Happy Reformation Day

How can I redeem Halloween and glorify God in the midst of a pagan culture?

I don't want to miss this golden opportunity to engage people in thoughtful conversation about the holiday and its roots, as well as the historical significance this date has for Christians (three 'amens' for Wittenberg!!!!!!!!!).

Let's pray that the Lord bring opportunities to our doorstep (maybe literally)--opportunities to share the gospel of His Son to a gospel-ignorant society...our society.

So I'm posting the link to a short article that will equip us with enough facts to jump-start us...the strategic conversations will have to come from careful readiness (and the prompting of the Holy Spirit).

Read it--it's really, really interesting and helpful...and you never know when the information will come in handy! 

http://theresurgence.com/luther-nails-bad-religion

"Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods."

Psalm 96:2-4

the easiest, most difficult cheesecake ever

You will need:

2 8oz cream cheese at room temp
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
box of Nilla Wafers
canned pie filling

This is the main reason why the difficulty level is so high--the cream cheese must be room temperature, or it will not come out correctly. In order to get room-temp cream cheese, you have to remember to leave it on the counter all day. (Or, you can cheat and put the cream cheese in the microwave--take the foil off first!!--or the toaster oven until it is soft.)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line cupcake cups, and then put one Nilla Wafer, flat side down, in the bottom of each liner. This is the truly difficult part of the recipe--the cookies go in the liners, not in your mouth. Control yourself. Now put the box away.

Beat together the first four ingredients until it is smooth and creamy. If you have lumps in your batter, that is either because you used cream cheese that is too cold, or you used Wawa brand cream cheese. Avoid both problems if you can. Don't throw it away, though. It will still be yummy.

Using teaspoons, drop the batter into the cupcake pans, about one overloaded teaspoon's worth per cake. It should give you exactly two dozen little cheesecakes. If your proportions come out wrong, try redistributing it.

Bake for twelve minutes. They are done when you jostle the pan and they don't shiver. You do not want these to crack, so don't worry about getting a golden hue. They should be very pale, but solid. Let them cool in the pans. Refrigerate until consumption.

Enjoy them au naturale, or top with your favorite pie filling. Cherry and blueberry are always favorites, but you may certainly feel free to pick your own flavors. Or, you can be a complete overachiever and make your own topping from scratch.

Moms, these are great for little cooks to help out with! You will also notice that the proportions are easy to manipulate. You can halve it, double it, quadruple it, whatever you like, with very minimal brain activity. Your crowd is going to love them, so make more than you think you will need.

A birthday to remember

My nephew, Jesse, just turned 7. He is a very typical seven year old in many ways. He loves to laugh and play with his brothers and friends. He loves to learn (he knows all the names of all the presidents and where they fit in chronological order) and sing and draw. But he also loves to read. He devours books.

Anyway, Jesse's birthday was celebrated last Saturday. He received many fun gifts, but the last gift he opened was a Bible.This was his favorite gift of all. He told his parents later that day out of all the good gifts he had received, the Bible was the very best. He had to know where he could begin reading, and so he began to read God's word on his own from his very own Bible.

How did Jesse come to desire God's word? Out of all the things that would thrill a little guy, how is it a Bible would thrill him so? We trust it is because of the gracious activity of God in his heart. We do not seek after God unless God seeks after us first. God seeks us through the work of the Holy Spirit and through other means. God uses nature to declare the His glories, and God uses parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, pastors, children's ministry teachers, (and aunts and uncles, cousins and the 60,70 80+ year old man, woman or couple who faithfully sits under the word of God in the public worship - don't think these little ones don't notice you!) and more to declare the excellencies of Christ. Prayer, teaching, preaching, daily instruction and an example to follow are all used by God to work in a child's heart to bring them to faith.

Is God's word valued in your home? Do your children see you treasuring the Bible? Do they see you reading it? Do they hear you talk about it? Do they see you live it? Do they see you get excited about going to worship so that you can sing the truths of God's word and hear it preached by those appointed to study and proclaim it? Do they hear you apply God's word to your instruction, your counsel, your discipline and your care?

Moms cannot simply leave this responsibility to the father. Your children's father may not believe God's word is truth. Your children's father may not cherish God's word. Your children's father may be neglecting His responsibility to lead his family to God's word. But that does not remove you from responsibility.

The Apostle Paul tell us Timothy was taught by his mother Lois and grandmother Eunice. God used these women to plant the seeds of truth in a young man. The Holy Spirit tenderly watered those seeds of truth and brought about Timothy's salvation and call to ministry. Besides this example, we also learn from Proverbs that a mother is to have an active role in giving godly instruction to her child(ren) (Proverbs 1:8, 6:20, 31:26)

I pray that the children we encounter will be able to tell that we love God and His word, and this will stir them to love Him as well.

That Time of Year

Late October used to be the start of Christmas shopping for Tim and me when our children were very young. Because Halloween is a major 2-day event in this town and because we chose not to observe this holiday, we discovered those two days were perfect for crowd free shopping. We used to take the kids to the mall or K-Mart, divvy them up and shop for each other. It was a fun time that usually ended with a special treat at home.

It's that time of year again. I discovered a great shopping destination recently. I'd been there many times before but just last weekend I saw the potential for one-stop Christmas shopping as their inventory has significantly expanded. I cannot guarantee there won't be crowds (even in October) as I did have to wait in line a few minutes. But I actually enjoyed the wait because as I waited I was able to observe shoppers milling about, and engaging in meaningful conversations.

When was the last time you were in Trinity's bookstore? Have you ever been in? If it has been a while, or you've never gone in, you are definitely missing out. There is a wide selection of excellent books, CDs, children's books, study helps, Bibles and biographies. Another advantage to shopping there is the personal service (they actually do care about how you are doing when they ask). And, if they do not have a title you are looking for, they will order it for you. Also the prices are as good or better than you can get ordering on your own.

This "Gramommy and Grandaddy" will be doing some shopping for the little ones in their life this Christmas in this conveniently located bookstore, Now if they could put up a few Christmas lights and play some Christmas music, the experience will be complete!

Teach me to pray

As many of you know, the Lord made a way for our church to hand out tracts at the Ocean County Mall every other Friday. This has become a wonderful ministry opportunity for Tim and me. I am personally blessed by this, as it is stretching me to step out of my comfort zone (which is always a good thing). By God's grace I am catching on to the excitement of sharing Christ with total strangers. Though Tim does most of the talking, the Lord has allowed me share in this wonderful opportunity.

We never know from week to week where our table will be set up. It's always in the center court but depending on what's going on it can be moved around. Lately it's been situated in front of a pole, attached to which is a monitor advertising "Model Search." Many people approach our table thinking we are representatives for a modeling company (I'm doubtful it's because of our looks!! However, sometime I will have to tell you about Tim's brief modeling career!!!). When we explain who we are, why we are there and that the place to sign up for modeling is under the monitor, they quickly thank us and move on.

This morning we were taught from Philippians 3:18,19 about "the enemies of the cross," those whose "god is their belly" and who "glory in their shame," whose "end is destruction." I was convicted. You see, though at the mall to share the glory of the Gospel, I have often stood in self-righteous judgment of those whose only interest is their own glory.

How easily I (we?) click my tongue at the evils of the world, the sins of this generation, the offensiveness of the lives of neighbors, family, co-workers and the godlessness of most who stop at our table in the mall; but how little I pray for them. I never cry for them. I never really stop to think about their eternal destiny and of how their fate (unless they repent and turn in faith toward Christ for their salvation) is completely opposite to mine. Mine is heaven. Theirs is hell. Mine is eternal joy in the presence of God. Theirs is everlasting suffering in the absence of God's love. Mine is freedom from pain, sorrow and sin. Theirs is bondage to eternal suffering and regret.

With the help of God, the next time I am tempted to judge unbelievers I am going to first remember that if it were not for God's electing, saving grace I would be totally consumed with myself and completely godless. And then I want to turn my thoughts to prayer. Real prayer. Prayer that will grab hold of their knees and hold them back from destruction. "Lord, teach me to pray like this."

He's not finished with me yet

When I woke up this morning, I decided that our little guy was good enough and that it was time to stop teaching him. No more disciplining, no more feeding him, no more training, no more of anything really.

This is SO not true. Can you imagine if it were???

You can bet your life that as long as the little guy is under our roof (and maybe even beyond that?), I'll be doing whatever I can to make sure that his little life will be the best it can be.

I am by no means a perfect mom, and never will be. If I, in my imperfection, love my son, desire the best for him, and work to make his life everything it should be, how much more will our perfect Father love me, desire the best for me, and work to make my life everything it should be?

I'm so glad He's not finished with me yet.

My two cents for the day.

There is hope, for me yet,
because God won't forget,
all the plans He's made for me
I have to wait and see,
He's not finished with me yet,
He's not finished with me yet

His grace has been, is, and will be sufficient!

This past summer I had an earache that lasted from June to September. It left me mostly deaf in my right ear. It was--exaggeration--terrible. It was--no exaggeration--one of the best things to happen to me.

When the earache began, I comforted myself with the happy knowledge that it would soon be over and my sensitive Vulcan ears would be back to normal. By the end of the first month, I was in misery. The earache remained. The hearing loss remained. I felt like a fool at work, unable to hear the conversations going on around me. I stored up a lot of self-pity and when rebuked for my crabbiness by my loving sister, I would generally rush to my defense by crying, "But you have no idea how frustrating this is!"

Somewhere around August, my thinking started to change. I learned by steps that hearing is not all that important. I'll let you eavesdrop on some conversations I had with myself over a month or two.

God has given you every single thing you have. Be thankful for it.

Jesus is infinitely enough. If what you have gets taken away, are you saying that you can't be satisfied with Jesus?

God does not test us beyond what we are able to bear. If you can only be begrudgingly thankful because "it could be worse," be humbled because it isn't worse.

God's grace is sufficient. What if you never recover? What if you go completely deaf from this? Can you accept only good and not evil from the Lord?

God's grace is totally, aboundingly, abundantly, super-satisfyingly sufficient. Is there really someone always worse off? To follow that logic, there must be one lonely, miserable person on this globe who has it the absolute worst. Who is to say that will not be me some day? Will God's grace not suffice, even then? Will it not overwhelmingly suffice, becoming greater as I become needier?

I don't know why, but the Father chose to restore complete hearing to me. I don't mean to say that with a false I-am-but-a-humble-servant-humility, but I really don't know why. Why should my ear recover, but her cancer spread, and her baby die? I haven't a single answer. But I know a God who is all sufficient, all knowing, all wise, and all good, and His grace is made perfect in our weakness. When I a weakest, He proves Himself strongest--maybe I should be weak more often!

Zacchaeus type hospitality

Today's RMMR passage reminded me of our host family this past weekend. Tim had been asked to speak at the SG church in Reading, PA and we needed a place to stay Saturday night. As is the case at times, the timing was not good for those that would normally open their homes for guest speakers. So it fell to Jerry and Debbie.

Jerry and Debbie had never had anyone stay in their home before. They were nervous but willing. When we arrived they warmly greeted us, showed us our room and proceeded to serve us with eagerness. They had asked ahead of time what were some things we like for snacks and sure enough it was all there.

It wasn't until later that evening Jerry told us he had never had anyone in his home before. He said, "I sort of feel like Zacchaeus." That made me smile. This man was neither small, nor a cheat, and we were not Jesus. But I knew what he meant.

When Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in the tree, Jesus told him "I must stay at your house today." When Zacchaeus heard that, "he hurried and came down and received him joyfully" (Luke 19:1-10, emphasis added). Zacchaeus probably thought Jesus didn't know he existed, so when Jesus stopped by that tree, looked up and spoke to Zacchaeus, it must have come as a complete surprise. Zacchaeus didn't argue. He responded with quick and joyfilled obedience.

This is how Jerry and Debbie were like Zacchaeus. Though inexperienced at hospitality, and though they hadn't actually volunteered to do it, when asked, they consented. Though nervous, they stepped out in faith toward God, and provided us with rest and refreshment, and I think (at least from everything they said and did) they were genuinely blessed themselves.

"Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality" (Romans 12:13).

"...and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward" (Matthew 10:41,42).

How are you doing in the area of hospitality? Zacchaeus, the verses above, and the message of the Gospel is motivation enough for us all to scramble to open our doors and our refrigerators.

What is Knowing God?

According to Scripture, it's easy to be fooled and think you know God when you do not (Matt. 7:21-23, Luke 13:25-28). So it would seem that it's important to understand what exactly knowing God is.

Knowing is a complex business. It's even more complex between humans because we keep secrets. Thus our knowledge of someone else is dependent upon them. We can only know as much as he/she tells us; we can only go so far.

In a similar way, knowing God is a matter of His grace toward us:

It is a relationship in which the initiative throughout is with God--as it must be, since God is so completely above us and we have so completely forfeited all claim on his favor by our sins.

We do not make friends with God; God makes friends with us, bringing us to know him by making his love known to us. Paul expresses this thought of the priority of grace in our knowledge of God when he writes to the Galatians, "Now that you know God--or rather are known by God" (Gal 4:9). What comes to the surface in this qualifying clause is the apostle's sense that grace came first, and remains fundamental, in his readers' salvation. Their knowing God was the consequence of God's taking knowledge of them. They know him by faith because he first singled them out by grace.

What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it--the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. Ke knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.

This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort--the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates--in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that he sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and am I glad!), an that he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. (Knowing God, J.I. Packer, pp. 40-41, and 41-42, bold emphasis added)

It would seem, then, that to be caught up solely in our activities of knowing God--reading, studying, listening--is to miss the point. He must know me. Only first by Him knowing me can I know Him.

Grace upon grace.

"I Am Not Defeated"

This is a special guest post from the Mars Hill Blog (Seattle) by church member Sarah McConnell who lost her husband, Andrew, in Afghanistan last month. Sarah is expecting her and Andrew's first child. The first time I read it, I cried. Now when I read it, I am filled with amazement.


During the minutes where I can’t seem to grasp what has happened or where to go from here, I am constantly hearing the phrases, “You are crushed, but not destroyed”…. ”You are NOT defeated”. It’s at these moments that I really think about living as if I’m defeated versus living as if I’m NOT defeated.

Andrew was such a strong believer of spiritual warfare. He has experienced real, spiritual situations (battles) and even felt called by God to write a book on it. While in Afghanistan he had even started an outline of his book.

I think about whom I would be defeated by if I gave up or let myself turn to worldly temptations or negative ways to handle the hurt of a killed spouse. Satan…the devil himself is waiting on the other side of those decisions. He wants to destroy me. He wants to defeat me. He wants to win this battle. This battle isn’t between just him and I though; it’s between good and evil. He is attacking all of us. Sometimes he uses special ops techniques and sometimes he decides to use a bomb…like killing an amazing father and husband that fears the Lord…who would spit in Satan’s face if he had the chance!

You see, I believe Satan thinks that now he’s taken away my partner, my one who kept us cleaving to each other as we cleaved to God, that he’s got me and that he’ll get our family and I bet that he’s thinking he’s got it in the bag that he’ll get this unborn baby. He won’t! He never will! He can’t destroy us. He can’t destroy those who love God and confess Jesus Christ as our Savior. He can even lead us to evil forces that may kill us, like they did Andrew, but Andrew is alive in Christ. He’s defeated Satan and I’m proud of him. Andrew is my hero.

Andrew isn’t my hero because the Taliban killed him while he was coming back from a mission on a Stryker. Andrew is my hero because he never let Satan have the last word. Andrew is my hero because He fought for good, for Christ to prevail. He set a marvelous example for our child to follow, for me to follow, and for friends and family to follow. Andrew is my hero because he wasn’t perfect, because he had sin, and in spite of it he still persevered and called on the name of the Lord.

I find comfort in all of this when I too call on God. Many times reading the book God has prepared for us, the Bible, is where I find solid advice and encouragement. My creator has provided me with so many stories to turn to and letters to live by, and proverbs to unfold. Here are a few that have come up recently that pertain to not being defeated:

“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” –Proverbs 24:16

“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be light to me.” –Micah 7:8

I also find comfort in 2 Corinthians 4, where the reference of being ‘struck down, but not destroyed’ comes from. This is also the part of the Bible where Paul says:

“Therefore do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. “ -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Paul, on behalf of God, is begging for the Corinthians (and us) to not lose heart. I believe the Taliban have lost heart and have turned to cowardly warfare during their light and momentary affliction. We shall overcome Satan, as Jesus did, by turning to what is eternal. All that I know to be eternal is Jesus, who lived after he died. Andrew will also live to be eternal and one day I will join him. I pray that one day our child join us as well.

May Satan never defeat you and may you overcome through Jesus Christ!

With Love,
Sarah Marie McConnell
(On behalf of Andrew)
October 3, 2009

Finding time

So how are you doing with the RMMR program? Are you letting the main points of the meditation passage roll through your mind and heart as you go about your day? Or do you find that the passages are difficult to understand? (I would encourage you to ask a pastor or your care group leader for help on that.) Are you keeping up? Or are you struggling with finding the time to sit down and read?

To all the busy moms out there (and I know there are several of you): this is for you.

Dear Mom,
Let me give you a little peek into my life. I have eight children and two in heaven I never got to meet. My kids are currently 32, 30, 27, 23, 21, 18, 15 and 13. I also take care of my mom who has Alzheimers and have four grandchildren age 2 and under! Although I'm not exactly in your shoes right at this moment, I do know what it feels like and I so understand what "tired" means.

When my first four or five kids were all young, I had to focus so much on survival (for me and everyone else), that there were very few holes in my day to focus on time with the Lord. I wish I could tell you that I handled that like a spiritual giant and breezed through without struggle, but then I would just have to confess it the next time Nancy teaches on honesty!
I wish we could sit down together someplace peaceful and visit for a while. Since that's probably not going to happen, I would love to share a few insights that come as a result of years of living where you live and from the perspective of being a little further down the road.

God declares in His Word that your kids are a blessing and a gift. They are not an interruption, a mistake, or a hindrance to God's will in your life; they are God's will for your life.

Since these kids, at the ages they are at this moment, are God's will for your life, does He intend to speak to you in the next decade or so when you don't have free time? Of course He does. So how is that going to happen when you have so little time you can control?

Here are some practical tips on creating space to hear from the Lord:
1. First, think through the last 48 hrs. Any time-stealers come to mind? Facebook, Twitter, TV, email, Internet, phone calls, or texts? Make sure the enemy isn't robbing you of God-moments by offering a "harmless" substitute.

2. Time with the Lord takes intentional planning when you have a full, noisy, busy house. Some days, gather your kids around and read a passage to them. If you can make it interesting to listen to, you might get through several verses. Write a few verses out and leave them in the kitchen, laundry room, or car so you can contemplate as you cook, fold, or wait for your kids.

3. Place Bibles in several spots around your house so anytime you do get to sit down you can snatch a verse or two to ponder.

4. Use the first few minutes of nap time to get rest for your spirit. You probably won't be reading chapters or books at one sitting, but the Lord can use even snippets to instruct and encourage your heart. If you have kids who no longer nap, make a quiet zone where they can read or color while the little ones sleep and you get refreshed. Occasionally, this will actually work!!

5. Escape for a few minutes if you can after your husband gets home or right after dinner. I have had quiet times on picnic tables at the park, in my car at Sonic, on my driveway sitting in my car, and in my laundry room or closet.

6. Practice God's presence "in the midst" of your crazy days. He doesn't leave because your life is hectic. He can minister grace to your heart as you comfort that child or chop veggies for dinner or sort dirty socks. Christ knew what it was like to wash dirty feet. He is not absent when we are surrounded by lots of them! Remember that the Lord had many moments when He sought to draw apart to seek the Father. Sometimes that happened, sometimes He was moved with compassion and returned to the multitudes. His heart was to do the will of His Father every moment of every day, but He didn't live apart, He lived in the midst.

7. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and discernment as you discover what will work for your family. Since it is God's will for you to know Him, ask Him to enable you to creatively pursue that in this season of your life. God's Word is eternal. The lives of those who come to know Him are eternal. Houses, stuff, and even time will all pass away. We won't regret time invested in His Word and in raising our kids to love Christ.

Proverbs 2:1–10 says:
My (daughter), if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.

I hope this helps,
Holly

From truewoman.com

Gleaning

This week I am playing the part of Naomi and Brooke is Ruth. Both our husbands are out of town for 5 days. They are not with each other, it is just coincidental that their work should take them away from their families at the same time.

The Naomi - Ruth connection began on Monday when our husbands left town. It continued on Tue. when Brooke came over for dinner. She called early in the day and asked if she could bring dinner!! "How fitting" I thought. Ruth was bringing food to Naomi.

Then today was the gleaning (only I, the Naomi, was the one doing the work). This was fine with me. It was reminiscent of years gone by. Gleaning was something I did many times when the kids were little but hadn't done in several years. Alina recently reminded me of the cranberry harvesting and how after the harvesters left the bogs we returned to glean. Those were good times as we gathered up the remaining cranberries and froze them for holiday baking.

So today I decided to venture off to glean the fields again. Only this time I was alone. No little ones. It takes a lot longer getting a bucket full without my little helpers, but it was a good time for me to be alone with the Lord, in the fresh air gleaning. I may be a Naomi, without a husband this week, but I am far from bitter.

As I was picking the berries, I was thanking God for His many kindnesses to me. Not only do I have a Ruth (Brooke) who served me dinner last evening, but I have three other daughters who excel in many ways, especially in their love for God, their families and their church. I am rich indeed. I had no reason to feel poor (as were the gleaners in Bible times). I am feeling absolutely stunned by the lavish blessings from God.

Now I have something to share with my Ruth (and her sisters). I think I'll go bake something.

Lost Coin

Have you ever lost something valuable? I mean really, really valuable? I remember a sister-in-law of mine once lost the diamond from her engagement ring. Her family searched the house, the drains, the vacuum cleaner bag. Nothing. It was a huge disappointment to her to lose this stone that symbolized her husband's proposal (and her acceptance) of marriage. For weeks, wherever she went in the house she kept her eyes searching for that stone. Then came moving day. Everything was packed and loaded onto a truck. She cleaned and swept the house one last time. And guess what? After everything else had been taken from the house, as she swept she noticed a shiny stone lodged in a crack in the floor board.

Did she yawn and pick it up obligingly? Most assuredly, NO!! She quickly bent over, picked up her diamond and announced to the family the discovery of her lost treasure. Her excitement didn't end there. She quickly told any who had heard about her loss and whenever she had opportunity, with great joy she recounted her story to others. It was impossible to hear her story and not share her excitement even years later.

This is the joy (only more so) God has when a sinner repents. This is what we read in today's RMMR passage:

Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:8-10)

God rejoiced over you when you turned from your sin and turned in faith to Christ for forgiveness. God rejoiced over you and still rejoices.

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Now that should impact my day.

Continuing Education

Tonight Tim left for a week of classes at the Pastor's College in Gaithersburg, Maryland. While there Tim will be learning from very wise and godly men. He will be sitting in a classroom filled with men preparing for ministry and men presently in ministry. All men will be there to learn more about what it means to be a pastor-shepherd for the people of God. Our pastors' responsibility to continue their education in the things of God never ends.

Ours doesn't either. I was thinking about that today as I observed one young mom hand another young mom a book entitled, Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney. I thought to myself, "Now there's a woman who wants to keep learning." Then, I learned about another young mother spending the evening with another woman and again I thought, "I know their time will be spent in some form of teaching-learning exchange." I know of another young woman continuing her education in biblical womanhood through the relationship with an older woman. Yesterday after worship I observed a young woman (a Christian for less than a year), speaking with a godly woman about learning how to live the Christian life.

Is your education continuing? Sometimes we tend to have grand ideas for what to learn, and where to go to learn it. But the most important learning and the best teachers are available to us within our church. Besides our four pastors, there are many in our church from whom we can learn much. Not the least of which is other women. Every time a recipe is shared, someone is learning something. Every homemaking tip shared is domestic education. Every theologically sound book shared or recommended and read is continuing education. Every sharing of cares, prayers and biblical counsel is an opportunity for growth in our understanding of God and His Word. And every trial is the school of suffering which God uses to grow us in many, many ways.

What are you learning these days? Who is the Lord using to teach you? Let's keep our education continuing, for the Glory of God, for our own growth and for the good of others as we share with others what we ourselves have learned.

"Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be"

It's been a while since I posted a Jonathan Edwards 'Resolution.' Tonight, it is 'Resolution 25' that deeply touches me.

"Resolved, to examine carefully and constantly what that one thing in me is that causes me in the least to doubt the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it."

Learning from Edwards, let us take serious thought and mental effort to grow in our understanding of God's love toward us. Understanding the love of God is an infinite pursuit--we will never fully get there. But, surely, we can (by God's grace) grow in our knowledge of it.

God tells us what His love is like. It is free, vast, unconditional, unmeasurable, sacrificial, consistent, boundless, eternal...we could go on forever (and we will...). 

Doubting God's love is doubting the very character of God. What we see from Scripture is that God loves to love. God is love!

When I doubt God's love, I doubt God's word. I'll say to myself, 'I just don't feel like God loves me because...fill-in-the-blank.' The truth would be to say, 'I don't like the way God is loving me right now!' And that is my problem, not God's.

So why do I so often question whether God really loves me? Unbelief.

God is not a man that He should act, think, or love like one. Human love fails; God's love for me is eternal and unchanging...because He says it is.

We never did anything to 'catch God's eye,' to warrant His love, to woo His affections, so why do we think that God stops loving us when we mess up or are just plain unlovable? It's actually pretty arrogant and prideful to think that God's love for us changes based on how we 'perform'--that would imply that we were ever deserving of God's love (and we're not!).

Behold the amazing love of God--He loved us when we were unlovable and He will continue to love His children for all eternity. Bask in the love of God and drink freely at the never-depleting pool of His grace!

"My Song is Love Unknown" by Samuel Crossman

My song is love unknown, my Savior's love to me 
Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be 
Oh, who am I that for my sake, 
Oh, who am I that for my sake, 
My Lord should take frail flesh and die? 

He came from heaven's throne salvation to bestow 
But they refused and none the longed-for Christ would know 
This is my friend, my friend indeed, 
This is my friend, my friend indeed, 
Who at my need, His life did spend. 

Sometimes they crowd His way and His sweet praises sing 
Resounding all the day, hosannas to their King 
Then, "Crucify!" is all their breath, 
Then, "Crucify!" is all their breath, 
And for His death they thirst and cry. 

Why, what has my Lord done to cause this rage and spite 
He made the lame to run, and gave the blind their sight 
What injuries, yet these are why, 
What injuries, yet these are why, 
The Lord Most High so cruelly dies. 

With angry shouts they have my dear Lord done away 
A murderer they save, the Prince of Life they slay 
Yet willingly, He bears the shame, 
Yet willingly, He bears the shame, 
That through His name all might be free. 

Here might I stay and sing of Him my soul adores 
Never was love, dear King, never was grief like Yours 
This is my friend in whose sweet praise, 
This is my friend in whose sweet praise, 
I, all my days would gladly spend.

What a Day Brings

"Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)"

You've heard about the broken water pipes. Now let me tell you about losing electricity yesterday for the whole afternoon. There really isn't much to tell, except that all the plans for those five hours flew out the window. Which meant those plans (like blogging) were going to have to get squeezed into this morning before 9:30. This was cause for a bit of anxiety.

But, as the Lord would have it (and the dog), Tim and I were awakened at 2:30 a.m. to tend to Heidi. As I laid back down I had a pretty good feeling I wasn't going to be getting any more sleep. So, I reasoned, "why not begin the day and knock off yesterday's to-do list?" It all turned out really well, and at least for now I am feeling a little more relaxed about everything (though a tad sleepy).

It's times like this, though, that force me to question how much I count on getting everything done, in my way, and in my time. I think I do pretty well in the area of time management but the question is: am I ok with God's management of my time? When I grumble and complain about the unexpected, I am pretty sure I have not been living in reliance upon God's sovereign will for my life. Instead I have set myself and my agenda to be all important. In other words, I've made my agenda an idol that I worship.

I am thankful to say that God gave me much grace over the last 24 hours to submit to His will. There were the occasional temptations to complain, but by the kindness and grace of God, He kept me from sinning greatly. I am so thankful. It isn't always this way, but even then there is forgiveness for me in the cross.

I was reminded of a quote by the Puritan pastor Richard Sibbes, "There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us." Now, isn't that an amazing and thought?

Knowing God

In light of our recent focus on Philippians 3, I found the following passage from J.I. Packer's Knowing God to be quite pertinent:

I walked in the sunshine with a scholar who had effectively forfeited his prospects of academic advancement by clashing with church dignitaries over the gospel of grace. "But it doesn't matter," he said at length, "for I've known God and they haven't...."

Not many of us, I think would ever naturally say that we have known God. The words imply a definiteness and matter-of-factness of experience to which most of us, if we are honest, have to admit that we are still strangers. We claim, perhaps, to have a testimony, and can rattle off our conversion story with the best of them; we say that we know God--this, after all, is what evangelicals are expected to say; but would it occur to us to say, without hesitation, and with reference to particular events in our personal history, that we have known God? I doubt it, for I suspect that with most of us experience of God has never become so vivid as that.

Nor, I think, would many of us ever naturally say that in light of the knowledge of God which we have come to enjoy, past disappointments and present heartbreaks, as the world counts heartbreaks, don't matter. For the plain fact is that to most of us they do matter. We live with them as our "crosses" (so we call them). Constantly we find ourselves slipping into bitterness and apathy and gloom as we reflect on them, which we frequently do. The attitude we show to the world is a sort of dried-up stoicism, miles removed from the "joy unspeakable and full of glory" which Peter took for granted that his readers were displaying (1 Pet 1:8 KJV). "Poor souls," our friends say of us, "how they've suffered." And that is just what we feel about ourselves!

But these private mock heroics have no place at all in the minds of those who really know God. They never brood on might-have-beens; they never think of the things they have missed, only of what they have gained.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ," wrote Paul. "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus My Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.... I want to know Christ" (Phil 3:7-10). When Paul says he counts the things he lost rubbish, or dung (KJV), he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure? Yet this, in effect, is what many of us do. It shows how little we have in the way of true knowledge of God.

The third paragraph is certainly me. Is it you?

sternly gentle reminders

I'm having another night with the nephew. We have a deal worked out: he doesn't cry and I get my knuckles chewed and slobbered on. He is four months and a day old today. He has patiently endured kisses and baby talk and camera flashes and being passed around the table from adoring family member to family member.

Every time I'm around the kid, I'm reminded of how the apostle says that we should desire the Word the way that babes desire milk. As much as I love Jaden and as much as he smiles for me (which is a lot, if I do say so), he desperately wants and needs something that I can't give him. Correlate that however you want--I take it as a sternly gentle rebuke.

Another stern, gentle reminder: "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

As much as I might flatter myself, I am just a distraction--hopefully a good one--in Jaden's little world. He knows what's really important. And I know better than to not follow his example.