All We Like Sheep

Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 12:2; Isaiah 53:5-6; Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Romans 8:32; Romans 10:9

2012-01-26T22:53:00.001-07:00

This is It.

This is It from South Hills Evangelical Church on Vimeo.

How to Wrap a Cat

2011-12-20T18:57:00.001-07:00

A silly post, I know, but look how well-behaved that cat is. Inspiring.

Besides, it was my son who brought it to my attention. My son who will be home for Christmas soon, with my daughter coming a couple of days after that.

Merry Christmas!

Away in a Manger

2011-12-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

Dr. Ibex has a wonderful series on all things birth of the Baby Jesus. He is dispelling myths and taking no prisoners. http://dribex.tumblr.com/

Today’s in particular is called The Mythology of the Mean Innkeeper.

http://dribex.tumblr.com/post/14163767418/mythology-of-the-mean-innkeeper

I very much appreciate his diligent pursuit of the truth of God’s Word, and I really like this last paragraph:

“I am not trying to be α cynical ‘Grinch,’ and yes, our own Nativity set does contain the Magi! I am just asking us all to base our beliefs on the actual text of Scripture and not on centuries of religious paintings and a translation that could be improved!”

I agree with him. This series continues to be helpful, but in spite of this I couldn’t help enjoying the video below. Made me laugh. I think he would enjoy the humor of it as well. :)

Have a blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of the King of kings and Lord of lords!

News of Bowe

2011-12-07T12:08:00.001-07:00

The Idaho mountains are waiting for you Bowe.

He is prayed for by his family, his friends, his fellow countrymen. He is not forgotten. Praying for his release soon. Praying for his captors.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/06/u-s-prisoner-bowe-bergdahl-s-failed-attempt-to-escape-from-taliban.print.html

spoken Word

2011-10-19T11:12:00.000-06:00

The hideousness of a fallen world

2011-09-23T11:26:00.004-06:00

Hideous. I hate sin. I hate what terrible things happen because we live in this sin-corrupted world. But I don’t blame God. God is holy and righteous and just.

It comes down to man’s disobedience to Him. We owe Him our obedience. He created us. We belong to Him. We would have nothing without Him. But we still disobey. We still mock. We still toss out His name in our sentences as if it were a trash. Reduce what should be a prayer to three hip letters and an exclamation point.

God created Adam and Eve immortal not immoral. The Garden was more beautiful than we can possibly imagine or understand. They were in the PERFECT ENVIRONMENT. They had no baggage from their upbringing to excuse their actions. They needed nothing. They were in peak health, had the most nutritious and delicious food (no GMO, high fructose corn syrup, pesticides, blight, drought, nothing to keep the food from being perfect). Nothing was going to kill them. They were in paradise on earth. NO SIN.

Then they blew it. Eve was deceived, but Adam listened to his wife’s persuading tongue and deliberately disobeyed God. Bam. Everything changed. Suddenly death was a part of life. Suddenly distress, disease, and ugliness were smeared across creation.

Weeds. Floods. Fires. Hurricanes. Volcanoes. Pain. Horror. Adultery. Hate. Distrust. Lies. Terror. Anguish. Torture. Child Abuse. Misery. Infidelity. Heartache. Abortion. Theft. Wickedness. Disobedience. Slander. Murder. Sexual immorality. Having to say goodbye.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Jesus Christ, I could not face this world. It is so full of evil. Thank God for His Son and His sacrifice. Thank God for His calling.

Death where is your victory? Death where is your sting? (1 Cornithians 15:55)

[Did you know that the sting of death is sin? My pastor mentioned that recently. I had not thought of that before. Like the sting of a scorpion injecting poison into its prey I suppose.]

It is only by the grace of God that people can see past the pain and into the joy. This is why it is possible to endure pain and look forward to the day when there will be none (Revelation 21:5).

This is why a dear, sweet man who is dying of brain cancer—cancer that throughout his brain now—can be at peace, knowing that as soon as this life ends, he is in the presence of His Lord. This is why his family—though the ache of the losing is acute—can rest and rely on Jesus to carry them through the pain, knowing that one day they will be reunited with their husband, father, brother and together they will again worship their God.

This is why a father and mother could sit at the side of the hospital bed where their fragile, beautiful baby girl was lying with a respirator and all manner of tubes keeping her alive, praying to God for a miracle. And at the same time remember clearly that though the Lord does sometimes answer our prayers with life, He also allows death, but not without hope (2 Samuel 12:23). This is why this father and mother could make the hardest decision they had ever faced, “It was time. Either we were getting a miracle or Rory was leaving. Either way, it was time.”

Read that story. See the beauty in the midst of the pain. If you don’t know their Lord and mine, pursue His mercy, His grace, and His peace.

I praise my God who works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He is my Rock and my Redeemer. I still hate sin and its effects, but I love the One who will set it all right one day (Romans 8:19-21).

Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare [Sub-post title: mathematical musings with my son]

2011-09-08T12:13:00.001-06:00

Sonnet from The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems

by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1923)

Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare.

Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace,

And lay them prone upon the earth and cease

To ponder on themselves, the while they stare

At nothing, intricately drawn nowhere

In shapes of shifting lineage; let geese

Gabble and hiss, but heroes seek release

From dusty bondage into luminous air.

O blinding hour, O holy, terrible day,

When first the shaft into his vision shone

Of light anatomized! Euclid alone

Has looked on Beauty bare. Fortunate they

Who, though once only and then but far away,

Have heard her massive sandal set on stone.

I started my day with a long chat with my son about mathematical concepts. What I mean is that he proposed mathematical truths and then carefully framed them in terminology I could comprehend. Through the course of the chat, he sent a link to that poem, asking if I had seen it before. What a sweet thing to say to a mother. It has the implied, “of course you read ancient, heady poetry about mathematics all the time, so it is completely reasonable to ask this.” I really like the poem, but it will take many times through before I have a snowball’s chance in the eternal flames of getting any part of it. He gave a bit of an explanation:

I don't understand all the allusions.

But the central idea, in the title, is that in pure geometry you have beauty in it's pure form.

Bare, meaning not clothed in art or music or whatever.

It probably ties into the Greek concept of ideal forms.

He doesn’t understand all the allusions. Snow ball is getting smaller. Then…

Him: I like the imagery with the geese.

lol...I just noticed something.

"Heroes seek release from dust and bondage into luminous air."

That's a quote from the poem.

Here's another quote:

"Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter."

Who said that?

Me: ?

Him: Yoda.

Me: Funny. I should have been able to tell from the sentence structure. :)

I love my math man.

P.S. When getting permission to quote him, we had this additional interaction.

Him: That's fine, but I find it interesting you consider a poem written in 1923 ancient.

Me. I know. I knew that would get a reaction from most readers.

Him: Also, it’s entirely possible the first time I saw that poem was in a literature book in high school

What this means: I was his literature teacher. He is the math guy. The poem made a lasting impression on him. It went right over my head.

Abba, Father, Lord

2011-09-04T13:21:00.001-06:00

by Becky Schell

Your hands, Your arms, Your heart

Hold me firmly in the center of Your will.

Your heart, Your arms, Your hands

Holding mine as You guide me through this life.

I am like a toddler,

Baby steps of uncertainty,

Now stumbling, now smiling, ever learning.

I am like a man,

Grounded in Truth,

Working for the kingdom,

Standing for what I believe.

You are Abba, Father, Lord.

With a firm but gentle Hand,

Through Your sure and steady Word,

You lead me on a narrow path,

To gates of everlasting love.

…………………………………………………………………….

Truth Matters

2011-09-02T17:01:00.001-06:00

And there is a conference about it coming out of Grace to You . Available live stream on a computer near you.

“My good opinion once lost, is lost for ever.” - Mr. Darcy

2011-08-17T10:16:00.001-06:00

“No”—said Darcy, “I have made no such pretension. I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding—certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offences against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful.—My good opinion once lost, is lost for ever.”

This confession by Mr. Darcy reveals that Jane Austen had a very good handle on the fallen nature of man, but I wonder how many of us—and I am especially concerned with believers here, though unbelievers can benefit from this as well—ever take such an open, honest look at ourselves as this. Don’t we tend to defend/justify our words or actions rather than face, much less expose, our sinful motives?

The particular fault that Mr. Darcy is addressing in himself is hard indeed. Stubborn resentfulness and a mind set on disliking someone are in close company with pride. They are a formidable trio, and they stand in the way of peace and happiness. When we are so caught up in ourselves that we will not even try to change our opinions of others, we are disregarding the power of God to grow any of the parties involved. We are disregarding the fact that all people are made in the image of God and have worth. We are disregarding His mandate to love one another. Contempt is not love and it does not glorify our Lord.

If we think someone else is unlovable or unworthy of our respect or love or time, perhaps we should go stand in front of the mirror and take a good long look at ourselves. Perhaps we should stop and consider that because of what Christ did on the cross, forgiveness is available to us in spite of how wretched we are. It is available to all of the unlovable, unworthy wretches in the world who will confess their fallen state and ask forgiveness of the God who dined with tax collectors and sinners.

The verse I quote below is one that I heard many times as my daughter learned it for Awana many years ago, and it has stuck in my heart ever since.

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

And then of course, there is this…

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34-35; see also, 15:12; Romans 12:10, 13:8; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, 4:9, 5:11-18; 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7-21).

The Lord’s intricate attention to details

2011-07-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

“They will call peoples to the mountain; there they will offer righteous sacrifices; for they will draw out the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the sand” (Deuteronomy 33:19).

Astounded by the beauty, but not surprised.

Discoveries in mathematics + science = discoveries about the Creator

2011-07-09T10:58:00.001-06:00

Stanislaw Ulam noticed something interesting about prime numbers, Mark C. Chu-Carroll wrote an article about the phenomena that is now called the Ulam spiral, Phil Johnson tweeted about it, and that tweet was imported to facebook, which is how I became aware of this noticing. Every new thing that mathematicians or scientists observe in creation is something that the Lord built into His handiwork long before mathematicians and scientists were around to discover them, or even scoff at Him and/or deny His existence.

Toward the end of Chu-Carroll’s article, he wrote this:

This has been cited by some religious folks as being a proof of the existence of God. Personally, I think that that's silly; my personal belief is that even a deity can't change the way the numbers work: the nature of the numbers and how they behave in inescapable. Even a deity who could create the universe couldn't make 4 a prime number.

His point about the nature of numbers is interesting. God will not do anything against His character and nature, and numbers do seem to be an intrinsic part of Him.* Here are a few examples of this that I can think of off the top of my head: He is one God, three Persons (Genesis 1:2, 26-27; Matthew 3:16), infinite (Job 38; Psalm 10:16, 45:6, 48:14; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 1:8; 1 Peter 4:11; Revelation 4:9), omniscient (the sum of all knowledge is His, Psalm 147:5), omnipotent (the sum of all power is His, (Genesis 17:1), and omnipresent (He exists in all of space + all of time + all that is outside of time at once; Psalm 139, Colossians 1:16-17, John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:20).

However, God isn’t required to obey the laws He made, whether they be laws of mathematics or nature. Fire didn’t burn (Exodus 3:2), plagues happened on command (Exodus 7-10), water temporarily left its proper course (Exodus 14:21-29, Joshua 3:11-17, 2 Kings 2), time turned back (2 Kings 20:9-11) and stood still (Joshua 10:12-14), and animals behaved unnaturally (Numbers 22:30, 1 Samuel 6:10-12, 2 Kings 2:34-25, Daniel 6:22).

While Jesus walked the earth, He was 100% God + 100% Man, but He was still only 100%. He side-stepped natural law with His first miracle when He turned the water into wine (John 2), and His creative power continued to be made manifest as He went on to heal lame feet (John 5:5-9), sightless eyes (Mark 10:46-52), sound-deprived ears (Mark 7:32-37), lifeless bodies (Luke 8:41-55; John 11:1-45), etc. He simply spoke and a storm and sea calmed (Mark 4:36-41; the same sea He walked on, Matthew 14:22-33), and a fig tree to shriveled (Matthew 21:18-19). He prayed and loaves and fish multiplied, twice (Matthew 14:13-21, 15:29-38).**

God is sovereign over all creation, and is able to act within its bounds, or out of them, according to His will.

I find it interesting that if I replace “math and science” with “God” in Chu-Carroll’s opening paragraph of his article, it then expresses how I feel about my Lord.

One of the things that's endlessly fascinating to me about (God) is the way that, no matter how much we know, we're constantly discovering more things that we don't know. Even in simple, fundamental areas, there's always a surprise waiting just around the corner.

“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand” (Psalm 139:17-18a).

…………………………………………………………………….

* In saying this, I am not saying that numbers are God; I am saying that numbers can be seen in His nature.

** “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

A brush with imagination

2011-06-05T13:30:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was a glorious spring day. It was the kind of day that draws people out-of-doors to watch parades and go on picnics. But the minutes wore themselves out—as they do no matter the weather—and the day gave way to a very pleasant evening. Driving to the mall down a quiet, lazy street, I noted that the sky was dusted with the earliest hints of a crimson sunset. Suddenly a little boy caught my eye; he looked to be seven or eight years old, and the reason I noticed him was he had just thrown something toward the place in the road my car would soon be. Though I expected it, there was no impact. My curiosity was now piqued, so I kept watching him. I thought he was watching me as well, but I then realized he was looking right through me, and the scene he was a part of had nothing to do with the one I was passing through. He was in a much more wonderful place, perhaps a baseball diamond or in the midst of a fierce battle because the next thing he did was throw another invisible object through the air of his imagination in a different direction. He watched as it soared and hit its target. He reacted. He was talking—shouting—to unseen companions; he seemed to be having great success.

I cannot know how his struggle ended. My car carried me swiftly past the scene, too quickly to see if anyone made a homerun, too quickly to see the bloody end of an enemy. When I passed by again on my return home the place was empty—no little boy, no empty bases or ravages of war, just a quiet sidewalk and a dark sky.

Like a daytime moon, bereft of stars and planets

2011-05-18T12:48:00.001-06:00

Why is it we are so easily deflated? Why is it the wind can be sucked out from under us so easily? When we are insulted, ignored, shut out, or outright rejected, we become moody, sad, obsessed, depressed. It makes us feel alone and out of place (like a daytime moon bereft of stars and planets).

It does for me anyway. It makes me doubt who I am and my purpose in life. It makes me mad that I can be so easily affected by the actions of and interactions with other people. My skin is too thin. My emotions too malleable. My pride too easily wounded. I find myself reacting my way through the day instead of walking circumspectly. I find myself wasting a lot of energy trying to please those who have wounded me, instead of pleasing the One who died for me.

Sadly, I realize that when deflation comes, it is at least partially my own fault (I am not underestimating my fault, I just know that I am a sinner who lives in a world full of sinful people). I know that how I navigate this life is important, and I know that my sailing ability is not that great; this too is a point of frustration because my actions need to bring glory to Jesus Christ. I am miserably under qualified for this; I am too lazy, too self-centered, too easily distracted. (Example: I have work to do and instead I am writing this post.)

Help me to see my worth in Your Son, Jesus Christ, Lord. Help me to look to His example on the cross and bear up under the trials I find myself in (miniscule, compared to what He went through). Help me to shake off this enemy called Pride.

"I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in (me) will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

How grateful I am to have a majestic, sovereign God, who is superintending my life and growing my understanding of Him. How grateful I am that ultimately, righteousness will be victorious and sin will fade into darkness; not until glory, but that is a wondrous thing to contemplate.

David Wilkerson

2011-04-28T10:23:00.001-06:00

The author of The Cross and the Switchblade was killed in a car accident yesterday. We need to listen to and heed his warnings in this message and anguish over the condition of the church and the world.

“Hosanna!”

2011-04-17T16:28:00.001-06:00

Today is Palm Sunday, and at our church—on cue—a whole lot of children came walking down the aisles shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Well, some of them were shouting “Hosanna!” Some of them were clinging fearfully to their siblings. Some were being pulled down the aisles. Some were…you get the idea. It doesn’t really matter what children do (unless they are behaving badly), they are adorable.

Our pastor spoke on the trial and death of Christ today (I think it is safe to assume that some aspect of the events surrounding the Passion Week was the topic in a great many pulpits today). As I was listening, a couple of things came to mind. First, I was thinking about that great crowd that escorted Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I was thinking about the din they must have made; the sights, the sounds, the smells must have overwhelmed the senses. Conversely, what must it have been like as the people gradually figured out that Jesus was not preparing to lead a bloody coup—not planning to overthrow the Roman Empire?

Why are we here? What is all the hullaballoo about anyway? Nothing to see here; move along.

Perhaps they were disappointed that He didn’t at least feed them before they went on their way…

People started to break off and go elsewhere. Others saw them leaving and decided to do the same. More and more fell away, until only a faithful few remained. What a contrast the quiet must have been to the clamorous press from before. How unthinkable that so many could be in the very presence of the living God and decide there were better things to do with their time (which reminds me of something I was thinking about first thing this morning: Hebrews 10:23-25).

Next, as my pastor was speaking of the various ironies that can be seen in the trials and death of Jesus: the unwittingly true statements made by mocking fools.

He was called “king of the Jews” when not only is He King of the Jews, He is King of the entire universe.

They accused Him of being unable to save Himself, when He forbore doing so to save the world. They considered His cry out to God about being forsaken by Him (Matthew 27:46) to be pitiful proof of His defeat.

In reality, He had thoroughly prepared for this moment. He prayed (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 9:28; 22:39ff) and set His sights on the goal He had been working toward His entire life (Matthew 16:21-23). He placed His followers in the hands of His Father for safe keeping (John 17:15), and He was resolved to do His will (26:42). He fully trusted Him (Luke 23:46).

The cross was not defeat, it was triumph. But even as He was suffering the humiliation of dying on that cruel device, the mocking continued (Matthew 27:49). Not coming down off of the cross was considered to be the ultimate proof that His claims about Himself were false. It was considered proof of His weakness. But it was not. It was a demonstration of His power. He did not have to be there; He did not even have to be arrested to begin with (Matthew 26:51-54). He had the power to come down off of the cross, but more importantly, He had the power to stay there. He had the power to deny His flesh, His temporal comfort, in order to fulfill that which He had come to earth to do: save sinful men from eternal punishment in hell by dying in their stead. Save sinful men who were powerless to save themselves.

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was victory over Death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Jesus Christ’s death on the cross satisfied justice and made the way for eternity (Titus 3:5-7).

The Bible in Clouds

2011-04-05T12:00:00.002-06:00

This Word cloud video is both beautiful and interesting to ponder.

Endurance

2011-03-18T11:07:00.001-06:00

ENDU'RANCE, n. [See Endure.] Continuance; a state of lasting or duration; lastingness.

1. A bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without sinking or yielding to the pressure; sufferance; patience.

There is pain in this world, and it takes many forms—physical, mental, emotional, even spiritual. Sometimes it creeps up slowly, digs its claws into our lives and settles in for the duration. Sometimes it makes a sudden appearance and leaves just as swiftly as it came. Sometimes it stumbles in, tripping over the circumstances of our lives, bumping and bruising with abandon. And usually, it is unexpected and unwelcomed.

Despite our earnest desire to avoid dread pain, this remains the reality of a fallen world “for man is born for trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). So why don’t we ready ourselves by arming for battle? Is there a weapon that would serve in any contingency. There is. It is joy. Are you incredulous? That is understandable, but your incredulity does not change the wisdom of the weapon.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4).

This conveys the enormity of the Lord God Almighty. He takes those difficulties His children will surely endure, and causes them to work together for our good. He grows us through them. He makes us stronger and better able to glorify Him. He takes our joy and multiplies it abundantly beyond anything we can imagine.

For our part, we must stay the course (endure). In doing this, we position ourselves to watch with sweet anticipation the mighty things the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, will do on our behalf—within our circumstances and beyond them—as we patiently place our trust in Him.

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock" (Isaiah 26:3-4).

Japan

2011-03-14T18:34:00.001-06:00

In a video tonight, I watched cars and boats and burning homes bobbing along a street like apples in a bucket, and a thought exploded in my mind: the ocean does not belong on the streets of Japan.

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me! Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who enclosed the sea with doors when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; when I made a cloud its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors, and I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop'? (Job 38:1-11).”

The ocean does not belong on the streets of Japan. The streets should not be flowing with domestic flotsam and jetsam. The sky should not be clouded with nuclear haze. The people should not be standing on hills and rooftops, clinging. Clinging to fear. Clinging to doubt. Clinging to life—with no idea of what tomorrow will bring.

How can these things be? How can there be such pain, such heartache, such terror?

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31, emphasis added).

How can there be an 8.9 magnitude earthquake in a place that God declared to be very good?

Because sin is here. When sin entered the world (Genesis 3:6-7), it brought pain and heartache and terror along. And the earth still groans under its weight.

“For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-22).

The world is groaning under the corrupting nature of sin, and because of this we have weeds in our gardens, sweat on our brows, tears in our eyes, cancer in our bodies, blood on our hands, wars in our countries, and oceans in our streets. And even though all of this is true, it does not lessen the pain of one woman standing on a hill, watching the only home she has ever known drift away with the tide. It does not calm the fear of a generation being bombarded with invisible rays of death. It does not silence the cry of a nation enveloped in grief.

But even as Jesus Christ was being arrested one dark night in a garden, He knew there would be a place of refuge on a hill—a place to flee raging waters.

Even as He was being beaten beyond recognition by Roman soldiers, the Creator of the universe was aware of the loss that woman would suffer.

Even as our Lord was buckling under the weight of the piece of timber that would carry Him to His death, He was mindful of the horrors of radiation.

Even as He silently suffered the sins of the world, He was bearing our grief, conquering death, making a way for life, for whosoever would come to Him.

God has not forgotten the people of Japan, any more than He has forgotten the rest of us. He has made a way for hope in the midst of despair, peace in the face of chaos, assurance when the world is shaken to its core. We must repent of our sins, embrace the forgiveness God gives us, and rest in an iron-clad eternity—a bold contrast to this fragile life we live on planet earth.

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:40).

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

In the meantime, while we are able, we need to pray for the people of Japan. Pray that they will be comforted and protected and cared for.

Peace

2011-03-12T11:45:00.001-07:00

Peace is being able to fully rely on the Lord—to rest in Him. It is knowing that He will work things out to His glory and the best good of His children...everything, not just the good things.

Peace is knowing that nothing ever happens to us without His superintendent care, His providential watchfulness. Even in the midst of the most difficult, gnarled situations, we have peace that is beyond comprehension, beyond the ability to be understood by the world.

God the Father: How can we not have peace when we know that God and very God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the one and only God is watching out for us, calling us His children, providing for our needs, loving us? He is always making sure that everything is moving forward toward the fullness of time, carrying out His perfect will. Faith realized.

The Prince of Peace: the Lord Jesus Christ, who has single-handedly rescued every believer on the planet who ever has or ever will live by dying an unimaginably horrible, agonizing death in our stead - obtaining for us not only forgiveness from sin, but permanent, irrevocable, blessedly unimaginable eternal life...in Paradise, with Him! Death conquered. Sin forgiven. Future secured.

The Holy Spirit: Teacher, Illuminator, Comforter, Indweller, constant Companion, Seal of Promise. He draws us to, saves us by, gives us understanding of, and guides us through His truth. He takes our prayers and makes them fit for the ears of God. Fellowship perfected.

Nothing else is needed to afford absolute peace in the heart of a believer. Nothing else is powerful enough to do that. We are blessed beyond anything the mind of man could ever conceive of. We are safe in the loving arms of the all-powerful God. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!*

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
*Find the words to this song at hymnsite.com.

Given

2011-01-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post "Be Thou my Vision" in its entirety today, but it would be redundant. I did that last year for Saint Patrick's Day. I can't help it; I love the song. It stirs that part of my blood that is Irish. It stirs that part of my soul (all of it) that is a slave of Christ. As I work through the book Changed into His Image with the ladies' Bible study I attend, my desire increases to cling even tighter to this God, this one true God, this God and very God, this mighty, just, holy, holy, holy, infinite Creator, Who long before the world existed looked into this world and determined to give me life and then eternal life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is unfathomable, humbling, and amazing grace. And in case you are wondering, the blessing of being saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone has nothing to do with anything I have done. It has everything to do with the intimate, loving relationship between the Father and the Son and the giving of gifts:

John 17:2
John 17:6-10
John 17:12
John 17:14
John 17:22
John 17:24

"O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:25-26).

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art -
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

The new sheep on the block

2011-01-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

The maker also does photography. She is a woman of many talents!
http://blog.marshallphotographyweb.com/

This adorable sheep is a birthday gift from a dear friend. She made it specifically to be this blog's mascot. I am not sure if it is a boy or a girl, and I don't know what its name should be. If you have suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Thus far:
For a girl - Sheepy (as in she)
For a boy - Shaun, Heepy (as in he)

Compelled by the Star Breather

2011-01-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

"The God who breathes stars into existence, by the spoken word created all things that exist. When He compels how can I dare say no? Humanly speaking, it would be braver to not do what the star breathing God compels me to do." - Paul Thompson

On his blog, Paul Thompson is posting his journal entries from the day he began to write about the prospects of going to Haiti. He began these posts on 1/13/11. Thus far, they have given an intimate look into his mind and his heart as he first contemplated going, made preparations and today's entry has the team on their way. It is a compelling read about a compelled group of people.

Hope

2011-01-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Where there is Christ, there is hope. Sins will be mortified. God's children will be forgiven. Character will be developed and strengthened. Healthy habits will be established. Life's clutter will be eliminated. Chaos will be ordered. Love will be perfected. God will be glorified.

How do I know? The Bible tells me so.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

The Twelve Doctrines of Christmas

2010-12-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Brain candy...

Palliate

2010-12-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

I ran across this word as I was reading a quote of John Owen. I had no clue what it meant. I grabbed my Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary of the English Language and looked it up. I was appalled at its meaning. Not because I disagreed with it—because its 2nd definition (the one that fit the context) was so convicting. Today I decided to do a search online to see if I could find this word. I could. But definition number 2 did not show up outside of 1828 Webster. Why am I not surprised? It is true that some words take on different nuances and new meanings in a culture, but some words should not be lost. We need words like palliate to remind us that we are sinners.

Palliate v.t. [Low L. pallio, from pallium, a cloke or robe.]

1. To clothe.

2. To cover with excuse; to conceal the enormity of offenses by excuses and apologies; hence, to extenuate; to lessen; to soften by favorable representations; as, to palliate faults, offenses, crimes or vices.

3. To reduce in violence; to mitigate; to lessen or abate; as, to palliate a disease.

I said I probably would be posting as often as November, and I doubt that I will, but I have posted both days since then. This is because I post when I need to post. :)

My friend, Job

2010-12-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

I was reading in the book of Job last night and ran across this verse, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him" (13:15). This, in the midst of unfathomable grief and suffering—where it was entirely reasonable to think that God might just slay him. Job was not a sinless person—there is no one who is sinless, save Jesus Christ—but his reactions to his circumstances were correct. That is why it is said two different times in Job that he did not sin through all of the dreadful things that happened to him.

1) After he lost all of his wealth and then his children:
"Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God" (Job 1:22)

2) After his response to his loving wife who told him to curse God and die:
"But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:10).

Job's resolve can only be fully understood by a believer. When you know Him, there is no way you can walk away from Him—no matter what—because He is keeping us; we are not keeping ourselves.

Job is my hero. I love his response to adversity. I love it that those words are there to encourage me.

November of Thanksgiving: 29 & 30

2010-11-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Twenty-nine: I am thankful that life happens and God works it together for His glory. It was not my intention to miss the twenty-ninth day, but it happened, nonetheless. I was involved with a pretty big project that kept me at the computer for most of the day, but not writing. I am thankful that I got to be a part of that project as it was a sweet blessing.

Thirty: I am thankful for God's patience with me and His superintendence of my sanctification. I would love to be able to tell you what an amazing, accomplished, outstanding Christian I am, but the reality is that I am a sinner who has been saved through Jesus Christ's work on the cross and if not for the Lord's mercy and grace, I would be the same miserable wretch that I was 24 years ago...no, even worse by now. As it is, any goodness that can be found in me is only Christ. It is His hand on my life, His guidance, His direction, His holiness, Him working through me. He is the one who deserves praise. He is the one who deserves worship. He is the one who deserves all that is good, and acceptable, and perfect. He is all that is good, and acceptable, and perfect.

It means everything to me to belong to Him. He is my Light, my Strength, my Comfort. He gives me sure footing when I might otherwise despair. He corrects my thinking when I am confused. He provides for me in ways I could never imagine, in ways I didn't even know were needed. And most amazing of all, He forgives me. All this is possible because a little Baby came into the world a couple of thousand years ago. A Baby who was 100% man and 100% God. Impossible? Incomprehensible? Nope.

"And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible' " (Matthew 19:26).

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29).

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

This month of giving thanks has been a great blessing to me. I hope it has been so for you as well. The end of the month does not signal the end of thankfulness, that is something that must be acknowledged daily - in everything give thanks - but it does signal the end of the daily posts. I suspect with all that is needful in life and in preparation for Christmas that I will not be blogging anywhere near as often in December, but I will stop in when I can.

Thanks to Rebecca, of Rebecca Writes, for coming up with such a delightful plan and to Lisa for giving it a face.

November of Thanksgiving: 28

2010-11-28T20:13:00.002-07:00

"The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching" (1 Timothy 5:17).

Twenty-eight: I am thankful for my pastor. Come January, my husband and I will have been attending the church we are in for four years. In that time we have seen immense growth in Pastor Bear's preaching skills. He is currently working on his doctorate and every week we can see the fruits that are already being produced because of his labors. His teaching is excellent. His passion for the Lord and His truth is contagious, and he diligently strives to convey a proper understanding of His character. He has a shepherd's heart and is always looking out for those that the Lord has put in his care. He is concerned for our physical well being of course, but he is even more concerned for our spiritual well being. He knows that if we understand the truth, we will be able to cope with whatever comes along in life. He often says, right doctrine leads to right living.

His passion for spreading the truth is also contagious. If you ever meet him on the street, his thoughts will be directed toward where you will spend eternity. He wants you (read: everyone) to be in heaven and he wants you to know exactly what the alternative is. To that end, he works way too hard, for way too many hours. Many times I have heard him say something to the effect of, I can sleep when I die.

He is a dear brother and friend, who is quick to encourage right thinking, and wrong thinking, without apology. He is a good husband and father and I delight in his family as well. I thank the Lord for bringing us to this place, to learn from this man.

If you are a believer reading this, I would ask that you pray for Bear, his family and in particular, his sister Debbie. Debbie is a young believer and this weekend the doctors diagnosed her with leukemia. They got her into the hospital immediately and she is already undergoing chemotherapy. She has a tough road ahead of her, but she is resting in the Lord, trusting Him. Bear is not a crying man, but this week he has cried.

Concerning Bear's sermon today, I would like to share some thoughts that were stirred in me. He has been teaching from the book of John of late and this study has been such a blessing. This morning he finished up the section from 5:17-24. Those are rich verses that speak to Jesus' equality with God the Father. One of the things he pointed out today is that in beginning of verse 20, "For the Father loves the Son...," the word "love" is phileō in the original Greek. This word conveys brotherly love and tender affection.

This caught my attention. There is a sense of companionship in the statement that brings great comfort. This lovely image, portraying the relationship between the Father and the Son, is a reasonable one; if we who are wretched sinners crave companionship and the love of others, how much more would God—Who is able to love perfectly—love? And Who better to be the recipient of that perfect love than those Who can love perfectly in return? Namely, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal, complete and perfectly content with one another. There is never dissension among their lofty ranks. They never have to have time away from one another because they need a break. The only break that was ever taken was when the Son took our punishment on the cross and was separated for the first time in all eternity from the Father and the Spirit. The first and last time - but it was more painful than we can even begin to fathom. And as painful as it was, this too was done for love.

God manifests love perfectly and He has blessed us with the ability to love as well. Not perfectly as He can, but it is sweet, even so.

Are you thankful for God's blessings? Join Rebecca, of Rebecca Writes, and others as we praise our Lord for the bounty He has showered down upon us. If you like the button, you can get one from Lisa.

November of Thanksgiving: 27 (having missed 26)

2010-11-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Twenty-seven: I am thankful for the gathering of family and friends.

Thanksgiving Day was very nice. It was a great blessing to have our son home and our friends were able to come as well. The day was filled with all of the elements that it should have had, including the feast and game playing afterward.

It has become a bit of a tradition for us to play Mexican Dominoes when we are together. I enjoy doing so because it isn't a high pressure game. Many people can play and it leaves plenty of room for laughter and visiting. I also liked Thursday's game because I won. (I am kidding - I don't care who wins; I love to play for the sake of playing. Winning just gives me the opportunity to tease the losers). What a blessing that the Lord has given us the companionship of friends and loved ones.

Yesterday was an odd day. We woke up to clogged plumbing, so three of us piled into the car and went in search of a public restroom. We ended up at Fred Meyer and did some shopping while we were there. After all, it was Black Friday.

We headed back home where my son gathered up his luggage to head back to school. In spite of road conditions, the shuttle was only 15 minutes late. This was a huge improvement over the several hours delay of those that were running two days earlier. The driver said that this was his third trip in as many days, which means he had been driving in some mighty nasty conditions. I was sad to see my son leave, as his time here was just too short. I am grateful he was able to come, even if it was only for a short time; we really didn't think he would make it at all. He expects to be home over Christmas break, though he hasn't settled on how long he will be able to be here.

In my November 13th post, I mentioned being grateful for struggles with sin and sickness and explained why. I stand by that post and what I am going to say next should be read in light of what was said there. I have not been feeling well. I have had problems with my digestive system to varying degrees since 2006 and right now it is very bad again. I am not sure what has triggered it. It may be that something I am using on a regular basis is contaminated with gluten; the way I feel is very similar to how I was before I stopped eating foods containing that natural but deadly-to-me substance. I am praying I can figure this out, as it is hard to accomplish all that I need to when I am in pain. The nice thing is that it isn't consistent pain; today is less intense. Another thing for which I am thankful.

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him" (Psalm 28:7; see also, Habakkuk 3:17-19).

I am participating of a month of Thanksgiving with Rebecca at Rebecca Writes and a number of other bloggers. It isn't to late to join us...it is never too late to thank the Lord for His abundant blessings.

The button can be obtained from Lisa at Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 24 & 25 (in which this blogger takes proactive measures)

2010-11-24T13:31:00.001-07:00

"Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting" (Psalm 107:1).

Twenty four: I am thankful to be preparing things for dinner and company tomorrow. My son is coming home after all!

Twenty five: I will be thankful that my husband and I will be enjoying the day with my son, my mother, and our dear friends coming in from out of town.

Would you care for some gluten, dairy, & soy-free fudge? It is delicious!

I am joining Rebecca, of Rebecca Writes, and a host of others as we celebrate a month of giving thanks to our loving, gracious, mighty, Father for all of the blessings He rains down upon His children. Won't you join us?

If you would like a button like the one to the left, you can get one at Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 23

2010-11-23T08:00:00.002-07:00

"For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth' "

(Job 37:6).

We woke up to this first, heavy snowfall, a few days ago, but
were not too concerned because the temperatures were
predicted to be enough above freezing to
allow it to melt. I think now the ground
will be covered for a while.

Twenty-three: I am thankful for weather forecasts. It is such a blessing that meteorologists are able to predict the weather as well as they can. We had been enjoying lovely temperatures up until a few days ago. My husband, who does outdoor work, is one day away from finishing up a landscaping job. One day and several inches of snow away from completing the job, that is.

It is a winter wonderland out there and the children are delighted. We have some new friends who just moved here from Florida and their eleven-year-old daughter had never seen snow until this all started. The children around here are building snowmen and snow forts and some have even spent the night in theirs!

The snow is continuing to fall and there is, of course, another side to massive snowfall, and that is the treacherous road conditions that can accompany it. There have been a surprisingly large number of fender benders since this started, but so far, to my knowledge, there has not been a serious accident. This could change.

The weather forecast for a large part of our state is for a severe blizzard, so bad that where my son lives, they have been warned not to leave their houses.

Check out this report:

IMPACTS...LIFE THREATENING CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR
THROUGH TUESDAY. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS WILL
DISORIENT TRAVELERS OR THOSE STEPPING A SHORT
WAY FROM WARM AND DRY SHELTER. POWER OUTAGES 
MAY ALSO OCCUR.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING 
AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR 
VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO 
WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY
DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...
HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU 
GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

We usually have some times in the winter when there is an accumulation of snow in these parts, but I can't ever remember a warning like this one. It took me straight back to Laura Ingalls Wilder's pa having to string the rope from the house to the barn so he wouldn't get lost in the storm when he went out to care for the animals. I was suddenly imagining those cows that were frozen solid in their tracks when the blizzard hit.

Then why am I thankful? My son was planning on coming home tomorrow and because of this warning, he will probably not do so and as much as I want him here for Thanksgiving, I would rather have him safe there than ignore this weather report. We suspect the interstate will be closed anyway.

The weather discussions in the latter parts of the book of Job give my heart pause as they vividly describe the mighty power of the Creator.

"At this also my heart trembles, and leaps from its place. Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, and the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, and His lightning to the ends of the earth.

"After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, and He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend. For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work" (Job 37:1-7).

What are you thanking God for? Join Rebecca of Rebecca Writes and others as we celebrate the abundant blessings the Lord pours down upon us throughout the month of November. You can get the button on the left from Lisa at Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 22

2010-11-22T08:00:00.002-07:00

Twenty Two: Today I am thankful that we all get to start out life as cute little kids.

In October, I posted about the many ways I have been blessed to teach children and today a friend sent me the link to this video. I would ask that the court label this piece of evidence Exhibit A. Honestly, how could anyone see something like this and not be thankful that the Lord starts us out as children? This little girl has some pretty impressive talent and she is adorable in her display of it. Expect to be blessed. :)

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Rebecca, of Rebecca Writes, and many others are participating in a month of giving thanks. Won't you join us? You can get the button from Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 21

2010-11-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Twenty-one: Today I am thankful for the fellowship of the saints. The body of Christ is blessed to be able to interact with one another on so many levels. We are called to bear one another's burdens, enjoy, admonish, encourage, and edify one another. The bond between believers can be instantaneous and strong, and serving the Lord together strengthens our relationships even more.

Today we had our annual Thanksgiving service and Potfaith (think about it) afterward. During the service, we have our regular worship time, then our pastor gives a shorter message than usual - this year from Psalm 100 - and finally, there are a couple of guys with wireless microphones and the congregation is given the opportunity to stand up and testify to things for which we are thankful to the Lord.

This year our body has seen a number of sad, difficult, and joyous changes. We have celebrated several new marriages, said goodbye to dear friends moving away and hello to new people joining us. We have praised the Lord with the finalization of an adoption and when a new baby was born, and grieved over miscarriages.

In truth, every year brings great changes between January 1st and December 31st and we learn to rejoice in the blessings, mourn in the tragedies, and always trust the Lord to work them together for His glory and our good. There were some beautiful, tender things said this morning and it was one more time when God used the circumstances of our lives to draw us closer together.

I love the body of Christ, and I praise God for calling me into it.

What are you thanking the Lord for in your life? Why not join Rebecca, at Rebecca Writes, and a number of other bloggers in proclaiming your thankfulness on the web so that others may read what you have written and rejoice with you?

If you would like the lovely button on the left for your blog, you can get it from Lisa at Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 20

2010-11-20T08:00:00.054-07:00

Twenty: I am thankful for the assurance of heaven and a gracious God who does not forsake children who die before they are old enough to understand their need of a Savior.

A few weeks ago when my husband and I arrived home from church, I stepped out of the car and noticed this leaf on the sidewalk. It was out of place. I thought, why did this one fall so soon? There were other leaves on the ground as well, but they had already turned their lovely, golden-yellow color, proof that their lives were spent. But this leaf was just starting to turn and it should still have been clinging to its branch.

At that moment, I was overwhelmed with sadness. That very morning, our pastor had announced to the congregation that the wife of one of our beloved elders had been told that her baby had died in her womb. The family, and those of us who love them, were heavily grieved by the news. This is a good and right response to death. Death is a horrible, painful reminder that we live in a fallen world. It's closest companion is pain - both physical and emotional, and it steals away our loved ones without a thought for the wounds it rends in the hearts of those who are left grieving.

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

At the same time, we have the blessed assurance, the blessed hope, that one day we will meet that sweet baby in heaven and spend all eternity serving and praising our Lord together. This is one more reason that Jesus Christ died on the cross. I have become convinced of and now rest in the truth that all little ones who have not matured enough in their understanding to be able to accept or reject God will not be condemned to hell.

John MacArthur believes* that God embracing babies who die explains how this verse can be true, "And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation' " (Revelation 5:9, emphasis added).

Since the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6, Romans 10:17), and there are many, many tribes, tongues, people and nations throughout history that have never even heard of Jesus, let alone His faith-producing work, God's drawing those babies to Him is the only way that large portion of the heavenly population could exist. This is divine mercy. This is amazing grace.

"Jesus called for them, saying, 'Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these' " (Luke 18:16).

"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Join myself and many other bloggers as we participate in a month of thankfulness with Rebecca at Rebecca Writes. If you would like a button for your blog, you can get one at Lisa's blog, Lisa notes...

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*For a full treatise on this subject, I recommend you read MacArthur's book, Safe in the Arms of God, from Thomas Nelson.

November of Thanksgiving: 19

2010-11-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

Nineteen: I am thankful for the conviction that comes from God's word through the Holy Spirit. We are in the third unit of Changed into His Image, Recognizing the Evil Within. It is a tough one. Berg does a thorough job of exposing our wickedness and he backs up what he says with Scripture. And yes, he is speaking to believers, because though we are justified fully at the moment of salvation and we are positionally sanctified, our actual sanctification process will continue to progress until we die and will not be complete until we are face to face with Christ.

At our study yesterday, we were discussing how important it is to face our sinful nature. Those who do not know the Lord must first understand their wretchedness, or they will not see their need for a Savior. One of the ladies quoted something that she had heard years before, "The Good News isn't good news unless you know the bad news." It is a catchy little statement that captures the truth well.

It is also important for believers to understand that, though we are no longer slaves to sin, we are still going to sin - this isn't an excuse to sin (may it never be! - Romans 6:1-2), but it is a reality. I believe that a possible reason for God leaving us with this struggle is that if we were sinless, we wouldn't have a need for Him. As it is, when we sin, we must humbly go before Him and ask for His forgiveness. We are dependent upon Him for everything. Jesus was the sinless One, we are not. As long as we are on this earth, our sinfulness, this body of death, is a constant reminder of how low we are in comparison to our magnificent, powerful, holy, perfect Creator and how amazing His grace to have saved wretches such as we are.

Our sanctification is guided by God, but we have a responsibility to cooperate and participate it it. Another of the ladies told us of something her husband would say to their sons as they were growing up, "Your thoughts control your actions, your actions control your habits, and your habits control your character." This is why we are told to take every thought captive. These are wise words to remember.

Won't you join Rebecca, of Rebecca Writes, and a whole lot of other bloggers in giving thanks to our Lord this November? If you decide to and you have a blog, you can get the button on the left from Lisa at Lisa notes...

November of Thanksgiving: 18

2010-11-18T08:00:00.003-07:00

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).

Eighteen: I am thankful for my dear husband of nearly thirty years. The more we grow in the Lord, the closer we become. It is amazing how that works. I was saved two years before he was and some friends of ours were saved two years before me (as far as I know, they were the only people on earth who were). I remember when they heard I was saved, they said they had been praying for both of us. When my husband repented, my friend said to expect him to catch up and then pass me by in the growth department. He was right and I love it that he was. My husband has a great love of the Word and I call him my walking concordance. He is a hard worker, a deep thinker, and my best friend.

I shared a poem by Ann Bradstreet in 2009 and I want to share another with you now. This one was written for her husband and it is beautiful.

To My Dear and Loving Husband,
by Ann Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

A November of Thanksgiving is being celebrated by a number of bloggers as we share things for which we are grateful to the Lord. This fine tradition was begun by Rebecca at Rebecca Writes and you are invited to join us.

If you want to deck your blog with the lovely button, you can get it from Lisa over at Lisa notes....

November of Thanksgiving: 17

2010-11-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Seventeen: I am thankful for the AWANA program. It is sound. It is a wonderful place for a child to be nurtured and encouraged in the Truth. The game program is outstanding. Lifelong friendships are forged. Bible Quiz and the Awana Games are both challenging and fun and they provide great opportunities for healthy competition. AND it is a blessing for leaders like me. :)

"But Jesus called for them, saying, 'Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Luke 18:16).' "

Rebecca of Rebecca Writes is continuing a five-year tradition of posting what she is thankful for every day in the month of November. She invites others to join her as well. Won't you join us? It is never too late to be thankful!

November of Thanksgiving: 16

2010-11-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sixteen: Today I am thankful to the Lord for whimsy and lightheartedness. I love it that the He has endowed us with imaginations and that with those our lives are sprinkled with delight and fancy.

Some people may not agree that we should indulge in the lighthearted side of life. They might think we should always be serious, but guess what? Even the Puritans enjoyed their world, their lives, and each other (don't believe all that nonsense you have heard to the contrary). God did not create a black and white world; He filled it with color, and I love Him for that.

I enjoy humor, poetry, silliness that prompts giggles, excellent movies and really good books. Laughter is essential, and I can't get enough of it.

I like Doctor Seuss and Shel Silverstein and Winnie the Pooh. I like playing with my family and friends...I love playing with my family and friends. Game playing is a favorite activity...even playing salt and pepper shaker checkers!

No doubt this is why I love to teach children, because nobody has the art of playing down like a child does.

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven- A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance" (Ephesians 3:1, 4).

November of Thanksgiving: 15

2010-11-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

Fifteen: I am thankful for a well-stocked to do list. That list is filled with things that need to be done in preparation of people coming for the holidays. Working through this list is a work of love and a joyous thing!

Join Rebecca @ Rebecca Writes and a host of other bloggers as we proclaim the blessings that our God has showered upon us throughout the cozy month of November.

November of Thanksgiving: 14

2010-11-14T08:00:00.004-07:00

Fourteen: I am thankful for the Lord's Day and all its manifold blessings and opportunities. On this particular Sunday, I am expecting to spend the morning in worship with fellow believers with song, prayer and listening to an exposition of truth from the gospel of John. After that, there will be a time of fellowship, where I will be blessed to have some sweet conversation with dear friends, and then I will be teaching my preschoolers about God's promise to Abram in Sunday school. In the afternoon, there is the possibility of out-of-town friends dropping by - if their schedule allows. And in the evening, my husband and I will be be attending our Historical Theology II class. All of these plans are in the Lord's hands and how it actually unfolds will be according to His will and I am good with that. I pray that your day will be filled with the joys that come with belong to Jesus Christ.

A friend posted this verse yesterday when she was expressing her thankfulness for our church family and it fits my number fourteen just right.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1).

Are you thankful? Join Rebecca of Rebecca Writes, and a bunch of other bloggers, in expressing your gratitude to God so that others can read what you have written and praise God with you. It is good for us to count our blessings and we are here all month doing so. :)

November of Thanksgiving: 13

2010-11-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

"...In everything give thanks" 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

When Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie arrived at the German prison camp, Ravensbrück, Corrie was greatly distressed to discover that their sleeping pallets were not only rotting, rancid and stacked far too high, they were flea infested. She complained to her sister, but Betsie's response was far different than Corrie expected. She told her that they should thank God for the fleas. They had read the passage in 1 Thessalonians in which the above, powerful snippet falls, and Betsie used it as the proof text for her assertion. Corrie did not agree. She determined she would not thank God for fleas.

Their job was to knit socks for the German soldiers. Corrie and Betsie were fast knitters and because of this, they would finish before the other prisoners and then read the Bible to the others while they worked. God had miraculously allowed them to bring in a Bible to the prison camp, in spite of the rigors they were put through before coming in (you will need to read The Hiding Place to see how God did this - it is a beautiful account) and mysteriously, the guards did not come into their barracks, so they did not interfere. It was much later when they discovered why, the fleas.

Thirteen: I am thankful for my struggles with sin and my health. When God commands us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (vv. 16-18), He means it. I am thankful that I still struggle with sin and that my health is not good, because if I were sinless and painless, I would become self-reliant and haughty, and I wouldn't have any need for God. As it is, I must rely on Him to get me through the day. I must ask His forgiveness when I sin and lean heavily upon Him when I am unwell. I must depend on His mercy, His grace, and His promise that one day, my sanctification will be complete and when I see Him face to face, I will no longer sin and my body will be restored to perfect health, for all eternity.

The unbeliever will not see those things as good, but from my unblinded, understanding eyes, they are not stumbling blocks, they are blessings from a loving God, who knows what is best for His child.

What things are you thanking God for as we close in on Thanksgiving Day? Rebecca over at Rebecca Writes invites you to share your thankfulness with the Lord and others. Will you join the rest of us who have accepted this delightful invitation?

November of Thanksgiving: 12

2010-11-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Twelve: I am thankful for God's holy word. This isn't the first time I have made that statement, and it won't be the last. I am thankful for its God-revealing, ego-humbling, sin-revealing, soul-convicting, heart-changing, life-giving, growth-causing, promise-keeping power, backed by the authority of the all-knowing, all-mighty, all-encompassing, glorious Creator of all things, my Lord.

Therefore, since we have a great hight priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Those words are rich. God is holy and yet intimate. Perfection came to earth as a baby and lived the life of a man. He did so that He could understand what we face in this fallen world. How can such truth not render us thankful?

I am participating in Rebecca of Rebecca Writes' November of Thankfulness with a number of bloggers. Join us, won't you?

November of Thanksgiving: 11

2010-11-11T08:00:00.026-07:00

My sister, Mari, who passed away when she was 39, my dad, and me.
I still remember those kangaroo jammas. I loved them so much.
The icicles on the Christmas tree were twisted metal. They twinkled
nicely in the light, but they were also quite sharp.

Eleven: I am thankful to the Lord of Hosts for the strong bodies, strong wills, and brave hearts He has given to the men and women who have served and are serving this country in the various branches of the military. I am thankful for their dedication, discipline, sweat and sacrifice, which has kept our country free. I have many, many friends who are serving even now and I am grateful to each one of them.

For a very particular reason, thinking about this Veteran's Day has left me thinking of one vet in particular, my dad. He passed away in 2005, but for the past few days he has been on my heart. My mother has been sorting through old stuff and recently gave me his dog tags. They are a tangible reminder of his days in the military and they bring back the stories he used to tell.

He was in the army and was stationed in Austria. He was a supply Sargent and I always enjoyed hearing about that time. He was a bit of practical joker and one story he told was of a time when the other guys in the barracks were given passes to go off base, but for some reason that I can't recall, he had to stay and work. An officer came in and told him to mop the floor right here, pointing to the floor as he said it. My dad obeyed. He mopped and mopped and mopped the floor, right there, in the spot where the officer had pointed. When the the officer returned later to check on dad's efforts, he realized what had happened, laughed at the joke and gave him a pass to go off base. Dad delighted in that story, and the others he would tell as well, and they always made him laugh heartily.

Dad had diabetes and I believe he also had celiac disease. He spent the last twenty years of his life in inexplicable pain and was nothing but skin and bones before he died. The diabetes caused him to have dementia, which is very similar to Alzheimer's in its effects on the mind. Because of this, his military stories gradually took on a different flavor. Reality was distorted and for the last couple of years or so he insisted that he had been in the war during the time that Hitler was in power. He spoke often of being present when Hitler "surrendered." He spoke of poor Eva Braun and what she had to go through. These stories were sad and yet comical. He would vary them and elaborate in the most interesting ways. It is amazing how much even those stories mean to me now.

Though they became a regular feature on the landscape of his life, he was not always in this hazy reality. He was able to converse on the normal and understood the comings and goings for much of the time. He had a routine that he followed and he was the one who monitored his diabetes and regulated his insulin. And he did a great job of it. He loved God and his family and his pets, and in his younger, sturdier days, he was a hard worker.

I loved my dad very much and miss him, though I would not wish him back. He is with our Lord now.

This Veteran's Day, I am remembering my dear father with the fondest memories, and I am thankful to the Lord for him. I am also remembering the countless others who have served; praying for those who are still around to tell their stories, and for those who are even now in the midst of living them. I am also thinking about and praying for Bowe Bergdahl, who has been a prisoner of war for far too long. I am praying that the Lord would be pleased to bring him home.

Join Rebecca of Rebecca Writes and a host of other bloggers as we give thanks to our Lord for the entire month of November.

November of Thanksgiving: 10

2010-11-10T10:52:00.003-07:00

It really is November, even though the beautiful weather has made it seem like time stalled in September. This month is known for its traditions and Rebecca of Rebecca Writes has started and perpetuated one for five years now. She calls it November of Thankfulness and she invites others to join her in telling of the wonders that God has done in their lives.

Ten: Today I am grateful for the ladies' Bible study which I attend and the growth it stimulates. In the last year we have studied 1 and 2nd Samuel with a couple of MacArthur study guides and we are currently going through Changed Into His Image, by Jim Berg, utilizing his companion workbook, Taking Time to Change.

I am almost finished with Unit One and it has been a great study so far. It is a book devoted to causing a believer to take an active roll in their sanctification process - to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's leading.

In this chapter, under the heading The Process of Change, Berg proposes three components of the responsibility of a slave of Christ* in the process: mortification of the flesh, meditation on the word, and manifestation of Christlikeness (p. 9). Concerning these, he makes this statement - the first sentences in the book I underlined. "The understanding and practice of these three personal responsibilities are not incidental in the sanctification process. They are core issues. Failure to cooperate with God in these responsibilities in the power of the Spirit accounts for every failure in Christian living" (p. 10).

That is a profound, yet obvious truth. How many of us are always faithful in all three of these areas? If you raised your hand, you are lying to yourself. You need to take another look at your life.

Along with the other aspects of the study, each unit has a portion of Scripture to memorize. You work on it the first four days and then write it out on the fifth. The verse for this first unit is Romans 12:1-2. I am very excited about this one, because it is one that has been so very familiar to me, but I have never taken the time to memorize it verbatim. It is a great blessing to have committed them to memory. I am going to type it here as a dry run for when I enter it into my workbook later today.

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore I urge your, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Most of it pours out like water, but there is one spot which has some ice chunks clogging up the flow. I will need to work on that area a bit more today before I sit down to the study.

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* The author does not use the term, slave of Christ, but I do.

November of Thanksgiving: 1-9

2010-11-09T12:02:00.002-07:00

Nine: I am thankful for change and the promise that God will work it out for good (along with everything else that happens in the life of a believer; Romans 8:28-29).

I need to catch up with my fellow bloggers and buddies in this post and let the world know the things for which I am thankful. I am late getting started, so hang on...

One: I have started a diet, which I am using to force myself to eat a better variety healthy foods and be more purposeful in my eating. This is important with so many restrictions. I am thankful that the Lord has given us an abundance of different foods with which to fill our cornucopia.

Two: If you have spent much time on my blog, you should know that I have been adapting the Generations of Grace curriculum to fit the needs of our church. I finished that this summer, but now I am in the editing part of the process. It took me many, many lessons before I finalized the formatting and we were using the materials as I worked. We are back in Genesis now and I am working away, fine-toothing the lessons. Night before last, I stayed up quite late completing all of the lessons to be taught through the end of January so that when my children come home for the holidays, I won't have to be working on them. I am thankful for this wonderful curriculum that presents solid truth to little ones.

Three: There are many great resource coming out of Grace Community Church and its many ministries. My husband and I are attending an Historical Theology II class once a week at our church. We are watching DVD's of the actual seminary class that was taught by Dr. Larry Pettegrew when he was teaching at The Master's Seminary. I enjoy Dr. Pettegrew very much and I am learning a great deal from the course. In addition to this, there is a sweet opportunity to see my pastor's understanding of theology in a different light as he pauses the player from time to time to put in his own thoughts and encourage discussion. The time is delightful, with learning and pondering truth with dear friends. I am thankful for those saints who have gone before us, hammering out doctrinal details and standing for the truth.

Four & Five: My mother lives with us during the summer and with my sister during the winter. She left a couple of days ago and though it is always an adjustment to get used to her being gone, it is also a blessing for my husband and I. These months are the only ones in which we are truly empty-nesters and we enjoy our time together very much. I am thankful for time with my mother, getting to know her better now that I am an adult and for the time she will have with my sister and her family. I am thankful for the tender intimacy and growth that come from living alone with your spouse.

Six: The school year is well under way and I am delighting in spending time with my preschoolers in Sunday school and my T&T girls in Awana. They keep me young (have I mentioned that before?), they keep me humble, and they keep my awe of the Lord fine-tuned as I observe the abilities of even the youngest minds to comprehend His truth. I am thankful for the honor and blessing to be able to teach children.

Seven: This month has brought with it some very difficult events. Dear friends have gone and are going through great trials. But trials are where a person's character becomes most apparent and I have been blessed to see strength in weakness, joy in pain, hope in the midst of despair. Some of the trials are continuing, some are resolving, and some are resolved. I am thankful that the Lord uses our trials to grow us closer to the likeness of His Son; I am thankful that He uses pain for our progress and His glory.

Eight: I am thankful for the change of seasons. Every season brings its own beauty and its own elements and I love them all.

Winter is crispy, full of manifold shades of gray and definitive lines and brings cloudy breath and rosy cheeks. It is a time for crackling fires and baking. Warm sweaters and bulky socks rule the day and flannels and cozy blankets rule the night.

Spring is defined by new beginnings. It is the time when everything starts fresh and you feel that you can accomplish great things. Blossoms yawn and stretch their way up out of the ground and bright-colored, lighter clothing are washed and ironed and come bursting into the marketplace, the workplace, the schools, and Sunday morning worship.

Summer is all wet and wiggly. Tank tops, shorts, sandals, water fights, and the tell-tale melody of the ice cream truck, NO SCHOOL, running, jumping and tree climbing. Rolled down windows give us an opportunity to listen to what type of music other drivers enjoy. Air conditioning, picnics, vacations, staycations, camping, hiking, biking, green leaves and blossoms everywhere, crickets, butterflies, gardening, fireworks, and time to get all that stuff you don't have time for during school.

Fall is now and our Creator has seen fit to provide us with a glorious last hurrah of color. It is the time when leaves get to show off their inner chameleon and we get to soak in the breath-taking beauty. We pull out the warm clothing, get the last of the produce from the garden, and begin thinking about and preparing for the holidays. Turkeys will be roasted, figgy puddings will be baked, pumpkin pies will be piled high with whipped cream and swallowed with abandon, and my children will come home from college.

I am thankful that my Lord keeps His promises.

While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22

Join Rebecca and many others in this November of Thanksgiving blessing.

SLAVE

2010-11-05T09:48:00.001-06:00

This subject was the inspiration for my blog. The fact that Dr. MacArthur has put it into book form is fantastic. More material. More truth. More conviction. Coming in January to a bookstore* near you...

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*In your home town, or on the net! :)

**Thanks for heads up, Matt!

"...and a little child shall lead them..." Concerning another pair of cowboy boots

2010-10-18T13:00:00.000-06:00

NASB has "little boy" in that verse, but either way, it is a fitting title for this post.

I have been thinking more about my long career of working with children. The rewards of doing so have been huge. Countless times through the years I have been pleased to see how much young children can comprehend. I saw this in my own children and in others as well. I am amazed at how readily little ones seem to grasp the truths of God's word and His world, and I love it when they are overwhelmed by those truths.

My son was in the third grade our first year of home schooling, so he already had some of the basics down. When I was teaching my daughter (I taught her from pre-school through high-school), however, and I was very nervous about teaching her to read. I remember thinking that I had no clue how I was going to accomplish what seemed to me to be a monumental feat. I was awed at how readily her mind absorbed what she was given and I realized that it is the Lord who has equipped our minds for this task. He has created the brain to be a receiver of knowledge and His highest purpose for this is the reception of His truths so that we might glorify, praise, worship, and enjoy Him.

Teaching the same students week after week enables me to take a measure of their understanding. This isn't fool proof, as sinners are capable of deception and there are wolves in sheep's clothing, but the very young are less likely to have mastered the art of guile. One young cowboy I currently have in my preschool Sunday school class has been a continuing source of delight for me. I could tell last year that the Spirit was working on his heart (I have seen this in several of my students in the class) by his response to things I was teaching. I have observed a growing understanding and conviction of sin, and this year he has been expressing his awe over the power of God.

Our children's program is utilizing the Generations of Grace curriculum from Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. Our children's church and all three levels of Sunday school are using it. This means that children from 3 year olds through 6th graders are studying the same verses, being taught the same lessons on different levels. My preschool Sunday school is a week behind right now, as I felt I needed an extra week with the Creation verses, but I plan to be caught up in a few weeks. This is a three-year curriculum which teaches through the Bible from beginning to end, and we have just started back on year one, so we are currently in the book of Genesis.

I was teaching from Genesis 2:21-22, explaining to the children about the surgery that God did on Adam to remove his rib, and when I told them that He formed the woman from Adam's rib, my little cowboy exclaimed, "Whooooa..." His amazement was unmistakable. I got that same response yesterday when I was discussing the longevity of the men in the generations from Adam to Noah. He was quite impressed at anyone living to be nine hundred plus years old.

When I was teaching the account of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain in Genesis 4:8, I took the opportunity to emphasize the serious nature of sin (Romans 3:10-18). I have been very convicted about making sure children don't believe that by being good, obeying their parents and teachers, etc.—that this will make them good enough to go to heaven. I have been emphasizing our sin nature and the need for Jesus to save us. In the midst of this discussion, the cowboy raised his hand. I called on him and he proceded to tell me a story...

These are not Joe's boots. They are
his little brother's boots. I couldn't
find a picture of Joe's boots, but that
is his shoulder on the right. I figure
if you see how impressive these are
you will be able to appreciate
how stare-worthy
and lie-worthy
Joe's must be.
This is a teeny tiny part of another
of Jenn Marshall's photos.
The bigger picture is much nicer.

Joe: A long, long time ago, when I was a LOT younger, I was standing in the hallway looking at my boots.

My thoughts: Oh, of course, he is speaking of his cowboy boots; what's not to admire?

Joe: My mom said, "Joe are you in bed?" I said, "Yes."

My thoughts as I type this: I wish you could have seen the conviction on that little boy's face.

Joe: My mom said again, "Joe are you in bed?" and I said, "Yes"...I was lying...but I was really little then.

When I related this to his mother later, she noted that this happened all of eight weeks earlier, back when he was four. She expressed joy at his willingness to confess this and said that she prays he will come to understand his need for a Savior and hopes that some day he will be convicted of exaggerating his stories.

It is so important to pray for children. Only God can open up their minds to understand the truth, and of course the reason He can do so is the fact that Jesus Christ took their punishment on the cross over 2000 years ago. It is His righteousness that will get us into heaven. We are bankrupt and incapable of obtaining it on our own (Galatians 2:21; Titus 3:5). I have often told children that once we are convicted of our sins and confess them to the Lord, that He forgives us of those sins, we become His children and from that point on when He looks at us as our Father, He sees us through Jesus-colored glasses (Isaiah 45:24; 54:27). Those give a much more delightful picture than rose-colored glasses, because Jesus-colored glasses portray the Truth - that we are imputed with Christ's righteousness (Romans 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 1:9-11), whereas rose-colored glasses just make things seem better than they are.

Children are a blessing from the Lord

2010-10-09T21:25:00.002-06:00

These are my son and daughter and their cousins. My son is top right and my daughter is the one with the finger in her mouth in the middle. They are my most favorite little ones in my life thus far...until they start having some of their own. I should probably mention that their ages range from 21 to 30 now.

Seriously...I have always loved kids. I started babysitting as soon as I was old enough, and in junior high I had a regular job after school (and some weekends) watching five little boys for a lady who worked at a processing plant. I would care for them from when she headed to work on swing shift until her husband (a mechanic) got home. It was usually 7:30 or 8:00 before he got home, so I would feed the boys their dinner also. They were adorable. They had big round eyes and long eyelashes. They could have been in the movies. They were also just sweet little boys. Yes, they fought sometimes, but not often. It was a nice way to bring in some income (I made the going rate, a buck an hour). They are all grown up and have children of their own by now.

I babysat a lot and even had a five-year-old buddy at one point. She was the daughter of a dear friend and we had so much fun together. I am certain that I was practicing being a mom for when I had my own children. She is also married and has kiddos of her own.

I believe it was about a year after I was saved (twenty-four years ago, now) that I was asked to teach Children's Church at the first church I attended. I reluctantly agreed to do so, not because I didn't want to do it, but because I didn't know if I knew enough yet to do it justice. It was exactly the right thing for me and the Lord knew it! The curriculum was from David C. Cook and it was sound and surprisingly deep and thorough. In fact, the very next box of curriculum they sent out was not nearly as good. I asked the sales rep about it and he said people just didn't want anything that deep. It was the beginning of a tragic trend in children's curricula for church. But the Lord used my teaching from that box to give me a solid beginning for my understanding of His word.

I was in that church for about 9ish years and during that time, not only did I continue to teach CC, but I also took part in probably 9 VBS's. The first year we did Through the Wicket Gate (I am pretty sure I was the director that year, if any of my buddies read this and know different, please say so) and it is still available at the link. It is based on Pilgrim's Progress and we got copies of Little Pilgrim's Progress to all of the families and they pre-read the book aloud. The cover of the book linked to on Amazon is exactly the cover it had back then. I had a two year old and an eleven year old at the time and we read it too! It was a fantastic VBS and our pastor said he had never seen so many people involved in a Vacation Bible School before. It was a blast and I had the bug.

The next year, my sister and I co-wrote an intense VBS curriculum based on the days of Creation. I did all of the artwork including designing T-shirts. Again, it was a blast. A friend was (maybe still is) a science teacher at a junior high in town and has a ton of specimens in formaldehyde that he brought over and it seems like we got some taxidermy critters brought in as well. Not only was it a blast — I had even imported bugs. :)

Over the years, I was sometimes the director and sometimes just the art director. I had some great partners to work with and it was a wonderful time. It is still amazing to watch the faces of the children as a VBS week unfolds.

At our next church, I taught Sunday school for the 10ish years we were there (if my numbers don't add up, just take the "ish" into account) and did just one VBS. Our church was small and we only had little kids occasionally, but those Sunday school years were very sweet.

Did I mention I home schooled my kids?

At our current church, I teach preschool Sunday school and am an Awana leader for T&T girls. I am also helping with VBS these days, but not as involved as I used to be. I was art director two years ago and just helped out the art director and director this year. I am suspecting our director, who has the energy and imagination I used to have, is really going to try to get me to direct again, but we will see. I am going to be quite involved though.

For the past two years I have done face painting at church camp and this weekend and last weekend I actually did that for pay. Last week I painted 16 faces, which was every kid that wanted their faces painted save two. Just when I was going to take them, the dad decided he needed pizza, so they left. Today I painted about 53 faces in 5 hours. It was a blast. I am very tired.

This photo was taken by my dear friend, Jenn Marshall.
She does delightful work and she and her husband are for hire.
You can see their work at Marshall Photography.
P.S. They have two adorable boys.

Anyway. I was thinking about the fact that I have been involved so much with teaching and caring for children over the years and decided to write this post. I haven't included caring for my extended family kiddos or friend's kiddos, etc., but I think this is a pretty good rundown. You would think I would be tired of it, but I am not. I can't do as much as I used to; I definitely am not the babysitter I used to be, but having these things to do keeps me young. I think their youth makes a little transfer when I am around them because I can do so much more than I would ever expect myself capable of doing.

For today's marathon I must give the glory to God. He had to be giving me the strength to get through those hours. There was no time for anything but painting. The lines were long, but the people were so gracious, and the kids were very happy with the results.

I think besides keeping me young, this is also keeping me in practice for those grandchildren I hope to have one day.

Children truly are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 137:3-5) and I thank Him, not only for my own, but for a world full of them.

On Alice and Analysis Programs

2010-10-06T13:28:00.003-06:00

On Alice

I was discussing the believing six impossible things before breakfast concept (presented in the story of Alice in Wonderland and utilized to good effect by Alice in this scene) with my daughter last night. I believe the idea of reminding ourselves of the seemingly impossible things that have been accomplished can aid us in facing up to the Jabberwockys that cross our paths.

This is not to say that we can overcome all obstacles that come our way. There are indeed things in the world that we cannot accomplish. The catch phrase of the day, you can do whatever you set your mind to, is simply not true; we do have limitations and sometimes we just need to make a new plan, to flee the situation and take a different path.

Theologically, for example, it is impossible for us to do anything that will make us fit for heaven when we die. Only through the blood of Christ is it possible for us to be saved from our sins, enabling us to spend eternity in the presence of the holy, holy, holy, majestic God of the universe.

Also, we cannot cause things to be okay in God's eyes, just because they are okay in ours. God hates sin and that doesn't change. His Ten Commandments stand. He does not waver. Idolotry, irreverence toward God and His name,* adultery, murder, theft, etc. are all still things that thou shalt not.

There are also physical, mental, and economic realities (among others) that set limits on what we can or cannot do. Some of these limits may change in time, some may not.

On the other side of the coin, there are also many limitations that we set on ourselves which don't actually exist. Sometimes things seem overwhelming and it is easier to say "I can't" than to take them on. Another children's story that has put forth this principle is The Little Engine That Could with his, "I think I can. I think I can." There is no doubt that giving oneself a pep talk can be helpful. Can you think of other children's stories that encourage this type of thinking?

The reason I embrace this principle is that its truth is affirmed in Scripture - with the added assurance that God will assist us in those things we do according to His will. This is seen in Philippians 4:13, 2 Chronicles 16:9 and 1 John 5:14. It is the Lord's desire that we accomplish much for His glory.

Six (seemingly) impossible things to believe in before breakfast:

1. An entire universe can be created in six days (Genesis 1).

2. An entire population can become corrupt through the actions of one man (Romans 5:12).

3. Redemption of the nations can come through the sinless life and undeserved death of one Man (Romans 5:18 - read all of Romans 5 for the full argument).

4. Through Christ I can live forever (Romans 6:23).

5. God will give me the strength to endure the trials He has allowed into my life (1 Corinthians 10:13).

6. God is able to make all things that happen in this life work together for my good (Romans 8:28).

If these things are true, I can certainly face the mundane, day to day things that come my way with confidence and have at them!

On Analysis Programs

This is a curiosity to me. I have been having traffic on both of my blogs tracked by Google Analytics (hereafter referred to as "GA") for some time now and recently I was on the dashboard and decided to hit the stats button to see what it is about. I was surprised to see that Blogger (hereafter "B") is also keeping track of visitors and I was even more surprised that the results are not the same. Early on, I noticed that on one day in particular B said I had ten visits from Saudi Arabia, but GA had no country recorded anywhere near there.

In the last day, GA says I have had visitors from four countries: United States, Uganda, France and India.

B says I have had visitors from ten countries: United States, Thailand, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, France, Israel and Japan.

Though it is true that B can give up-to-the-minute stats and GA only has stats for up through the previous day, today's B stats have only recorded visitors from the United States, so that does not affect the results.

GA is far more in depth on the information they give, but I really don't know what to think about this wide discrepancy.

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* Even if it is popular, as is OMG, or down home, as in oh good Lord; if it is not a prayer, it is a swear word. If it can be replaced with wow or you have got to be kidding me or something of that sort, it is taking God's name in vain.

Another day that will go down in infamy.

2010-09-11T11:04:00.000-06:00

September 11, 2001. I remember that day very clearly. Everyone who was alive and old enough to comprehend remembers that day. The question: why did it happen? The answer: all violence on the earth has the same root cause and the same cure.

"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings" (Genesis 3:6-7).

As the population of the earth increased, so did the abundance of sin. When the people of the earth rebelled against God and sought to build a tower to heaven, His response was to divide them up, taking away their common tongue, creating manifold languages in a moment. They couldn't understand one another, and they separated. Instead of being a single, united tribe of sinful people, they became a whole lot of groups of sinful people. This was the birth of nations.

"Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:9).

Lack of understanding, pride, and the desire for power tend to inflame passions and the sinful nature of man is manifested in ugly ways. Here is racism. Here is hatred. Here is murder. Self preservation and a desire for justice causes those on the receiving end to fight back. Here is war. This has been the way of things since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden (Ecclesiastes 3:3).

"'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'" (Isaiah 57:21). This is our dilemma because we are all wicked. Left to ourselves we have no hope.

Globalism, world peace, freedom. These are wisps of desire, swept away by the winds of reality. "Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7).

But God...

In the Garden of Eden, God promised hope to Adam and Eve at the very same moment that He pronounced the judgment and consequences of sin (Genesis 3:15). In the midst of His wrath... Here is mercy. Here is grace.

And later He made it clear to Abraham that there would be people throughout the whole earth who would benefit from this promise, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (Genesis 22:18; see also Revelation 5:9).

The promise* builds and clarifies as revelation unfolds....

"He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:13).

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 66:12).

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).

And the ultimate fruit of His coming will be enjoyed for all eternity, and this is why His message is called Good News...

"They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:16-17).

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away' " (Revelation 21:3-4).

Jesus Christ is the only hope there is for lasting peace in this world. For now, incomprehensible peace can be obtained and enjoyed by individuals as by faith we confess our sins, repent and turn to Him. Jesus Christ will save us from the justice we deserve (see Romans 3:10-26 and all of chapter 6 - zeroing in on verse 23).

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* This is by no means an exhaustive list of verses concerning the promise, and its fulfillment, that come through the Messiah; if you want to know more, open up a Bible and dig in for yourself.

Beyond ferris wheels

2010-09-03T14:57:00.015-06:00

Yesterday's fair time was really interesting. Early in the morning two ladies came by and one of them was an old acquaintance. She used to have a gift shop that I would make things for, but we had not seen one another for years. We had a catching-up chat and they both said they are retired. As they turned to go, I picked up one of the Million Dollar Bill tracts from the Way of the Master and suggested they read it during some of their retirement time. They took the tracts and came back, asking for more information. I took the plunge and presented the Gospel. As I was speaking, my friend was affirming everything I said, but the other lady was less receptive. I was excited to see that my friend was probably a Christian and started making more eye contact with her friend instead. When I was finished, they both let me know that they are believers! It was like good cop/bad cop - though they obviously hadn't planned it ahead of time. It was great. Iron sharpens iron and it was a blessing to get in a practice presentation. They said I did well and that they would be praying for all of those manning the booth this week.

Several believers came by and it was very sweet. They all were pleased we were there and said they would pray for us. I was able to give out information for The Way of the Master to them as well. I love their method of evangelism and their materials and was happy to promote them.

The day was long and I don't remember everyone I spoke to, but there were a ton of Mormons who stopped by; most of them responded in similar ways as those the night before, but toward the end of our shift there was one twelve-year-old girl who came up and wanted materials. I told her that because of her age she needed to have her parents come back and say it was okay for her to have them. Samantha, who took over after Bern and I, told me this morning that she did indeed return with her father. It was then that she said she is LDS, but Samantha couldn't tell if her father is or not. He stood there quietly and allowed his eager daughter to hear the Gospel. I am amazed and pleased that the Lord orchestrated this opportunity, and I pray that the young lady and her family will come all the way to faith.

There was a woman who came by with a young girl who is the right age for Awana. I asked the mother if she would be interested in having her child come. I explained the program and the little girl said she would like to come. The mother looked at her with doubt, leaned over and said in that secretive, yet comical out-the-side-of-her-mouth-so-no-one-else-can-hear-but-everyone-can way, "it's church." The little girl said - making eye contact with me, "I know. I think it sounds interesting."

An older couple came up and I showed them the Million Dollar Bill and asked them if they believed they would go to heaven when they died. They both affirmed that they would. I asked them how they knew that (thanks for mentoring me in this, Matt) and what followed was really...interesting. The man did most of the talking and he said that he is a spiritist (spell checker rejects this word, but Professor Google affirms it). I encouraged him to go on and his wife said something like, don't get him started. He said he has a medium and that he has spoken to those on the "other side." I did not doubt him. Satan and his minions are active. Like Glenn Beck, he believes that all gods of all religions are one god going by different names. We went back and forth for a while and finally I told him that pursuing this nonsense was keeping him from facing the fact that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. I told him that Satan is working very hard to keep as many people as possible from seeing the truth and that he is being deceived by him (John 8:44). My husband noted that this bottom line apparently got to the guy; that was when he started pounding the table and swearing. I want to clarify that he was not making a spectacle of himself so that others would hear. He actually didn't raise his voice or pound loudly, but his emotions were clear. Interestingly, they walked through again later on and he smiled and waved at me.

My husband had a hard time with that conversation. He has never had any dealings with or dabblings in the occult and it was creepy to him.* It didn't bother me so much because of my background. When I was young, my cousins and I used to do séances for fun. There were some very strange things that happened then that convinced me that there is indeed a spirit world. We also had Ouija boards and definitely had those things move themselves. At the time, I was both fearful and thrilled with the results that we got and somewhere along the way I got the idea that God is okay with all things spiritual.

When I was a young believer, I read Piercing the Darkness and it scared me very much; however, not long after that my pastor did an extensive teaching on Satan and the demons which helped me to understand what the truth about them is. They are subject to the will of God and cannot do anything that He doesn't allow (Job 1:12; 2:6). A believer cannot be possessed by demons (1 John 4:4) and the only way Satan can have any external influence over believers is if they allow it (James 4:7). I am not saying he is not a threat. I am saying his power is limited. However, he is a formidable enemy, is extremely powerful, and is nothing to mess with.

Having said all that, it is this perspective that kept me from being creeped out when speaking to that couple yesterday, but what they are involved in is very serious and very frightening. My background helps me to understand where they are coming from and I have compassion for them in their lost, hopeless situation. I pray that the Lord delivers them from that bondage.

I am revising the end of this, so if you read it before, you are not seeing things; it has changed.

The time spent at the fair was really good for me. It was good to be face to face with people and to have to defend what I believe. It was wonderful to have the privilege of speaking of the life and works of Jesus Christ with a few people who were hungry to know the truth and to speak with fellow believers as well. It was not so wonderful when I found myself at a loss for words when faced with the hardness of some of those who came by the booth. It easy to battle against lies when I am at my computer. Here I can write something, read it, analyze it, delete it, re-write it, step away from it to think about it, come back with fresh eyes and change it some more, but when you are standing toe to toe with someone, you have to be able to say it right the first time. You have to be able to think on your feet. Sometimes that goes well for me and other times it does not. This experience was a good reminder of the importance of continual, deliberate, diligent study of God's Word. It is spiritual food and the definitive weapon for the believer.

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*I appreciated my husband's analysis of this guy as he compared him to a Mormon we had spoken to earlier. He noted that though they clothed their beliefs differently, both said that a loving god would only do things their way. Of course God and His word are true. No sinful person would ever conceive of a God who is sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, righteous, just, merciful, wrathful, jealous, incomprehensible, holy, holy, holy...

Ultimately, no matter what the non-believer's system of ideas are, they really all just don't believe in the God of the Bible and unless they repent, they will end up in the same place.

Fair time

2010-09-02T08:47:00.000-06:00

Last night my husband and I helped out with a four-hour shift at our county fair. Our church has a booth and we are handing out information about our ministries, holding a raffle for some beautiful quilts a lady in our church made to help pay for a mission trip, and presenting the Gospel to those who are interested. Every time I do this it is a thrill. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of no thank yous and hostile reactions, but sometimes the Lord sends a person past your table who is desperately in need of the truth. Those times make it all worthwhile.

There was a lady who came by and was interested in hearing more. As my friend Reneé and I spoke to her, it became obvious that her knowledge of the Bible was limited. This is a common phenomena in our culture today; a far cry from the days when I was a child. Even if people didn't believe (me, for example), they still had at least heard the accounts of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, the Tower of Babel, Noah's Ark, Abraham and Sarah, David, and etc. You know, the stories that can be found in children's Bible story books. But in spite of this, I believe this woman was pleased to hear the Good News of what Jesus Christ has done for her. When she was ready to leave, I asked her if she had a Bible at home and she said she did. Then my friend asked her if she would like for us to pray for her and that is when she let us know that she is going to school and struggling with one of her courses, she has a couple of teenagers that she is raising on her own at this point because her husband is in prison. It turns out that someone is witnessing to him there also, and that the two of them have been talking about the Lord. I pray that by God's grace both of them will fully understand the depth of their sinful state, seek forgiveness and peace from the Prince of Peace, repent, and be saved.

Concerning the rejections, there were some interesting ones. I went toe to toe with one fellow and his wife, who were convinced that works were essential. As we spoke, it was clear that they understood things I was telling them, the husband would even say to me, "So what you are saying is..." and he would give back what I had said in his own words. In spite of this, they both stood firm that their works are their ticket to heaven. They didn't say who they are affiliated with, but there were many who came by last night that did. The first person who told us that he will certainly go to heaven when he dies because he is a member of the LDS church also noted that he is a bishop, sealing the deal. Reneé was stunned at his confidence, as she knew better. I understood where she was coming from; it is heartbreaking to see people so utterly convinced that they will be fine when they die when their confidence is in a lie. We had a number if Mormons come by and each one had a similar response. A very common reaction that you get when you suggest that people are sinners is indignation. None of us want to be told that we are wrong, only God can change our hearts and teach us humility.

We were using the Way of the Master's Million Dollar Bill tract and though there were many who took them, there were also many who put them back on the table and walked away. My heart aches for people who do not grasp the invaluable gift that that piece of paper represents, but I pray that the little seeds that were planted in their hearts during that brief encounter will produce an abundant harvest one day.

Today my husband and I are headed back over there; this time for an eight-hour shift. If you read this today, please lift us up and pray that our words would be true, that we would not give offense unless that offense is from the Gospel message and that the people we will meet would be receptive.

Restoring honor by restoring sinners

2010-08-30T14:24:00.000-06:00

The Restoring Honor gathering at our nation's capital on Saturday has caused a stir among Christ's body. There were many, many true believers in Jesus Christ who either attended or embraced that event and its purpose. The problem has nothing to do with the state of this nation, the problem is with the beliefs of its head, Glenn Beck. This man, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is proposing a revival that ignores the boundaries of doctrine and denomination. I recently heard him say on his radio program that he believes that we all follow the same god, no matter our religion (not a direct quote, Glenn; have you called Wretched yet?). To this I say, the God of the Bible is not the god of all religions, though He is the God of all people and those who do not embrace His Son, Jesus Christ (not the anti-Christ Mormon Jesus, who they say is the brother of Lucifer, by the way) will justly experience His wrath--not His love.

God divided the nations at Babel and He does not shun patriotism, but He will not tolerate His children embracing unbelievers and treating them as being on equal terms theologically. This is the fine line we walk in a situation of this nature. It is not a lack of patriotism that has brought our nation to its current state, it is a lack of holiness. It is rebellion against God and the consequences of that rebellion, as laid out in Romans 1:18-32. This nation is under God's holy judgement right now and its people need to acknowledge their sins and turn to the King of kings and Lord of lords (and President of presidents), repenting and humbly asking Him to forgive them. Our nation, like Nineveh, can be given a stay of judgement (someone once said that God must judge nations now, because they don't have an afterlife), but it will only happen through true revival, not a works-oriented, lets-just-everybody-forget-our-differences-and-get-along-and-build-us-a-Tower-like-they-did-at-Babel revival. That will not work.

Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish."

When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it (Jonah 3:5-10).

Christians need to go directly to the throne room of God and in the name of Jesus Christ, petition Him to turn the hearts of this nation to Him.

There is an excellent piece, God, the Gospel and Glenn Beck by Dr. Russell Moore which can be found at his blog, Moore to the Point which addresses this issue very well. (Thanks to Matt Marshall for the heads up.)

Dear Blogger

2010-08-28T20:07:00.001-06:00

Thanks for the editing improvements. They are fabulous. I am especially happy with the preview feature that actually shows what the post will look like when it is published. It makes the whole getting-the-spacing-and-other-formatting-right thing much easier.

This is a simulpost. You can also see it live at my other blog, Gluten Free Sleuth.

Following the Cat

2010-08-28T10:52:00.002-06:00

Weather Cat is all about the changes of seasons and as seasons change, so do activities and perspectives. This subject is certainly not an unwritten-about topic, but I am going to use it as my launching pad, even so.

Our missionaries are safely home with their families. They went off to Russia equipped with masks to protect their lungs from the heavy smoke there and ironically, the picture below was taken here just a few nights ago. There have been a number of range fires in and near our valley and the smoke is especially wreaking havoc on those with asthma. I have a friend who is really struggling with it and hoping not to end up with an infection from the irritation this is causing. Our local firefighters put out a call to neighboring states for assistance, as the load has been keeping them busy beyond what is safe. Firefighters need sleep and food and such. What a blessing to have these men who have made it their career, their mission in life, to serve in this important way.

Our garden has been odd this year. Last year we had an abundance of onions and my plan was to plant more, but this year's crop has been odd and just hasn't gained much size. I will be purchasing onions much sooner than I had anticipated.

Tomatoes are doing well. Zucchini is prolific (surprise). Root vegetables are producing nicely. Kohlrabi is doing fantastic!

My grandfather was a master gardener and he used to grow kohlrabi. I had never seen or heard of it before grandma served it the first time, but boy did I like it! When we were choosing vegetables this year, I suggested we try to grow some. They do really well in this area and we have a nice crop.

My husband picked this first rutabaga and I had to laugh. No rutabaga should look this ugly. It reminds me of the orc, Gothmog, from LOTR's Return of the King.

Concerning zucchini, it is true they are prolific. Because of this are often the victim of ridicule and people sometimes run and hide when they see a herd of them coming their way, but I really like it that they produce well and I am having a great time coming up with tasty ways to utilize them. I have stir fried them several times with chicken and a variety of other vegetables, we have had them raw with a favorite dip and I even made a big batch of gluten free zucchini bread that I served to our church last week. They loved it and had no idea it was gluten free! (See more about my zucchini bread adventure on my other blog.)

"Then God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them'; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:11-12).

Weather Cat, revisited, revised, and edited

2010-08-23T11:24:00.001-06:00

I am reposting this from my other blog, with a few changes and additions. It is one of my favorites from there and it is timely. The original was posted on September 11, 2008, so this is a little early, and Sally Field (the name I wanted to give her, as she was from a litter of cats that a farmer found in a field) hasn't spent a whole night in the house yet. This morning it is chilly though and I expect it will happen soon.

Weather Cat

Our cat is seasonally aware and she helps us to keep track of them as well. Last night she stayed inside...the whole night! She slept by my husband's legs, because it is cozy there. What does this tell us? It is fall. It is cold outside at night. This morning, after her favorite breakfast of shredded beef (mostly she licks the gravy), she was ready to be outside.

I have to put a special sheet on my bed, as she tends to leave her coat behind when she gets up.

As the days shorten and cool down, she will spend more and more time in the house. When it gets really cold she will have to be forced to go outside; the great outdoors is her powder room, but when there is actually white, powdery stuff on the ground, she is not interested in going there. She had a litter box when she was a wee kitten but once she discovered dirt and space, that item was rejected, and she has never looked back.

In the spring as the days get warmer, she will start to venture out more. She will still prefer to sleep in the bedroom when she is in the house, but her time there will diminish as the degrees on the thermometer rise.

As the weather warms, she becomes less of a house cat until, come summer, she only occasionally graces us with her presence. We see her first thing in the morning for her gravy and from time to time she will come in the back door, walk through the house to allow us to touch her, and then out the front door and on to...whatever she does out there.

During the summer we do see her. She is hanging in the back yard, maybe sleeping in the dirt under the porch, wandering the neighborhood, sleeping under some neighbor's car, stalking birds (she caught a hummingbird once!), or peeking out the backyard fence at passersby.

During the hottest times she will come in the house, eat, and then head to the basement. In the laundry room, she has a blanket-lined basket she sleeps in, or she has a pillowcase-covered chair in another place. It is cool down there.

She does come inside on summer nights sometimes. She will come into our bedroom and hang out in the screened window. She sleeps and watches and when she sees something really interesting, she is ready to go out and get involved. She doesn't stay in the window for more than a couple of hours in the summer.

We know that the summer is drawing to a close when Sally Field can be found at my husband's feet for a few hours of slumber, and I am reminded of the Lord's promise to Noah, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

Ah, to have a weather cat.

The other side of the college coin (another type of change)

2010-08-18T11:21:00.002-06:00

To see what I wrote on the mother side of the college coin, go here and here. This time I am going to write about the student's view of things (even though I am a mother and haven't attended college for many more years than my son and daughter are old, I still get it).

I have a friend whose two daughters head to college this week. Her oldest is the same age as my daughter and is a senior this year; her youngest, and last, is a freshman. This means she is facing empty nest and she is already struggling. I understand.

This morning I was thinking of the other side of this college coin and thought of myself when I was the one going away instead of the one staying behind.

I remember what it was like leaving for school so long ago. I had mixed feelings...I was so excited to be grown up, to be out on my own and responsible for myself, but at the same time, I was nervous about the whole thing. Change is difficult and I loved my home and my family. I was taking leave of the familiar and embracing the unknown.

There are things about that year that were very good for me. I took some art classes and really explored my capabilities for the first time. I found that I was able to do well in my classes, if I applied myself. I made new friends and learned to love the campus life.

There were also things that were not good for me. Leaving behind the authority of my parents and their wise reminders of right and wrong, I went full on into exploring the wrong side of that equation. I was at a public university and trust me, they didn't care what I did.* In addition to academics, I also studied the party side of higher education and most of what that entails. I still worked away on my schooling, but I missed a lot of early morning classes. My problem was a lack of character (read: self discipline) and no lack of sin nature.

Becoming independent is where the rubber meets the road. Will godly principles or ungodly self-indulgences rule the day? Ungodly activities are ubiquitous; godly activities are not (Matthew 7:13). If you are about to embark on this journey, please consider carefully who you want to be on the other side, because what you do now will affect then. Consequences are a reality of life (Galatians 6:7).

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* In a very real sense, debauchery was encouraged and embraced by many of my professors; it was a harsh environment and I was at a vulnerable age. I wanted to appear grown up. I didn't want to appear to be prudish or a wimp. So, when I saw the explicit illustrations in my biology textbook for the first time, I subdued my urge to blush and did not allow my jaw to drop. When the subject was openly discussed in a large, full auditorium, I had to steel myself against my embarrassment and push away my screaming conscience. The first time a nude model walked into my art class (again, I was surrounded by my peers - male and female), I again found myself caught up in a struggle between the morals I had been raised with vs. the social mores of that place. The social mores won the day. This isn't a big surprise. I was not a believer at that time and the conscience of a depraved and unsaved soul is easy to suppress (Romans 1:18).

Change (read: boring announcement)

2010-08-18T09:51:00.002-06:00

NOTICE: This has nothing to do with hormones.

I have changed to the new blogger editing format, which is a great improvement over the last one save one thing - I don't like the font color choices, but there it is. Honestly, I wasn't crazy about the last ones either; I am the type of person who wants to buy the BIGGEST BOX OF CRAYOLA CRAYONS possible and I love it when I get to open a fresh box for the first time.

This is not a fresh box. The problem with buying fresh boxes is not knowing what to do with the stale boxes. We have a lot of old, blunt, broken, half-naked crayons in our home.

Anyway, I could go back and get the html code for the colors I used before when I wanted to change a font color for emphasis, but I don't think I will do that. Just expect to see a change when that comes up next time.

Does anybody know what the html code is for cornflower blue?

Life before slavery

2010-08-14T22:28:00.005-06:00

If you read my KURIOS/DOULOS post, you will understand when I came to realize that I am a slave of Christ. Dr. MacArthur's sermon had such a profound impact that I determined to start this blog, but at that time I already had another blog with a different user name. I didn't realize how easy it would be to change my user name and continue on with my blogging here, so I just stopped using that blog. This evening I decided to mess around with the new template designer over there, so I could figure out how it works. I did and now that one has a new look. Because I had manually changed the colors of the fonts in the posts over there the last time I changed it's look, I was changing a lot of them to fit the new design and realized that I should make it public over here.

That blog is called Living Hope and my user name is Aunt Bee. If you go there, you will find some posts similar to this one, but you will also see some more personal posts and interaction with family and friends, as well as some heated discussions.

Another thing about that blog is that it chronicles my health issues from early 2006 to early 2007 when I stopped eating gluten. I had not looked through it for a long, long time and I am realizing that I have not been remembering some of the dates for when things happened correctly. I also realized that though my celiac test was negative, the doctor should have done the biopsy on my small intestine then. It was a much shorter time than I realized from when I had stopped eating gluten and damage would be evident. Hind sight...

Missionaries in a far-distant land

2010-08-09T12:24:00.007-06:00

I have friends who are on a mission trip to Tambov, Russia. Traveling half-way around the world to a place where the people you will be ministering to are awake when you are used to sleeping makes for a tough adjustment. Two of the missionaries have been there several times, two are novices. They took masks due to the dreaded smoke issue in Moscow, but the only picture I have seen of them when they were there looked clear. Apparently the flights were being delayed in and out of Moscow, so it is a great blessing they were able to land without difficulties. They are suffering from jet lag and extreme heat, so I am praying that they are able to get some sleep before tomorrow when things get busy. They have some great people they work with in Russia and I know they have had some delightful reunions already.

First, they will be ministering to children in an orphanage in Tambov. The orphans have a tough time of it and our Vacation Bible School has started having fundraising projects each year to help them in some way. Last year we sent slippers to keep their feet warm from cold winters and concrete floors. This year we raised enough to purchase parachutes for playing a variety of games and our own VBS children got to play with them too, so they could know what they were sending to these children so far away.

Life is not easy for orphans in Russia and I pray that the Lord touches the hearts of these young people and draws them to Himself. Peace in Christ is the best peace they can know.

Lost Sheep, part 2

2010-08-03T10:47:00.007-06:00

"So He told them this parable, saying, 'What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!" I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance' " (Luke 15:3-7).

In my first post regarding the lost sheep, I told about misplacing a sweet little cowgirl at Vacation Bible School. As I pondered this parable, I also thought of Bowe Bergdahl's present circumstances. He too is missing (though unlike Dale Evans, he truly is in danger) and I think of him all the time and pray that the Lord will protect him and allow him to be rescued and returned home. I pray that the Lord is enabling him to be strong and to cling to his convictions. I pray that he is clinging to God and the truths he was raised to believe.

Though I have thought of these two situations in light of the parable, it does not specifically apply to them. The principle it's truth is clothed with - the reality that people are precious, and when one of them is lost, he or she must be found - is certainly legitimate, but the kingdom truth behind it goes beyond a temporal restoration. The parable is speaking to people who do not know Jesus Christ, but will before they die.

In the parable, Jesus is the Shepherd and you (if you are His child, but do not yet know Him) are His lost sheep. He is pursuing you and He will continue to do so until you are found. He is on your heels even now, causing you to consider your life, your actions, your sins. His desire is that you acknowledge your sinful life and turn to Him for forgiveness. If you do that, He will forgive your sins and embrace you and there will be rejoicing in the Heavens.

"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!" - Psalm 8:1

I love this parable because it vividly illustrates the Lord's concern for people, in spite of our wretchedness. He planned for this before the foundations of the world. He determined to die for us and make it possible for us to live for all eternity in heaven, even with full knowledge of the depth of our depravity and the lengths we would go to to sin against Him.

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:3-9).

Our position has nothing to do with us and everything to do with our loving, just, merciful, gracious, sovereign Lord.

Are you a good person?

2010-07-31T09:31:00.001-06:00

How did you do?

(Thanks for the heads up, Jenn)

Lost sheep, part 1

2010-07-29T06:35:00.017-06:00

Yesterday, we finished up Vacation Bible School at our church. On the second day, the featured Bible teaching was on the parable of the Lost Sheep, quoted above. I have been pondering that parable and how God makes unexpected applications through events that happen in life. That day we had 100 children total; ninety-one were divided up into four well-leadered groups and the other nine were in the nursery.

The age group that I helped with was the four and five year olds. The day went pretty well. We passed from station to station, herding our 21-member slice of the population pie from station to station, carefully nudging the stragglers when they were inevitably distracted by enticing doors that were slightly ajar or stray crumbs on the floor, back into line. I frequently did head counts, to be sure that one had not slipped through one of those cracks.

After the song practice, the bananas dipped in chocolate, the snakes (to enhance our SonQuest Rainforest theme!), the Bible teaching, the rainbow butterfly craft and the gym time, we went back into the sanctuary for our closing time. First thing, our pastor asks me who was new in our group (the new kids always get a special prize) and I looked over our kiddos for the little ones in question.

That was when panic set in. I was missing the cute little girl in the pink cowboy boots. How could that be? We brought them all in and sat them in the pews. Where was she? I asked the other teachers; no one could see her. Aaaaaggggghhhh! I headed to the back to seek out, Heidi, our most excellent director. She knew who the little one came with and there was grandma, sitting in the back, looking as if all is right with the world. Heidi noted that she would not look that calm if she didn't see her granddaughter. So we started scanning the crowd. Finally, Heidi spotted her...sitting in the pew right in front of grandma (Do you know where the best place is to hide a child? In the company of many other children). I went over and told her grandmother that I had been searching for Calamity Jane, that I was taking her back to our group and would she please retrieve her after things were over? She was fine with that. Then I told my little pink cowgirl to please stay with the group until grandma came to get her. Then I sat down and rejoiced over locating that sweet little girl.

As I pondered over the time a couple of things came to mind. First, I noted that I did not automatically pray. I usually do that, but for whatever reason I didn't this time. I wasn't happy with myself. God knew exactly where my little Annie Oakley was and I should have sought Him out as I was looking for her. Second, of our 100 little sheep that day, one was lost and found again. In spite of the irony of that application, my frustration with the situation remained. I am thinking about a better system for moving that precious cargo from place to place next year.

Keeping track of preschoolers is like trying to keep stringless helium balloons on a table. I think the trick is to get some string.

The Beauty (read: cuteness) of Creation

2010-07-15T12:21:00.002-06:00

This is so adorable I can't even believe it. You need to watch these baby sloths.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

The Pain of Sin

2010-07-11T13:50:00.007-06:00

Those of you who know me are familiar with my health issues, but for those who don't, you will need a little background information. I am unable to eat gluten, dairy or eggs and often have problems with my digestive system. Because of this, I am often in pain in varying degrees. This morning in church I was not feeling well; I couldn't get comfortable and was trying hard to focus on the Lord and ignore me. At one point I realized I was rocking, and it was then that I took stock and realized there was pain in my stomach. This seems odd to me, but I have been in pain so much over the past 4 1/2 years that unless it is quite severe, it can escape my notice. But the rocking is my clue and for some reason, when there is pain my body automatically rocks.

As I was pondering how rocking works as a beacon for my pain and how it is always such a surprise to me when I finally notice, I started thinking about how sin can be like that. Because of my propensity to sin -- due to the condition of depravity I was born with (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3) -- I can be going along sinning and, amazingly, I can ignore it. But that won't do. I am a born-again believer in Jesus Christ and I know better. I am not to ignore my sinful ways; rather, I am to confess them to my Lord and ask forgiveness. So, what is there to light my way to the realization that I am sinning and encourage me to turn from that sin and toward God? I came up with several beacons that the Lord has provided to enable men to recognize, acknowledge and repent of their sins.

Conscience

The conscience is a built-in warning system that all people are born with, designed to alert us when we are doing wrong. "For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them" (Romans 2:14-15; see also Romans 1:18-20).

The problem with this beacon is that it can be weakened and even shorted out (Titus 1:15; 1 Timothy 4:1-2). This defilement, this searing of the conscience is a process that takes time, but is self-inflicted. Every time a person refuses to listen, the voice of his conscience becomes more difficult to hear.

Law

A person is born with a conscience that knows right from wrong. He knows it because the Law of God, specifically the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), is written on his heart. When a person denies the absolute authority of any or all of these commandments, he is suppressing what he knows to be true (Romans 1:18) and instead believes lies (Romans 1:25).

Holy Spirit

When the Holy Spirit begins to move in a person's life, He acts as a holy Beacon to convict him of his sins (John 16:18). He calls everyone to repent of their sins, but most people will ignore His call (Matthew 7:13-14; 13:3-23). Once a person is a believer, because of the work of the Holy Spirit, that person cannot tarry long in his sin without it tormenting him (Psalm 38) and the Lord will draw him back to repentance.

God's Word

The words of the Bible are the definitive, objective tool that God uses to cause a person to come face to face with the reality of their sin (Hebrews 4:12), and a person cannot be saved from that sin without it (Romans 10:17). Within God's holy word, both sin (James 1:23-25) and its Remedy (Acts 4:8-12) are revealed.

When God lights these beacons for you, do you alter your course and proceed on the path that He would have you travel, or do you remain where you are and risk falling into that dreaded destination of hell (Matthew 13:41-42; Revelation 20:10-15; Romans 6:23)?

In Dependence Day

2010-07-04T13:49:00.003-06:00

Independence Day. The day we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of this country's Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of King George and the British. The history behind this day is rich and I love this country and that story, but I would like to mention my own Declaration of In Dependence. The day I came to understand the heinous nature of my sin-riddled soul and responded to the call of the Holy Spirit to surrender my life to God. The day I became Dependent upon the battle against death that Christ won upon the cross to make it possible for me to live for all eternity. The day that I stopped being dependent upon my ineffective and feable attempts at being a good person and became dependent upon God's work in me as He applies pressure on my life to conform my character to that of His Son's; a process that will not be completed this side of eternity. I am no longer groveling and gloating in the mire of self-righteousness and pride - enslaved to that despot called Sin. Instead, I am sitting at the feet of the King of kings (and King of me), in dependence upon Him for everything.

U.S. Army specialist, Bowe Bergdahl: one year in Taliban captivity

2010-06-30T13:35:00.007-06:00

We are just four days from the celebration of the most important moment of our nation, when the resolve of our founders to fight for freedom was set in stone, through the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That battle continues to be waged on domestic and foreign soils.

Every young man or woman who enlists in the United States military and is deployed oversees to high risk areas has the potential to end up in a situation similar to that which Bowe Bergdahl has been in for the past year. I pray that God gives Bowe strength, resolve, courage and peace in the face of turmoil and that the Lord would be pleased to bring him home. I also pray for Bowe's family and friends who love and miss him and wonder how he is.

POW's have been a part of war since men started fighting with one another and the desire to fight is a direct result of the fall of man, recorded in Genesis 3, when man disobeyed God and all men's hearts became corrupt.

The first two murders recorded were when Cain killed his brother Abel and when Lamech confessed to killing a man. Both of these can be found in Genesis 4.

In Genesis 6, though there are not specific incidents recorded, it is clear that violence was a way of life for nearly every person alive. Moses described the people who lived at that time in this way, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart....Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth'" (Genesis 6:5-6, 11-13).

He did that, preserving only Noah and his family, and after the flood they repopulated the earth. There were those who continued to follow the Lord, but many did not and when mankind decided to build a tower to heaven, God intervened. At Babel, God changed the people from being one race to many. It was here that people were divided; it was at this moment that the nations were established, each with it's own language and it's own culture. The people could no longer understand one another and could no longer communicate; because of this, they went their separate ways. Before this, there was no racism because everyone was the same. Racism's roots spring from the tendency of people to cling to the familiar and disdain and mistrust the unfamiliar. It is magnified from man's sinful nature and his desire for power; the desire to lord it over others.*

Every person who has ever risen up against injustice, every warrior who has ever fought, suffered, been captured, or died for their nation, has had to do so because of the fallen state of mankind. War is the one of the ugliest and most visible manifestations of that fallen condition; it is a nightmare come to life. It is no wonder that people hate it so much. It is no wonder that the chants of young people over the years have been for peace, but the truth is that peace between nations will not come to this world until the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) returns to claim the throne and take dominion over all nations (Revelation 12:5, 19:15).

Until then the only real peace a person can experience comes from that same Prince of Peace, who fought the definitive battle against death - died on a cross, was buried, and three days later proclaimed victory over it by rising up from the dead. Jesus Christ went to that cross for the purpose of paying the debt all men owe to God for their sins and because of that work, we need only repent of our sins, ask forgiveness of God, and embrace Him as our Lord. From that point on, He begins the process of our sanctification and having Him superintending our lives brings a peace that surpasses all understanding. We have abiding joy and the ability to rest in Him at times when there should be nothing but worry, unrest, fear, trembling.

I pray not only for Bowe and his family, but for my friend Cheryl, Loyd, Jason, Earl and Jeremy, who are serving in the military in various capacities. I thank God for their willingness to serve this country and protect the innocent. I pray that each of them is able to stand firm in their convictions in the face of pressure to do otherwise. I pray that the Lord will bless and keep each of them, no matter the circumstances.

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*Racism is a reality in this land, but it need not be embraced. We need to look past color to character. In America, we need to stop identifying ourselves by our ethnic backgrounds and instead unite as citizens of this nation and call ourselves Americans.

Sweet Deal

2010-06-29T12:17:00.002-06:00

This Great Salvation by C.J. Mahaney and Robin Boisvert PDF free download at Sovereign Grace Ministries Store! Get yours today!

Summertime

2010-06-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

In alphabetical order, my plans - fulfilled and to come:

(This list is subject to God's will and my memory, and thus, subject to change*)

Adapt preschool Sunday School curriculum

Camp

Church Camp

Develop new gluten/dairy/egg/soy-free recipes

Eat them

Editing for a friend

Extreme home do over

Family Reunion

Finish Generations of Grace adaptation for 1st-3rd graders our church

Flamingo photo shoot

Garden 1 (backyard)

Garden 2 (another location)

Get ahead on my husband's men's Bible study material

Ladies' Bible study: The Restoration of a Sinner: David's Heart Revealed (MacArthur Old Testament Study Guide)

Participate in some Gospel outreaches

Planned visit from my son

Play time

Read

Re-read 1 Samuel

Sew stuff

Sit in the shade in the back yard with my husband as much as possible

Stop and smell the roses

Study Bible daily

Surprise visit from my daughter

Vacation Bible School

Worship God regularly

Write

Yard sale

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*"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:13-17).

Nicole Lankford & Silas Thompson Interview

2010-06-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

The Baptist Press did an interview with the two youngest members of the missionary group that was arrested in Haiti shortly after the earthquake there. It is a beautiful testimony to the faithfulness of God.

"Every time that we got low on food or ran out of food," Lankford said, "we would pray, 'God, we know You can provide for our needs. We need water and we don't know how to get any right now.' And every single time -- if we ran out of food or we ran out of water -- somebody would bring it. And sometime it was the most crazy, random people that would come. But every time we needed it, someone would come."

You can read the entire article here and learn more about the character and perspective of those in the group at Paul Thompson's own blog.

The apple of God's eye

2010-06-08T23:03:00.005-06:00

"Later, Corrie would recall watching with her father as Jews were loaded into a truck by German soldiers, as the truck drove away her father said, 'I pity the poor Germans, Cory. They have touched the apple of God's eye.'"*

God loves His people Israel. And though it is true that He has allowed them to experience great persecution, He has also promised to restore them to His favor. Over the years since Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the world has unleashed the hounds of Hades to tear that nation to bits many, many times. But God has kept a remnant of them safe. Time after time, the survivors have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and though they were grieving, they lived. Not long ago I was speaking to a woman who was saying that she expects any day to wake up and hear that Israel has been utterly destroyed, but I know that that will not happen. God will restore Israel. The process began with the Six-Day War on June 5, 1967 and it will continue according to God's plan, no matter what men may do to try to stop it from happening. And one day, the entire nation will realize that Jesus Christ was and is her Messiah. They will repent and return to the God who loves them.

"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me. Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,' declares the LORD. Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. The LORD will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation" (Zechariah 2:8-13).

"Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her."

'Thus says the LORD, "I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain."

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?" declares the LORD of hosts.

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness"'" (Zechariah 8:1-8).

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*Quote taken from hyperhistory.net

Yard Sale

2010-06-05T17:43:00.008-06:00

UPDATE BELOW

Today we had a yard sale and though I was pleased to finally be having it after a delay of several weeks, I was also sorry not to be joining some friends of mine at a nearby park for some evangelism. I was thinking about them off and on through the afternoon and wondering how things were going. Evangelism is something that I love to do, even though I feel timid (read: scared silly) about it at times.

As the sale wound down, an old friend of my husband's came along on his bicycle and customers were so infrequent that we were able to just relax and visit. He did most of the talking* for the first hour but as the second hour was dawning, Bernie started putting the leftovers away. I had been standing there praying through the conversation, asking the Lord to give me an opening to speak to him about Him, but nothing seemed to be happening. As I stood there, I realized that just because the person you are speaking to doesn't say the perfect thing that will allow for a smooth segue into the Truth, it does not follow that therefore you aren't supposed to say anything.** I know very well that I am supposed to say something; God has told me that through His Word in many, many places.

So for the next hour my husband's friend and I discussed an amazing and confusing variety of things that he believes and all the while I kept steering him in the direction of the cross. It took the whole time to finally get the conversation to focus on Jesus Christ long enough for me to be able to present the Gospel to him. He did not jump right on repentance, but before we were finished I did see something in his face I had not seen up to that point...uncertainty. I will take that. My son recently told me that the purpose of evangelism is to get the person thinking about themselves and eternity and that was my target. I wanted him to stop being so sure about the nonsense he had come up with in his desire to make sense of life and realize that there is a sovereign God of the universe to Whom he is accountable. And that through excruciatingly difficult work, Jesus Christ has cleared a path to heaven for sinners who submit to Him. My prayer is that the Lord will soften this man's heart and water the seeds that were planted today and cause them to mature, bringing him all the way to repentance, all the way to eternal life.

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*For those of you who know me, you will be doubting this, but it is completely true.

*For my newest sweet little friend, Mady: I think maybe that last click actually worked...no duct tape necessary! Well...for the first hour anyway.

**Through a question and answer session between Phil Johnson and John MacArthur on the sovereignty of God, the Lord has shown me in no uncertain terms that sometimes my perception of His sovereignty has bordered on fatalism (ouch!)...but that is the subject of another post.

UPDATE: My sweet friend Lark asked me to provide a link to the Q&A session between Pastors MacArthur and Johnson and I have found it online (I have a hard copy): Answering the Big Questions About the Sovereignty of God: John MacArthur with Phil Johnson

Memorial Day

2010-05-29T17:13:00.009-06:00

Update added below

Today, when I went out to the cemetery with my mother to decorate my father's grave, I saw this sweet little marker in an older part of the cemetery. I love the way the maker set the square stone on edge. "Budded on earth to bloom in heaven" must have been a comforting sentiment for Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and I am confident that little Zoe Ilene is indeed in the arms of Jesus Christ.

So many babies died back then. Sometimes, when we travel to a particular city, we take walks through an old cemetery there. It is full of large mausoleums, huge, beautiful monuments and ornate iron fences around family vaults. In the oldest part of that cemetery, there is a section of baby graves all dated around the same time; they probably were all lost to an epidemic of some sort.

Death is always difficult, but babies are the hardest to lose. When a baby dies, no doubt some people want to know why God would allow such a thing to happen. But the reality is that everyone dies. The day a person is born, the number of his or her days is already known to God (Psalm 139:16); some of us live tens of thousands, some several thousand, some several hundred, some just a few, some not even one full day. Death is a part of life.

Somehow, even though we all know this very well, we still don't ever really expect that it will happen. We know that it will sometime, but we always think of it as being in the far distant future, leaving us plenty of time to...

I recently went with a group of friends to a public gathering. We went with the intention of presenting the gospel to people there. At one point, three of us spoke at length to a group of young adults. A young lady was the dominant personality of the bunch and she was the most vocal, though all of them interacted with us at least a little. We explained the nature of man and showed them that they--like all of us--are sinners. We spoke to them about God's justice and why He must punish the guilty. We made it clear that hell is a real place. We also spoke to them of God's mercy and grace, demonstrated through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which made a way for the forgiveness of our sins.

Finally, we asked if it made sense to them. One of the young ladies told us something along the lines of, she wasn't going to die for a long time and so it was not important right now. The one who had done the most talking said she just didn't buy the heaven or hell thing and didn't believe God would punish her, as she wasn't that bad. She was looking for door number three, purgatory was suggested. Her idea of purgatory is probably different than the official Catholic definition, but it doesn't matter, because they are both inventions of man.

Of the group, there was one young lady who seemed to have taken in what was said, but she was quiet and had hardly spoken. We suggested that they all look into God's Word to see for themselves if what we had told them was true (they said that they do believe in the Ten Commandments and we told them the whole Bible is true, not just that part). As one of my friends was handing out tracts, he seemed to be overlooking the quiet one, and she noticed. I asked her if she would like a tract as well and she said she did. As we discussed it later, my friend said that often, the person in the group who does the interacting with you is not necessarily the one who you are speaking to. You never know whose hearts are being affected by the living Word of God.

There was another thing at the cemetery this afternoon that caught my eye, a headstone of a husband and wife that was very close to the road. It was a large one with lovely engravings and all of the essential information. At the bottom, underneath the husband's and wife's names, were these words (names changed to protect the innocent):

"Lenny" Lennys

I don't know who messed up, but this is one grammar error that can't be easily corrected. When you fail to engrave the apostrophe in its place on rock, you will have grammarians shaking their heads for years and years and years.

Failing to make a word possessive instead of plural on a tombstone is an error that cannot be corrected short of starting over with a new piece of granite; it is a costly mistake. Refusing to bow the knee to Christ before you die is an error for which there is no remedy, only eternal punishment in hell. But if you submit to Him, the Lord will make you a new person and He will engrave the image of His beloved Son upon you, rendering you beautiful and fit for heaven.

Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

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Update: File this one under "appearances can be deceiving." It turns out that Lenny's wife was a Ms. Lennys before she married Lenny. Lennys was her last name! I am impressed. First, I am impressed that her last name before she married Lenny was so close to his nickname and second, I am impressed that a person we know who was at the cemetery at the same time my mom and I were bothered to pursue what the story was behind the Lenny/Lennys words. It turns out that the engravers are very, very careful about that sort of thing.

Paul Thompson speaks out on what really happened in Haiti

2010-05-18T12:34:00.007-06:00

Don't be so quick to buy what the news media dishes out. Remember the supposed note against Laura Silsby that was supposedly signed by eight of the people? That was a fabrication. The missionaries knew nothing about it.

Paul Thompson has given an interview to the Baptist Press about the events leading up to their arrest. He did not tell this story before, because he did not want to "endanger members of the group that were still in prison." My belief from the beginning of this ordeal still stands. They went down their with integrity. They had honest and philanthropic intentions and those intentions were ignored and lied about by the media and others. These people were caught up in the midst of a political intrigue. Paul believes it was a spiritual battle as well and I agree.

You can read the story here.

Laura's plane, which is bringing her home to her family, friends and supporters, arrives in just a few minutes from now. I am so happy for her and so grateful that the Lord has heard and answered our prayers. I am confident He will use this ordeal to His glory and that He has grown Laura, and all of the missionaries and their families, stronger and closer to Him through it.

I can't be sure what the motivation of the press was as they fabricated lies and dug up whatever they could about Laura in order to paint her in the worst possible light, but I am heartily ashamed of them. How quick people are to crucify the character of others. I remember being taught in high school that people like to see others in a bad light, because it leaves them standing in a better light. It boosts their egos. I am also sure that people often delight in seeing others degraded.

Concerning the charges about her financial situation, I would like to point out that the economy in this country is very, very poor. The city of Boise and its environs are feeling the impact of this in a major way and that is affecting other cities as the business men in Boise expand their territories and compete with the workers of those cities for what jobs are still available. If Laura's business suffered because of this, and she has been unable to pay her bills or employees, why are people acting like she is the worst of criminals? Why are they acting like this is something that isn't happening to a whole lot of people across this nation?

The things I have read - about the web and in comments on this blog - that people have said about this woman are vicious. In my preschool Sunday school class, we have recently studied about the murder of Jesus Christ. I have one little girl who is so angry about it. She is overwhelmed with righteous indignation. She can't believe people would do such a thing. She says emphatically, "They should not have done that!" And she is right. But these words and this hate that people are spewing does not surprise the Lord. Jesus warned that His children would be treated in this way. He told us to expect it.

In John 15:20, He told His disciples (and all of His children by extension) "Remember the word I spoke to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don't know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates Me also hates My Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated Me for no reason." (John 15:20-25; Holman Christian Standard Bible).

I pray that the Lord uses this event in the lives of these faithful missionaries, and the children who trusted them, to save some of those who have spewed this hate. Just as He has already used it to save people in Haiti. God does that sort of thing all the time; He takes the haughty, the ugly, the unloved, the wretched of the world and makes them beautiful.

No other words required except: Happy Mommies' Day!

2010-05-08T12:31:00.000-06:00

Projects - part 2

2010-05-05T10:05:00.004-06:00

My second project was to make 14 bracelets for the Awana T&T girls, before our awards ceremony was on Sunday. I had been working on pulling materials together for a couple of weeks, but it was not as easy as I expected; I mean, there are beads and their accessories everywhere, right? Wrong...at least not what is needed to make bracelets for young ladies.

I went to Michaels first, because I knew they had lots and lots of beads, etc. The problem: when I read the fine print on the packaging, I found that most of the beads available have age warnings, Not a toy. Not for use of anyone under the age of 15. My girls are not 15. I didn't mind seeing that on some of the beads, but everywhere I looked, I was seeing the same warning, including on the hemp that I wanted to use. I asked a worker there why this was and he said that those items were probably marked that way because they contain lead. I decided I better not fudge on the age limit, so I started wracking my brain for a new plan. I finally decided to crochet them. I found one set of really cute cube beads that were green with blue flowers and were actually age appropriate. I bought those and the crochet thread, but I still didn't have all of the beads I was hoping to find.

Next I checked JoAnn and was not happy when I discovered the same situation there. Most of their items had the same age restrictions. I searched and searched and finally found a package of glass seed beads in an assortment of colors, including the Awana red, yellow, blue and green I wanted.

Once the aprons where completed, I got out pencil, paper, scissors, my crochet needles and started planning. I had thought I would do necklaces instead of bracelets because I wasn't sure on the sizing of the bracelets, but after it took such a long time to crochet just one, I knew I had to make another plan revision. I went to my friend, Professor Google, and asked him how long a young lady's bracelet should be. He told me 6 to 7 inches. So, I figured out my scale and started working. It took me hours to finally come up with a pattern I liked (I even ended up switching to a thicker thread), but once I was satisfied they went pretty fast. It took the afternoon to do them all, but I was pleased when they were finished.

I realized yesterday that the bracelets should have blocked. They are a bit twisty on their own, so if you are a mother of one of the recipients, you might want to do that for her (Professor Google can tell you how, he knows everything).

Complaint: I have always said that when something is made to do a job, it needs to do that job. A can opener should open cans. A toaster should toast bread. A car should get you to your destination. Well, a silver clasp's mechanism should open up all the way when you pull on that tricky little lever. Out of the two packages I purchase, which amounted to way more clasps than I actually needed, only 13 of the 20 worked. So, I had to pick up more to complete this project. You would think they would check those out in the factory before releasing them to the stores. End of complaint.

Projects - part 1

2010-05-05T08:27:00.009-06:00

I can post pictures of one of my big projects from last week. The first was for my daughter. Last summer we did some serious shopping to find the right pattern and materials for a project Kate wanted us to take on for her and her girlfriends. They had gone into some antique or second hand shop and seen some lovely, but expensive, old aprons there. She thought it would be nice to make some instead and I agreed.

Plans and reality often do not mesh and that was true in this case as well. Our summer was insane and we could not squeeze another thing into it. We decided we would work on them at Christmas (insert sarcastic "HA!" here). Do I even need to elaborate on why that didn't happen?

Spring Break was loaded as well, so it came down to me, which I didn't mind. Because of health issues, preparing my talk for the ladies' retreat and life's other duties, I just haven't had time to get to them. So somewhere around April 30th or May 1st, I decided to set aside everything else and get at it. Of course, that doesn't ever happen in the real world and I continued to deal with other things as well, but I ignored whatever could be ignored and got at it.

The timing is a bit of a blur. What I can say for sure is that I listened to ten sermons, plus music, plus the radio, and had some times. During the hand sewing (the last steps, which I did through the night last Wednesday pm through Thursday am - finally setting head to pillow at 5:30 Thursday morning) I played several hours of Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin to give my brain something light to focus on while my fingers worked.

I had already cut everything out earlier in the year and at some point had hemmed one apron (the first step for this pattern), so I was able to get right into the sewing. I worked assembly-line style, to simplify. I hadn't sewn anything from a pattern for a long time and it has probably been years (read: over thirty years ago) since I looked at exactly what the instructions say about seam allowances, so I was surprised when I read that they allow for 1/2 inch! I was taught 5/8 in home economics and it hadn't occurred to me that they would shave off an eighth some time. When did they do that?

At about 1:30 or so, I sent a note to my daughter (who was in the midst of finals week, so I knew she would be up) asking her which two had to be there by the weekend, as I could see that there was no way all four would be completed before they had to be mailed off to her. She told me which ones and I was happy to find that they were two of the three that were ready to be hand sewn. I actually thought that would be a piece of cake and I would be done in no time. They were a piece of cake, but the no time part was a stretch.

It was quite a sewing adventure, but it was also a blessing. I had been wanting to get to those sermons and really enjoyed what I gleaned from them and I also realized that I miss sewing very much. The last two still need to have the hand sewing done, but I had to get the second major project of the week out of the way and give my house some much needed attention before I could even thing about getting back to them. I can't tell you about the second project just yet, as there is one more girl who needs to get one before I can reveal them publicly. I believe that will happen tonight!

My own place, my own things

2010-05-02T15:24:00.004-06:00

When my daughter was four years old, she and I were sitting at our dining room table doing separate art projects. Mine was for a deadline, hers for pleasure (mine and hers :). We were working quietly, lost in our thoughts. Breaking the silence, she asked if she could use the ruler I was using.

In our home, rulers have always been evasive. I would purchase some at bargain prices at the beginning of the school year, but they would escape before long and we would have to scramble for straight edges or measurements.

That day, we had one yellow ruler between us. It was a special yellow ruler. It had cutouts in coveted shapes: heart, star, square, triangle, circle, if I remember correctly. What artist could resist? Not my Katie. Not her mom.

So, now that I have diverted your attention a bit, you will better appreciate what came next. After enough time of silence to allow me to refocus my attention to the task at hand, Katie suddenly said in a definitive and slightly exasperated tone, "I gotta get my own place; I gotta get my own things."

It took all of the control I could muster to not burst out laughing, but in my mind I thought, If she is saying this at four, what will she be like at sixteen?

At sixteen, I suspect she was still feeling the same way, but she was too sweet to say it aloud. Now, at twenty-one, she is taking the plunge. She is not coming home for the summer. This is her final college summer; she will be a senior next year. She broke the news to me gently in a facebook chat...

How

would

you feel

didn't

come home

for the summer?

(Sigh....)

At the time, I was grateful we were chatting and didn't have skype. This isn't the first time I have written on the effect my daughter's leaving home has had on me and you would think that three years later it would be better...and it is. Though I love spending time with her and her brother (who is nine years older and has been out of the house a lot longer), by God's grace, time helps to ease the sadness.

One of the toughest things is deciding what to do with her bedroom (AKA: deciding to do her bedroom). When she was home at Spring Break, I saw her take a long look around her room - as if she were soaking in the images and storing them away. I had told her I would be boxing her things up since she doesn't plan to be back, but it is a very hard thing to do. Before Katie came along, that was my room. I sewed in there and did artwork in there. It was my own place and my own things, but making it into anything but her bedroom is like the punctuation at the end of the sentence. It affirms finality.

She will be spending the summer in a house with seven other girls, including her best buddy who is attending college several states away. They will work and play the summer away. I am sure they will go to the beach as often as they can afford the gas to do so and they will be grilling and laughing and loving their time. I am thrilled for her.

I will be spending my summer in sweet fellowship with my husband, my mom, family and friends. I plan be cleaning, sort, sale stuff in my front yard, edit, complete a project that was started three years ago, and decide what direction my life needs to take from here. I hope to do more writing, get serious about artwork again, and begin generating some income. All as the Lord allows...

My nest may be empty, thought the momma bird, but my heart is full. It is pleasant to think about my children making their way in the world, resting in the blessed truth that God has set eternity in their hearts and holds them in the palm of His hand. It is also pleasant to think of making my own way in the world. What do I want to be when I grow up? I have some ideas.

Earth Day, God's day.

2010-04-22T09:28:00.003-06:00

"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images." Isaiah 42:8

If you are going to celebrate earth day, give your praises to it's Creator, not to the created. He is worthy of our praises; He is the all powerful , all knowing, all consuming God. You dare not ignore Him. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Will you do that now, before you die and enjoy the blessings of eternal life, or do it after you die and then be thrown into the Lake of Fire where the fire is not quenched and the worm never dies, experiencing eternal darkness, eternally suffering God's holy, righteous wrath? Forever is a long time.

Romans 1:18-25

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Psalm 24

A Psalm of David.

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains,

The world, and those who dwell in it.

For He has founded it upon the seas

And established it upon the rivers.

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?

And who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood

And has not sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of those who seek Him,

Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O gates,

And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

The results are in...

2010-04-15T14:26:00.004-06:00

Well. I learned something today...treadmills can be fun. Over the last few months, I have found myself having less and less endurance. It is difficult to exercise and I have needed to rest a lot as I do housework. This has really been a source of frustration and concern. When I had serious pressure in my chest late last week and then some shortness of breath, I was very concerned it was my heart. When my husband took me into the ER, the tests showed no signs of that, but both my ER doctor and my regular doctor wanted me to have a treadmill stress test to be sure that I do not have an underlying heart issue. I got off of the treadmill a while ago and though I am still having pressure and breathing issues, my heart came through with flying colors. I am grateful for that.

The doctor told me that for someone who had never been on a treadmill before, I did really well. I actually liked it, though I can tell if I started using one on a regular basis, I would have to build up endurance, rather than taking it up to that degree in one ~~sitt~~, er...standing.

Regardless of what is causing this, I am now comfortable with attending the ladies' retreat this weekend and I am very excited about that. The theme of our retreat is Walk Worthy and one of our speakers, whose topic is prayer, asked all of the ladies to memorize Colossians 1:9-14. Even though memorizing is an intense process for me, I always love doing it. Memorizing the words causes me to think about them more thoroughly than just reading them. Plus, God's word is powerful and having it in my heart is always a blessing. I never know where it will be needed and God will bring it to mind at just the right moment.

Colossians 1:9-14 (from memory)

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord; to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened in power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transformed us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin."

Okay, when I finished I went back and checked how I did. All the words were right, but I had to adjust some punctuation. I didn't want it misquoted on here. Yay! When God calls us to do something, He enables us to do it! I love my Lord, is my Rock and my Peace.

Matters of the Heart

2010-04-13T11:00:00.003-06:00

I wanted to give an update on what is going on with my health. I have continued to experience pressure to a lesser degree, as well as shortness of breath. I ended up going to my regular doctor yesterday. I tried to get into the doctor I was referred to by the emergency room doctor, but as I expected, getting it will not be a fast thing. I called my doctor's office at 8:30 in the morning and the receptionist asked if I could be there by 9:15. I love those guys.

My doctor has ordered a treadmill stress test to rule out the possibility of an underlying heart problem. This is to be done early Thursday afternoon. He also wants me to consider seeing a gastroenterologist to try to get a diagnosis on Celiac disease (gluten), but that would involve eating gluten for a month before they could run tests. I have been thinking I needed to be seen, as I continue to have difficult digestive issues, but the prospect of going back to eating gluten is pretty scary. I would appreciate you prayers. Pray that the stress test gives definitive results and pray for the gluten situation as well.

As I have mentioned before, I am supposed to be one of the speakers at our church's ladies' retreat this coming weekend. Everything is ready to go, please pray that I am able to attend. I really want to be there.

A friend of the world is an enemy of God

2010-04-13T10:33:00.006-06:00

One of the blogs I follow is Rebecca Writes and she has been posting some of Christina Rossetti's poetry of late. I am pleased she has been doing so, because I had not thought of her work in a while and I really do enjoy reading it. Christina was an English poet, who lived from 1830 to 1894, and was featured in the British Literature course I took my children through in high school. This particular poem is a graphic and profound description of the vile practices and vain philosophies of the world.

THE WORLD

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

By day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair:

But all night as the moon so changeth she;

Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy

And subtle serpents gliding in her hair.

By day she woos me to the outer air,

Ripe fruits, sweet flowers, and full satiety:

But through the night, a beast she grins at me,

A very monster void of love and prayer.

By day she stands a lie: by night she stands

In all the naked horror of the truth

With pushing horns and clawed and clutching hands.

Is this a friend indeed; that I should sell

My soul to her, give her my life and youth,

Till my feet, cloven too, take hold on hell?

"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).

Concerning the Last Post

2010-04-11T15:59:00.006-06:00

Looking back on that last post it is easy to see I was under the influence. I should have edited myself before hitting publish, but probably couldn't have edited any better than I could write. It is possible that my problem can be attributed to thyroid. The testing that was done at the hospital came back with a high T4 reading. It was my sister who suggested the possibility. When I explained to her what I have been feeling she was quite familiar with the symptoms. She has Hashimoto's disease and because of this, she has been both hypo and hyper at different times. Yesterday I woke up later than usual and decided not to take my thyroid medicine. I usually take it at 7:00 and then wait an hour before I have breakfast, so I decided since I was late anyway, I would just skip it. I felt pretty good all day and then this morning I took my regular dose. By the time I got to church I was feeling very uncomfortable again; it may just be coincidence, but I am going to discuss it with my doctor. Hopefully I can get right in to see him tomorrow. That will require prayer for God's providential intervention, what doctor ever sees anyone right away?

Concerning the talk I am to give on evangelism next weekend...it is almost ready. On Friday, I went through it with the Power Point and I believe all the bugs have been found and squished. I am really looking forward to the retreat. My mom has decided she will not be going, which I am sad about, but I was told this morning that my roommate is to be a dear lady I enjoy very much. My prayer is that it will be a lovely weekend, and the Lord will grow us all closer to Himself and to each other. I am also praying that this health issue will be resolved quickly, but of course, that is in my Father's hands. If you think of me and are going to pray, please include the other five ladies who will speaking, as well as those who are overseeing the event.

While I am mentioning prayer requests - please pray that Laura Silsby will be released from the Haitian jail, that Bowe Bergdahl will be rescued from the Taliban and both of them will be able to return home to their families soon. Pray all of these things trusting that God knows more than we do and has matters under control.

Emergency Room! It has been several years since we have seen each other and you are so...different!

2010-04-10T01:11:00.005-06:00

Just got back from the hospital. The last couple of nights I have been having heaviness in my chest. And other inexplicable pain. They did the usual x-rays, cocktail, iv, oxygen, and the doctor gave me some Ativan there, which started working immediately and then gave me the GI cocktail, which I am certain is a combination of that old Kaopectate, some minty cream thing, and right after I drank it I wath speekng lkh Zjhar Zjhar Binkths. (All of this for me, who hates taking drugs.) My tonghlt, my tougngth...

I have been having panic attacks and wondering what exactly is going on with me. The pressure in my chest was really heavy tonight and I was having breathing issues as well. I now have a prescription of the Avitan to fill, which makes me incapable of driving or doing anything sensible. I guess I will be calling next week for the stress test, but I am not sure when I can get into Dr. Ward for a check up. Hopefully soon. Amazingly, after the cocktail and the drug, I am doing quite well. Pressures gone and I am ready to sleep.

At this point, the doctor said my heart looks really good, but didn't have answers yet. Prayers are a nice idea at a time like this, thank you. :)

Still working away...

2010-04-09T11:39:00.005-06:00

...on my talk on evangelism I am to give at our Ladies' Retreat next weekend. I am excited but nervous. My fellow speakers say they are in this boat with me and I am praying that God gives us the grace we need to get everything done and that we are able to be calm in our hearts, but strong in our presentations. Please pray for us when the Lord brings us to mind. We are at various stages of readiness and are trying to adequately prepare in the midst of other duties.

I am clinging to this promise that Paul gave to the Philippians: "God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus...to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever."

I am also going to be spending some time with a lady who is dying and does not know the Lord. My desire is to bring her the Good News of Jesus Christ. Please pray that the Lord would prepare the soil of her heart to receive this rich truth. Pray that she would be saved before she dies. Pray that the words I speak will be true and sweet to her.

Hallelujah, Christ Arose!

2010-04-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

A Good Day

2010-04-02T10:34:00.000-06:00

Since that dark day sin entered into the world, pain, anguish and suffering have been constant companions of man. In Job 5:6-7 it says, "For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, for man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward."

None of us are free from the consequences of the fall that are manifested in the form of physical and mental distress. None of us can escape the reality that our bodies are decaying and our minds are twisted by sin. We sin because we are sinners and as soon as we are conceived in the womb, even as our cells multiply and our forms take shape, we begin the process of dying and unless something supernatural occurs, each moment of our lives moves us ever closer to our final destiny, hell. That place of utter darkness, dreadful heat, unquenchable thirst and writhing misery...for all eternity. No respite, no coffee breaks, no parties with all of the other inhabitants there, because though it may well be populated by famous musicians and writers and historical figures and friends and loved ones, every soul will suffer alone.

It has been said that hell can be described as an eternity of separation from God, but it will not be. God is everywhere. Instead, it will be an eternity of torment as God justly unleashes His wrath upon the vilest of sinners...and just in case that word vilest gives you undue relief because you are sure that your sins cannot compare with those of the Stalins, Hitlers, and Husseins of this world, if you are resting on your laurels, if you are under the assumption that what you do isn't so bad, consider James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." One sin is all that is needed to condemn you to hell and you and I have sinned far more than one time. We all deserve hell.

But on this day over 2000 years ago, this Good day, this Good Friday, holy God stepped between sinful man and His righteous wrath. Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested, subjected to a mock trial, beaten, scorned and spat upon, and nailed to the cruel cross of Rome, where He endured suffering beyond anything we can begin to understand.

While on that cross, He did amazing things, it is astounding that He would continue to do good for us when His suffering was so severe, but He did.

He refused the drugged wine that would have made His senses dull and taken the edge off of the pain, because He was there to suffer the full weight of God's wrath.

His purpose for being on that cross was to save sinful man and He saved several while hanging there. He refused to hold the crime of crucifying the God of the universe over the heads of the Roman soldiers who nailed Him there. He prayed that His Father would forgive them and His word will never return void...they came to saving faith shortly after Jesus' death when the words, "Truly this was the Son of God!" were uttered.

He also saved one of the thieves who was hanging on a cross adjacent to His. The thief cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come in Your kingdom!” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

He made sure that His earthly mother, Mary, would not be left to fend for herself, which would amount to a life of poverty, by placing her in the capable hands of His beloved friend, John.

From high noon until three in the afternoon, the world mourned as He hung on that cross, wearing utter darkness when light should have reigned. From that place or torment above the earth, Jesus cried out, "'Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?' which meant, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" and then, "I am thirsty." These words betray His anguish, His pain, His suffering. Do not think that because He was God, He escaped those things, He did not. He could not.

Finally He said, “It is finished.” And then, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” And then He died.

The debt for His bride was paid. His church, the body of Christ, was fully justified by His death. Nothing else must be done to give eternal life to sinners.

"And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— or He says, 'AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.' Behold, now is 'THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,' behold, now is 'THE DAY OF SALVATION'" (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). If you do not know Him, seek Him today, that would make this Good Friday the best of days for you.

While we are looking at free Easter offerings...

2010-03-31T16:58:00.002-06:00

The Martyn Lloyd-Jones recordings trust is offering three free sermon downloads for Easter. They are his Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday messages from 1960. I am not sure how long they are available, so you should go soon and get them.

The Gettys in Concert, today only

2010-03-31T16:33:00.003-06:00

The concert is 96.25 minutes long and according to the Parkside Church website, will only be available to watch through today. I recommend you take the time to be edified with the stunning music of the Gettys, with a brief word from Alistair Begg as well!