-Be The Church

A Church with out diversity is handicapped.

Diversity- The state or fact of being diverse;  difference, variety; multiformity.

Handicapped- To be physically or mentally disabled.

 

-Shellby Celeste

-Homeless

Today I saw this picture "HOMELESS GO HOME" First I thought it was to say "GET OUT or YOUR NOT WELCOME" and I was utterly disgusted that someone would say such a thing but then I realized after reading the article that it was homeless people getting helped and homeless people getting to go back to there home's.  That made me happy, but then I got to thinking although we as Christians and good people would hopefully never say to a homeless person that they are not welcome here or tell them to leave our presence. I realized it's not a matter of words but it's a matter expressed by our actions. I wonder what would hurt me most, the word's "your not welcome here" or me on a street corner with my cardboard sign watching the countless people that sit in there car and ignore me. For some reason I think the person after person ignoring me would hurt most. In the ignoring I think I would feel worthless, like no one cares, no one loves me, I am not important, less and less human and more like a tree or a bug or disease or trash. How would you feel in a homeless persons shoes, if you were blessed enough to even have them?   
 

 Shortly after I saw the first picture I saw this one. I realized being homeless is not a crime, it can be a consequence of many bad choices th out a persons life but never the less it is not a crime.  I have found out that in my head I was thinking of homeless people as some kind of criminals. Then I started to become utterly disgusted with my own self.

I got to thinking how many homeless people are homeless for the reasons I have been thinking "Drug Addiction, Alcohol Addiction, Just out of Prison or Jail... The list goes on" so I googled it...

The answer I found surprised me.

   Most common reasons for houselessness:

• Domestic and family violence (22%)
• Eviction/previous accommodation ended (11%)
• Relationship/family breakdown (11%)
• Financial Difficulty (10%) 
• Drug and alcohol addiction (9%)

Although I'm more then sure there are people out there homeless from the bad reasons I have listed above, that is not the over all case. Some how I have seemed to over looked these people in our society and viewed them in there minority instead of there majority.


On a given night, an estimated 672,000 people experience homelessness. This means 22 out of every 10,000 people are homeless in America. 42% of those 672,000 are unsheltered (meaning they live on the streets or in other forms of shelter not meant for human habitation), while 58% are living in shelters or transitional housing. 37% of the homeless are people in family units, while 63% are individual adults. The most common makeup of a homeless family is a mother with one or two children. This certainly goes against the image of homelessness most perceive; we’ve noticed that people typically picture the homeless as a single male standing on the street corner, not a single mom with kids in tow.

IN AMERICA! 
What have we been doing?

Tonight I have had a reality check, and am dreaming up ways to help my brothers and sisters in need.
We are a generation called to be different, let's not look over the people that so many before us have.
Let's reach the lost, love the unloved, and help the forgotten... Let's show this world the good new's let's show them our mighty God, our Savior, our Redeemer, let's show them the way to The Man of our Salvation! 

 "We love because he first loved us."1 Josh 4:19.



I love ALL people,
-Shellby Celeste 


"Facts and Numbers taken from google/wikipedia"

-Reformation Generation

You are a Generation called by God.

that's all,
-Shellby Celeste

-Travel wherever your heart leads "Coming Soon"

Lost empires..
Old ruins...
Forgotten Cultures....
I Want To Travel This World.....
I Want To Reach The Lost............
I Want to Love The Forgotten............

Missions
My heart longs to reach this worlds people.
Travel wherever your heart leads.

COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!

-Loves journey "Coming Soon"

-Jermiah 33:3
"Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own."


...Loves journey..

COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!

Life- The season of learning

As the months continue to go on as I am away from my large town Texas home and am in the small snowy town of Lead, South Dakota... I'm re-learning things like,  how to drive,  and how to dress. Along with learning new things like, being independent yet being submissive at the same time. No matter if I'm learning something new or re-learning something I've have been doing for years I have found myself coming to a realization that learning is just the beginning of learning more. You have heard it from your parents, grandparents, on TV, on the radio, and have read it in books, that there's always more to learn or you never stop learning. 

It's such a vast statement.

I'm finding out myself now that there's always something more to learn in other words there's always more room for me to grow, not only does that statement keep me humble but also it keeps my heart soft and mold-able. Knowing there's more to learn not only keeps me from letting my heart become hard but also keeps be from becoming stubborn. 

 When the children of Israel were in the wilderness the Bible says that not only did they have a hard heart but that they were stubborn too. Reading the chapters I see them come to a place where they thought their way was the best way, telling God they know more then him. They forgot that "there is always more to learn" and became impatient, stubborn, and hard. If they kept this small but vast statement in the forefront of their thinking that there is always more to learn or that you never stop learning do you think they would have made the same choices? Who can really know, I'm more than sure that there was way more to add on to their hard hearts then the statement above but I can't help but think there lives would have been better if they knew this life lesson. I know I could have made some wiser choice's "even lately" if I would have just kept that at the forefront of my thinking you can always learn and grow a little more. 

Don't let yourself get stuck in a rut in 2011 realize this year you can learn more then you ever have before but don't forget what you already have learned. 

It's like a cup of chocolate milk, if I make it take a drink then stick it in the refrigerator and come back the next day to finish it and don't re-stir it, all the yummy chocolate will be at the bottom of my cup. What I'm trying to say is if we stop string what we have learned with what we are learning we are going to be missing out on the yummy chocolate at the bottom of the cup. 

Every season of life is rich and  important for growth. 

This statement comes to mind, I heard Brother Jesse say on a CD the other day when I was driving that he never lets his success intoxicate him but he never lets his failures paralyze him. 

So in everything you do this year 2011, take it, learn, and grow from it. 

Life- It's The Season Of Learning.....

Selah.

-Shellby Celeste

"Disclaimer"  I, know, I, over, use, and, miss, place, commas, but, it's, because, their, my, favorite. :)

Isolated Intimacy- The Prayer Life Of Jesus

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God —Luke 6:12

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed —Mark 1:35

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there —Matthew 14:22-

At the end of 2009 I decided to start a study of Jesus’ prayer life. I have now come to the conclusion that there is a lot to learn from just this one part of his life, Jesus was a man of prayer defiantly. I was talking to a person the other day we where discussing how people get an assumption around Christmas time that Jesus always knew he was the son of God. Which in fact he had to find him self in the word of God just as we do. His prayer life was so developed that he knew when it was time to go and pray.

So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed —Luke 5:15-16

It says he “Often” went to pray in the wilderness/isolation. Have you ever felt the urge that you need to pray I’m talking an intense urge or have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night and known you needed to pray something out? Jesus’ time in isolation with the Father also involved times of earnest prayer In Luke 3:21-22 it says “And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." He found him self out of prayer, What if Jesus did not yield and pray at that very time I’m sure he had a strong urge to but what if he didn’t. At that very time he broke though something he found him self, later in the next chapter

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

He discovered where he was in the Word this all was divine. I believe that the Word clearly speaks that Jesus had a strong prayer life, I marvel at the thought of it. Think of the Isolated Intimacy he spent with God our father. One on one & face to face! What they talked about and what God showed him, I want my intimacy in my prayer life to be strong like Jesus’ we all should. This year I’m striving to dig deeper in my prayer life I want the same Isolated Intimacy Jesus had. You hear it said often you can only go as far as your prayer life so take a note from Jesus and Pray I know I am. Is there a big decision you or I have to make? Is there a problem for which we need an answer or direction? Perhaps an extended period of solitude with the Father will provide the needed resolution. We should make time to inquire of God and spend time with Him alone. He will communicate with us just listen!

-Shellby Celeste