar, Czar (96). As with typical icon imagery Russian paintings were not concerned with depth but color and simplicity of surroundings so that the focus may be on the intended figure. David Rice remarks that “most of the painters worked as itinerant artists, having no particular centre, and many of them, (are thought), were Slavs; the characteristics of what may be called the Macedonian school…were developed in the main as the direct result of the Slav nationality of the painters” (103).

Before the edict of Milan in 313 A.D., places of Christian worship were plentiful but hidden due to persecution. An entirely new shrine distinguishable in style from other religions was needed. Tombs and places of martyrdom acquired sanctity and attracted the devotion of large numbers of pilgrims. Basilicas came in many different forms but interiorly they had the same basic layout. In Constantinople, St. Irene, like many structures there, were destroyed and re-built after fires and earthquakes. Osbert Lancaster writes that “S. Irene, incidentally, is the only church in Constantinople…never at any time to have been a mosque” (85). The key focus was an open floor plan that allowed for a clear path to the altar area. Later Byzantine ages show churches with an abundance of windows the new idea set on light replacing enclosing darkness. Irish poet, William Butler Yeats wrote in his poem “Byzantium”: “After great cathedral gong; A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains All that man is, All mere complexities, The fury and the mire of human veins” (1).

At the ending of the Byzantine empire “craftsmen were still employed in virtually every corner of the civilized world; only in this way can we explain the mosaics of Kiev, of Venice and of Sicily, the wall paintings of the Balkans, of Russia and of Cyprus” (Rice 9). Unique pieced between the ages, Constantinople impacted the time before the middle ages. The stage was set for the new developments that would arise in the world. Islam took the initiative in the East and added to the legacy of artistic influence. Preserved for the generations to view, the art of an empire showed that “for the Byzantines, painting or decorating a building was always a form of worship” (Schaeffner 8).

Mowgli of the Jungle


There in the cave, sleeping next to his brothers, lies the man cub. Taught the ways of the jungle, this boy becomes a member of the wolf pack. Mowgli embodies the struggles within man between the life of the forest and the life of community. The boy, having no contact with his race, takes on the traits of beats while his heart is filled with emotions he cannot explain. When he does learn the ways of man, he sees their error and cannot live among them. Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book displays Mowgli as a dual character caught between two worlds.
Snatched from the paws of Sher Khan, the tiger, the man cub resists in the jungle kept safe by the pack. His name means ‘frog’ and originates from his long legs and feisty movement. He is kept alive by the efforts of Baloo, the bear, and Bagerra, the black panther. Bagherra seals Mowgli’s home in the jungle when he gives a bull in payment to the pack council. The man cub is accepted and ignorantly goes bout his life, protected. Mowgli “would have called himself a wolf if he had been able to speak in any human tongue” (26). He grew and the wolves became ashamed of themselves due to the wisdom they saw in his eyes. They plotted to kill him and his wolf father, Akela. They knew he was a threat to them, not in physical strength but in strength of mind. At Council rock, the pack declares he must leave. They intend to kill him but because of Bagherra, Mowgli has fire to save his life. Mowgli declares, “the jungle is shut to me, and I must forget your talk and companionship” (39). Out of the entire pack, only a few wolves remain loyal to Mowgli’s friendship.
Escaping to a village some ways outside of his territory, Mowgli looks for acceptance. He had once before sought out a race to call his own in the Monkey Kingdom. To the boy, the monkeys stood up and moved about more like him than any other animal. Baloo told him that the monkeys were the disgrace of the jungle and that he must never associate with them. This second attempt to find a true home taught him yet another lesson. There, within the village, he is schooled in language, work skills, and currency. The only human whom he admires is a mother who takes him in because her son was taken by Sher Khan. Trouble starts when he sits in the village council and hears of their vows of his previous home. To them, the land beyond their huts is mystical and dangerous. Mowgli scoffs them for their suggestions and is, in turn, challenged to bring in the skin of Sher Khan. His knowledge of both worlds causes him to feel out of place in whatever task he undertakes. With his cunning, he plans his exit of their society, on that perceives to strangle him.
Herding the buffalo, the boy conspires with his brother wolf on the death of Sher Khan. His whole life, Mowgli has been threatened by the tiger. Sher Khan hates him because of the limp he acquired during the attack his parents. Campfire scared his reputation in the jungle and caused him to seek revenge on the child. Mowgli was destined to kill the tiger from birth when mother wolf said, “he shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and hunt with the Pack; and in the end…he shall hunt thee!” (12-13). Aided by the stock of men and his jungle wisdom, Mowgli stampedes the buffalo on a full bellied Sher Khan; ending the terror he had spread in the village. Mowgli skins the tiger, brings it to the council rock, an once again shows to his pack that he has moved on from that life.
Kipling is notorious for blending two worlds of opposite character madly into one. His British heritage flows into that of the wild Indian folklore. The conflict is seen clearly in Mowgli’s life. His struggle is between two worlds he and knows that ultimately he will not side with either one. In Mowgli’s song, he says, “‘the Man Pack have cast me out. Why? Wolf Pack, ye have cast me out too. The jungle is shut to me and the village gates are shut’” (131). This children’s story transcends into historical truths that show man’s inner desire for acceptance. Mowgli sings, “These who things fight together inside of me as snakes flight in the spring. The water comes out of my eyes; yet I laugh while it falls” (131).

http://blog.compassion.com/reflections-of-a-compassion-traveller-day-three/

"We are happy when we look at each other, this connection under the red blood sky keeps us alive, You are killing all of my pride, you come to me like a thief in the night, feed me for I need your love, give back to me my society, oh sweet old world, tender kiss, Marianne you lovely heart, See millions of us in love. I'm walking I'm talking, the path is narrow but the end is near"

Water

really eye-opening film, not light in any way. "Prayer in action is love, love in action is service"-

Mother Teresa tells us in her book "Simple Path" of a sign on the wall of the children's home in Calcutta that reads:

Take time to think

Take time to pray

Take time to laugh

It is the source of power

It is the greatest power on Earth

It is the music of the soul

Take time to play

Take time to love and be loved

Take time to give

It is the secret perpetual youth

It is God's given privilage

It is too short a day to be selfish

Take time to read

Take time to be friendly

Take time to work

It is the fountain of wisdom

It is the road to happiness

It is the price of success

Take time to do charity

It is the key to heaven

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love;for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
st. francis of assisi - 13th century

Been listening to Plumb, Alli Rogers, the new WaterDeep- they are so fun in concert!

also reading Jesus Among Other gods; Jesus Wants to Save Christians

just finished The Lotus and the Cross, and The Silver Chair, both great!

I want "Sold" and "A Chance to Die" for Christmas

"Early Morning Hours" Sarah Brendel

40 DAYS facedown

Reading "A Simple Path"-Mother Teresa

heart clenching quotes -"Every act of love is a prayer"

"In the west we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where eveything is measured according to the results and we get caught up in being more and more active to generte results. In the East-especially in India-I find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call this wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The sucess of love is in the loving-it is not in the result of loving."

I saw Fireproof last night and was blown away that in this time of warring over the purity of marriage God brings about this movie to add to the movements that are going on in the spirit realm ! It is full of scripture, and defines a Godly marriage, hallelujah! -I pray blessings on the film crew and actors involved.
Pray for Lou, pray for all the leaders in the Godly movement against the Jezebel spirit, pray that pastors would join together and unite His bride! Pray for the Call San Diego, for the ELECTION, pray for Bolivia, pray for Africa, for India, the world, God hears your cries!
I recieved and email tonight informing me that Kannan, my child, my friend, 8 years old in India, is no longer supported by my funds, or recieving my letters, his family has moved away. Where they are I do not know, I was upset to think that it was all over so suddenly, and that he was taken from my care. But then I realized that if not for this time I had with him, knowing he existed then I would'nt be able to pray for him as long as I lived, and maybe I will not be able to see him as I wished to so much, in this world, but I pray we live together in the coming Kingdom! Please pray his family, small and broken would be very open to God's will and that in their faith they'd be protected with boldness surrounding them.

In this new Jewish year let us gather as the body, pray for the war, pray for Israel, this Thursday is Yom Kippur, a day of intense fasting, focus in and send arrows directed fatality at the enemy's lies.
Shana Tova, Shalom

"The Hiding Place"-Corrie Ten Boom
*before being released from solitary confidement
"More time passed. I kept my eyes on the ant hole, hoping for a last visit from my small friends, but they did not appear. Probably I had frightened them by my early dashing about. I reached into the pillowcase, took out one cracker, and crumbled it about the little crack. No ants. They were staying safely hidden. And suddenly I realized this too was a message, a last wordless communication among neighbors. For I, too, had a hiding place when things were bad. Jesus was this place, the Rock cleft for me. "- this along with the other hiding place where the Jews were in (within the secret room) show a picture of complete dependance upon Him who hides you, who can keep you from harm, and lead the enemy into confusion, the Lord protects His loved ones.

8th of Tishrei, 5769 Let us see YOUR Glory, have Mercy on this nation.

"The ultimate in green living is almost here. Think bus shelters, street lamps, and even houses -- all grown from trees. The process of shaping living trees to create objects, referred to as arborsculpture and pooktre, is well known among hobbyists (a simple Web search shows plenty of results for the art form). Now, researchers at Israel's Tel Aviv University are teaming up with eco-living company Plantware to create commercial structures on a larger scale.
Expect to see results in the U.S., Australia, and Israel, where the joint team has set up eco-architecture projects to create civic amenities, including playgrounds, hospital benches, street lamps, and gates. Instead of shaping trees grown in soil and water to form these structures, the team will grow trees in the air, to create malleable "soft roots." This patented engineering technique will make it easier to build larger structures. How large? Possibly as big as an entire house. According to Plantware, it will be about a decade, though, before the first prototype of this green home appears. As we all know, trees don't just grow overnight. "

Tuesday Ramadan begins, the Muslim month of prayer and fasting, no food OR water from sunrise to sunset. I encourage you to research it for yourself for a better understanding, its amazing how belivers in the True God show less loyalty than these of related religions.

The Elections are going to be at the beginning of November, and my personal convictions coinside with the call of Lou Engle for a 40 period of fasting leading up to the election. Prayers have already been answered in that a pro-life VP candidate has come on the scene, let's push these moves of God to greater hights!

Feast of Trumpets =Rosh Hashanah

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire.' "

Day of Atonement =Yom Kippur

The Lord said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath."

Feast of Tabernacles

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord's Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to the Lord by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work."

REALLY neat site! http://www.chabad.org/

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the
same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same
diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same
winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not
bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble
you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,what is his humility?
Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be
by Christian example? ...The Merchant of Venice- shakespeare

Jehoram - "yah is high"

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

Isaiah 49:16

Beauty & the Beast

" 'No, father,' said Beauty, in a resolute tone, 'you shall set out tomorrow
morning, and leave me to the care and protection of providence.'They went to
bed, and thought they should not close their eyes all night; but scarce were
they laid down, than they fell fast asleep, and Beauty dreamed, a fine lady
came, and said to her, 'I am content, Beauty, with your good will, this good
action of yours in giving up your own life to save your father's shall not go
unrewarded.' Beauty waked, and told her father her dream, and though it helped
to comfort him a little, yet he could not help crying bitterly, when he took
leave of his dear child."

You are probably familiar with the tale. The movie doesn’t do it justice I am sad to say. A merchant with 3 daughters becomes poor. Beauty works hard, her sisters do not. Her father leaving on a trip asks if they wish anything, she only asks for a rose. Lost in the woods on his return home he is taken in by the Beast but the Beast is angered when he picks a rose. Beauty takes the place of her father when the Beast calls for a payment, and ends up falling in love with him. Her sister’s marry and become more miserable, and are then turned into stone for their ways. Beauty becomes queen and bride of the prince who is no longer the Beast.
Now biblical parallels can be found many places, sometimes easily, sometimes after many years of study. I find this story more than a mere fable; it’s a pure representation of restoration and love. The Beast is like man in that he was placed under a curse for his pride, he was a son of the King. Beauty is like the Son of Man who takes on her father’s sin as her own. It can be configured in a few different ways showing different angles. The sisters are like those that are vain and never see the truth. Beauty is also akin to Esther in that she, pure of heart, won the heart of the King. One last symbol that I would like to point out is that The Beast can be seen as “the Redeemer” who took on a form not of His own (prince in disguise) and suffered because he loved His Beauty so much-the church. Only when the church sees who He is, and becomes aware of the love she has for Him, can she be joined with Him. Its always encouraging that when these small realizations come up, their timing could never be better.
For the whole story http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/beauty.html

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek. that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD all the days
of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his
temple.

Belle means beauty, The Beast could not live without her and was going to die, but she returned to him. He repeatedly asked for her hand in marriage but was willing to settle for her presence in his estate.

ISAIAH 56!- this is a great chapter

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For
he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of
righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding
suit or a bride with her jewels. 11 The Sovereign Lord will show his
justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise
him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early
spring, with plants springing up everywhere.

Isaiah 61:10-11

“Change is in all things sweet. Change means an approach to nature.” -Aristotle

delirious