GOING FORTH in SPIRIT and in POWER...

Welcome, Friends indeed !

This is the Season of Outreach and Evangelism on the Church Calendar. The liturgical color is GREEN... perhaps, for new growth ?

It is NOT the season of political rallies, concerts in the park, and national holidays... for the serious-minded Christian.

The ancient church calendar focused on the events surrounding The LORD JESUS and His+ bodily entrance into the human race and the church calendar  took its shape from those happenings. 

Starting with Abib, the first month in the Jewish calendar, in the Spring of the year, we have the Passover Season. That leads into Passion Week, followed by the Great and Glorious Resurrection Season.

Then, 50 days after Resurrection we enter into the Season of the Pentecost, when the HOLY SPIRIT was visited upon the believers in great power and glory.

After that, some churches call it "Trinity" Season, meaning that now The FATHER, His Beloved SON+, JESUS CHRIST, and  The HOLY SPIRIT have been made manifest unto mankind... the fullness of the GODHEAD bodily, through CHRIST JESUS. 

And as in Acts, the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT upon the believers meant that The WORD+ would go forth in power and great glory, bringing others into the flock from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. 

This is the great, power-filled 

Season of Evangelism

for the Church
following the outpouring
of the HOLY SPIRIT !

Now, the church goes forth in victory because death has no more dominion over it! Death was swallowed up in Victory through the Resurrection of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ! 

Thus, we boldly and un-ashamedly proclaim the Saving Gospel of CHRIST JESUS to each and every person. His+ love, His+ forgiveness for repentant souls, His+ newness of life offered for each and every one of us  is proclaimed with Resurrection Power of the HOLY SPIRIT during the Trinity Season.  

One of the house group churches in China works out this season by calling it "Evangelism" month. Each person in the congregation is instructed to bring 3 new persons into the fold during the month of July. They go house to house, door to door, to find potential new members of the flock. 

The result? The China house church in that area grows exponentially! 

• So, let us GIRD UP OUR LOINS.
• Let us equip ourselves with hearts of joy, spirits of determination, and pockets of tracts, being ready "in season and out" to proclaim the Salvation of CHRIST JESUS offered to all.  
• Let us claim the Resurrection Power of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST in our prayer closets, over our families, friends, neighbors, and communities.
• And then, let us come forth out of our prayer closets and spread the Good News: 

 In CHRIST JESUS

you , too, can have a new life,

both now,

and for all Eternity !

Furthermore, this can only happen

when you yield

the control over your life...

your sordid, broken, unhappy life...

over to the ONE+ Who+

loves you best...

CHRIST JESUS Our LORD.
+  +  + 

In the Name of The FATHER,

WHO begot thee,

And HIS Beloved, Only-Begotten SON+

WHO+ saves thee, 

And their Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, 

WHO empowers thee

to proclaim the Salvation offered to mankind

Through Our LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

Amen 

REAL TIME... via the CHURCH Calendar

+ + + 

We Christians do things differently.  We keep our own time... REAL TIME... via the Church Calendar. We don't mark our days or months by the moon, the sun, nor by the Heavenly Lights or stars. We don't mark the celebrations and feast days observed on the masonic calender. We don't celebrate dead ... twice dead... national heroes' birthdays, death days, or battle days. The worldlings do all that, in every country. 

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We Christians are strangers and pilgrims here upon planet earth and mark our days by the events important in the HEAVENLY KINGDOM. Thus, we observe the dates related to CHRIST'S ministry here upon earth: Advent, Incarnation, Transfiguration, Pascha Passion, and the GREAT RESURRECTION.  We also mark Ascencion Day and Pentecost. All these days or seasons related to the key person who changed ... and will soon change again... HISTORY ON PLANET EARTH.

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So, on March 9, 2011, the 4th day of the week [known on the pagan calendar as "Wednesday"], will begin the season of deep repentance of the Pascha [ Passover ] with Ashes marking our foreheads in the sign of a cross.  Lent is the common name for the Preparation for the Passover, but lent is derived from a German word which simply meant "spring." Hence , we will call this season the Preparation for the Passover Passion.

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May The LORD help each one of us during this REAL TIME to deal with our hidden natures, our self-centered lives, and any self-indulgences we have allowed ourselves... all of which hinder our nearness to The LORD.

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May The LORD help each one of us to get into REAL TIME, the Eternal time-frame and mind-set, during this season before HIS+ death and Resurrection.

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May the LORD help us to SET APART time for HIM+... so that we may truly become a people set apart ... a peculiar people... of The LORD.

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An Invitation

Sister Judith Hannah will be sharing meditations as The LORD gives them to her.  OTHERS may feel free to write a meditation  also and email it to her, for posting on the blog. [Please do not send something NOT original, however, like an article read somewhere else.] If someone has an inspiring photo, also original and not lifted from some other place, that original photo may be sent along to her email address: srjudhan@yahoo.com  with a note of explanation, to be posted, if appropriate.  

Seasons of the Year... of the CHURCH Year, that is...

Seasons of the Church Year,

The CHRISTIAN Calendar

We CHRISTIANS do differently.

We see the world develop and go after "holy-days" with all the money and gimmicks the world can offer. There is nothing holy about it all.

The best part is that all of society's worker-bees get to have some time off to rest, relax, play, visit, and see friends and family members. And, for that we DO give thanks.

Here at the Order, we try to redeem the time for The LORD'S purposes and for HIS+ Kingdom. Some of our friends are fasting during this time off. Some are in intense prayer.

We keep "holy-day" with Christian friends, and turn our thoughts and efforts towards The LORD instead of towards the world's parades, games, fashions, and activities.

We try to keep in mind the Church Calendar rather than the world's calendar for these days. Thus, we use our Thanksgiving time to start our Advent wreath and season of preparation for the remembrance of His+ first coming.

Advent, then, becomes a season when we focus on repentance MINGLED WITH JOY.... this joy being that our MESSIAH has come, so many years ago, to take away our sins, to always be with us, our EMMANUEL.

This year, we will be doing a small series of repentance Scriptures to prepare our hearts, as we remember His+ first coming. This is in hopes that we may truly be prepared for HIS+ SECOND COMING, Bless GOD !

Advent colors, by the way, are NOT red and green... but blue, which signifies the Birth of the CHRIST child. Thus, you will not find any red at our hermitage during this season.

For those of us with children, we like to use a Religious Advent Calendar to open a window and read a Scripture. Another activities is to have an EMPTY MANGER and put a straw in it for each kind deed, each charitable thought, each victory over temptation, and each repentance during this season. Thus we do something tangible to prepare our hearts as we "build" the bed of straw in the manger for the coming Christ child in our nativity set. It's a wonderful time, especially for young ones... or those young in heart.

Yes, we Christians do things differently than the world.

I pray you will join us in your hearts and home around the Advent Season of repentances and lighting the Advent Candles in the Advent wreath. May this time be most special to you, as you use it to draw closer and closer unto CHRIST, the only Light of this dark, dark world.