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Articles
The Difference of a Dollar
As we approach the Christmas season, we know that you are probably stretched financially. We know it might be too much to ask to make a year-end gift to G4C. So, instead of asking you to make a large Christmas contribution, we’d like to ask you for something else.
We’d like for you to donate $1.
One dollar.
One-hundred pennies.
Twenty nickels.
Ten dimes.
And for those of you living outside the U.S. and Canada, that’s .80 in Euros, .95 in Australian dollars, 13 in Mexican Pesos, or 157 in Nigerian Naira.
You may think that one dollar is so small and insignificant for you, and you might not even want to waste the two minutes it takes to make a donation. But for G4C, something as small as one dollar can make a BIG difference…
One dollar is enough to keep our website active for a month.
One dollar is enough to bring G4C to a girl in need through our ministry partnerships.
One dollar is enough to run a contest.
One dollar is enough to replace a few of the “little” office supplies, like pens and journals.
One dollar is enough to show that YOU care about making a difference in the lives of teens and preteens around the world!
As this is a season of giving, we would like to give a gift to you as well! When you make your donation, specify if you would like to receive a digital copy of either our 90-Day Devotional or our Recipe Sampler. It’s our way of saying Merry Christmas to wonderful supporters like you!
Call for Talent!
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| Lily Garay was a featured musician in our most recent G4C issue. |
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| Gracie Schram was another… you could be next! |
Are you an aspiring Christian musician? Girlz 4 Christ wants to help you out! In each issue, we have a column called “Jammin’ With” which is a profile of a talented young lady. If you’d like to be featured in “Jammin’ With”, e-mail us at Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com!
Of course, not everyone is musically talented, but God has given us all talents, and many of them could be used in G4C! If you’re a writer, write an article for us! (And if you’re a published author, you could even let us review your book!) If you are a photographer or artist, you can help us create illustrations. If you run a small business, we would love to help get your name out by reviewing your product. Even if you’re simply good at making friends, you can encourage all your friends to subscribe to Girlz 4 Christ Magazine!
Nov/Dec 2012: Broken But Beautiful
The Nov/Dec issue of Girlz 4 Christ is out now! If you missed it, be sure to order a FREE Girlz 4 Christ subscription today! Just e-mail Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com with the following information:
-Your full name
-Your state/country
-Your e-mail address
-If under 13, your parents’ name and e-mail
Subscriptions are free, but we appreciate donations to help keep our magazine and website running. You can donate using the sidebar to the right.
We’re really excited about this issue. It includes so much, including:
-Christmas ideas
-Healthy recipes and substitutions
-Interviews with Austin Gutwein and Lily Garay
-Volunteer opportunities
-Devotionals, like this one:
Broken- But Beautiful
Close your eyes and imagine this. A beautiful, hand crafted, gloss covered, clay pot. Every inch of it is smooth, its shape is perfect and the intricate hand painted designs covering its surface are exquisite. There it is, sitting proudly on the makers work bench, useful and beautiful.
Now look to the floor of the workshop. Underneath the desk you see a potsherd – a broken piece of pottery. It’s small and ragged, bare of gloss or color, and pretty much useless. But here’s the catch: Later, when the Maker comes back to the workshop, he crawls on his hands and knees underneath the desk and picks up the potsherd gently with his fingers. Then he takes the glossy pot and brings both into his house to put on display.
I know what you’re thinking. Weird.
But wait – there’s one more important part to this story. You know that potsherd?
That’s you.
Sure, we’d all like to be the perfect pot. But let’s be real – maybe you’re shy, or have trouble at school, or don’t look like a runway model – whatever it is, you probably don’t consider yourself ‘perfect pot material.’
Maybe you feel broken, small and insignificant.
Take a look at this verse from Isaiah: “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands?’” (Isaiah 45:9 NIV)
Isaiah has a point. As girls that belong to Christ, we love and serve an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-purposefulGod. Every inch of you was designed and planned by a loving and attentive maker. God doesn’t make junk.
So why don’t you have those stunning blue eyes and silky blonde hair? Why then, every time you meet new people, does your personality decide to up and disappear? Why are you possibly the worst person on the planet at math, and equally hopeless at sports?
One, because you were created that way, and two, because being less than perfect means that God isn’t finished with you yet.
It’s okay for a daughter of God to feel broken. God, our maker, is still molding, and meanwhile he can use our brokenness for his purpose – our weaknesses to bring Glory to him.
Brokenness is beautiful.
Paul hit the nail on the head: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Being a Christian girl in a hurting world doesn’t mean having it all together. It doesn’t mean being the perfect example, or being smooth around the edges. Sometimes, the greatest testimony you can offer others is to show that you are also broken, but that your creator is creative and he has plans for you beyond the scope of human imagination.
Be confident in the knowledge that one day you will be finished. You will be painted, glossed, and shaped to perfection.
But until that day, also know that you already sitting on ‘God’s shelf of fame,’ you are already worthy, and you can already do great things for the kingdom of God.
A little potsherd can be anything in the hands of a big God.
Want to read more about this topic? Look up these verses:
· Romans 9:20
· Jeremiah 18
· Isaiah 43
(*Tip*Isaiah is a wonderful book of the Bible to read if you want to find out how much God really does treasure you!)
by Grace Harrison
Enough
Have you ever felt like you just aren’t enough?
To God, you are simply wonderful and amazing.
Without Him though, we truly are not enough.
So when you feel a little low,
remember that you’re a diamond in the rough
and that with God, you are enough:)
Without Him though, we truly are not enough.
So when you feel a little low,
remember that you’re a diamond in the rough
and that with God, you are enough:)
Girlz 4 Christ is Now FREE!
For over a year, we have been charging a modest fee of $5 for a yearlong subscription. We did this to allow for as many people as possible to be able to afford G4C. However, we still realized that this excluded some people. Some people couldn’t afford it. Others couldn’t do online transactions. So, we decided to take a leap of faith: Girlz 4 Christ is now FREE!
Anyone can subscribe, so spread the word! All you have to do is send your name, birth date, state/country, and e-mail to Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com. (If you are under 13, we’ll also need your parent’s name and e-mail.) Then, we will sign you up for a FREE subscription to Girlz 4 Christ Magazine!
Even though we are excited to be able to offer you FREE subscriptions, there is still a cost for us. We have NO paid staff, all of us are volunteers, but we still have the costs of web hosting and office supplies. If you would like to support Girlz 4 Christ, you would be helping to spread the Good News around the world to girls of all races, ages, economic standings, and nationalities. You can make a donation by using the PayPal button in the right hand sidebar.
Thanks for sticking with us for more than a year. We hope that we can spread God’s love even further!
What is love?
1 Corinthians 13
New Living Translation (NLT)
Love Is the Greatest
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;<sup class="footnote" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="[a]”>[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages<sup class="footnote" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="[b]”>[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.<sup class="footnote" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="[c]”>[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Whole Wheat Pancakes
By Natasha Atkerson
Breakfast is a healthy way to start your day! Here’s a healthy recipe for a delicious breakfast treat!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups of whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 egg
1 egg white
2 cups of milk or powdered milk. (some powdered milk is fat free and you can’t tell the difference!)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar or 1 tablespoon of honey
Directions:
Whisk flour and baking soda together in a bowl, set aside. In another bowl (large) beat egg, egg white, milk, salt and sugar (or honey). Now dump the flour and baking soda in with the wet ingredients. Whisk until mixed. You may need to add extra water to the recipe-the batter should be substantial enough to “ooze” off the spoon, but not so runny it streams. Grease a skillet or pan, and use a ladle for the batter. The ladle should be almost full. Pour the batter on pan in shape of pancake, making circular motions. The pancake will get bubbly, check to see if you can flip it. Cook until golden brown. Don’t get frustrated if they don’t come out perfect-especially if you haven’t done them before! Practice makes perfect!
Serve with a side of fruit and maybe some potatoes or low fat cottage cheese.
Originally published in the May/June 2012 issue of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine. Each issue of G4C includes healthy ideas like this one, so that we can utilize the health that the Lord has provided us to further His Kingdom. If you’d like to receive Girlz 4 Christ, you can for only $5 per year! Subscribe using the button in the right sidebar.
Kari Jobe: Where I Find You
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By Christa Banister |
fter being established as one of the industry’s premier worship leaders with her Dove Award-winning, self-titled debut, Kari Jobe continues to serve as a worship pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, and released her highly anticipated follow-up album, Where I Find You (Sparrow) in January .
Rather than simply emphasizing the beauty found in God’s presence, Where I Find You is a clarion call for listeners to experience His presence to the fullest. And not surprisingly, the accompanying soundtrack is just as bold with a buoyant mix of fresh musical textures and timbres.
“After singing about the importance of making time for intimate worship on my first album, I wanted to take the next step on Where I Find You,” Kari shares. “These songs come from such a honest place of praising God for what He’s done—and what He’s continuing to do in our lives—because of His grace and goodness.
“Ultimately, it’s about declaring who He is and enjoying the simplicity of knowing the Lord is near,” she continues. “He’s for us, He loves us, and sometimes, we need to just stop, enjoy His presence and take that in.”
While recording the album, Kari says she was often reminded of that very truth—a theme that resonates through the lyrics of “Here,” a reminder to press pause, even when our culture insists we constantly keep moving.
“There were many instances when we had to stop whatever we were working on because I needed to go outside, take a walk and have my own time with God for a few minutes,” Kari remembers. “Again and again, I was so overtaken by how present He was while we were recording, and it’s my hope and desire that people really feel the strength and intercession that was taking place while I worked on the album.”
Another decidedly counter-cultural idea that resonates in these new songs is how God never lets believers, including worship leaders, get too comfortable in their faith or permanently reside on the proverbial spiritual mountaintop.
“This past year has been the season of being completely uncomfortable and going through things I didn’t understand that were really hard,” Kari shares. “I was literally having to hold on in my heart and trust He had everything in control. You can even hear that a little in my vocals, especially on songs like ‘Love Came Down,’ ‘Run To You,’ and ‘What Love Is This.’ It was a season that stretched me.”
Even through all the growing pains, however, Kari says she was continually reminded of God’s faithfulness.
“I think there are times as believers when we feel entitled and that life shouldn’t be hard. We live in this culture of convenience that says we can do everything ourselves and find all the answers on Google,” Kari says. “But if we can learn to fall more in love with the Lord and trust Him in the middle of every storm, we build our endurance to keep running the race.”
Naturally, these declarations of God’s faithfulness couldn’t help but make their way onto her album. “‘We Are’ is a song of commission for us as believers,” says Kari, “to be reminded of what we’ve been called to, and that is to impact people’s lives in everything we do.”
In the track “One Desire,” which she co-wrote with Jason Ingram, Kari uses simple, heartfelt language that reminds her of one of her favorite worship anthems when she was young. “During our writing session, Jason and I were talking about the simplicity of worship; how it doesn’t always have to be so ornate,” she explains. “When I was a kid, I remember how much I loved singing the song ‘I Love You, Lord’ because it was this sweet, simple song straight from Scripture.”
In stark contrast to the straightforward worship of “One Desire,” another key track, the aforementioned “What Love is This,” features powerful imagery of the Centurion soldier’s reaction to discovering that Jesus was the Son of God after He’d been crucified.
“I often think about what it would’ve been like to experience that and to say ‘Truly, you are the son of God,’” Kari shares. “You realize you were part of His death, you were the one of the people who’d nailed Him to a cross. He must have felt so incredibly broken—to believe the lie and then experience the truth. I really think that’s like all of us. We’ve got to have the perspective that without the Lord’s presence, we’re all in darkness, and ‘What Love Is This’ is my love song to the Lord for His love song for my life.”
Also serving as a grounding force for Kari when life gets complicated is her tight-knit Texas family. Although she turned 30 this past year, she still considers being a daughter one of “life’s greatest blessings.”
Kari has also found another outlet for sharing God’s love in partnering with the A21 Campaign, an organization dedicated to abolishing human trafficking in the 21stcentury. “I’ve become really invested in that ministry and strongly believe that we all have to play a role and do our part to fight against the modern form of slavery that affects 27 million people and growing,” Kari says. “It’s so incredibly dark, and I feel a responsibility to do what I can. Most of these victims are girls like me, and I can’t imagine what life would be like to be stuck in that place.”
Along with her sister, Kris, Kari has created an exclusive line of jewelry and t-shirts where all the proceeds go to the cause of bringing an end to human trafficking and injustice.
“Whether I’m participating in an effort like this or leading worship, it’s all about making a difference,” Kari concludes. “That’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing at this specific moment—to see God’s name lifted high, to encourage the hurt and the broken and to remind everyone to draw close to Him because He really, truly does care about each and every one of His children.”
And that’s ultimately the message behind Where I Find You, enjoying the beauty of God’s presence, praising him with your whole heart and letting your light shine in a world that needs to experience the true grace and hope found only in Jesus.
Take a Stand Against Persecution!
Stephen, Acts 7:54-60
Stephen was one of the very first Christians. He loved Jesus, and wanted everyone to know who Christ the savior was. Unfortunately, many people didn’t believe him. Many people were still waiting for a messiah, and they thought all of this talk about Jesus saving the people was just crazy lies. Hearing about Jesus made the people mad. So mad, in fact, that they wanted to kill the one who was preaching in His name!
Even in the middle of a huge crowd gnashing their teeth and yelling at him, Stephen still proclaimed the gospel. He even had a vision of Jesus being at the right hand of God. This enraged the crowd even more, so they chased him out of the city. (Back then, being thrown out of the city often meant that the person would be killed. After all, they didn’t want blood stains all over the nice town buildings!) They threw rocks at Stephen until he finally died. With his last breath, he asked God to forgive his murderers.
Stephen is known as the first Christian martyr. A martyr is someone who is killed for his or her beliefs. While Stephen may have been the first Christian martyr, sadly, he wasn’t the last. All but one of the apostles were martyred, and martyrdom continues even today.
While persecution of Christians happens in every country of the world, there are several nations and regions that are particularly prone to martyrdom. The country’s law may prohibit Christianity, or there may be radical groups that are against the Christian faith. Voice of the Martyrs is a worldwide organization that helps the Christians in these restricted and hostile nations. They build churches and Christian schools, they train pastors, they hand out Bibles, and they provide basic necessities to those who lost everything due to hostile attacks. You can become informed about these countries and find out what you can do to help by visiting persecution.com. Subscribe to their very informative newsletter, shop at their online store, or make a donation.
It’s great to help people in other parts of the world, but you also have the responsibility to take a stand in your own hometown. If you see someone being bullied or made fun of for witnessing Christ, stand up against the persecutors and comfort the one who was persecuted. If you find yourself being persecuted, ask God for help, and continue witnessing like never before.
Stephen continued preaching and praying, even as he died. While you may not be murdered for being a Christian, we can all learn a lesson from Stephen. Are you willing to join God’s side and take a stand against persecution?
This devotional originally appeared in the May/June 2012 issue of Girlz 4 Christ, as part of a weeklong series of devotionals about taking a stand. If you would like to order the issue with this devotional, e-mail Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com. If you would like to order a yearlong subscription for just $5, click on the “Buy Now” button in the right-hand sidebar!
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