Learning to live this temporal life through the lens of eternity..."For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12
Every other Thursday evening our home comes alive
in ways that can only be explained by God's grace...
Biblical fellowship and worship with thirteen ladies from different churches and walks of life.
Every other Thursday evening our home comes alive
in ways that make me joyful, thankful, hopeful...
Joyful that we share a love for God and His Word... Thankful to see young ladies desiring Christ, not the world... Hopeful to know our best fellowship is yet to come... not on another Thursday, but on THAT DAY!
Here they are...well...sort of...
perhaps posing for a group photo would've been better...hmmm...
From the left...Kristina (sorry for the ponytail view), Heather L.,
Stephanie, Melanie (another back shot) and Heather C.
But, that's not all...
Ah...here's Melanie (at least her profile) and Rachel
...and don't forget...
Durelle and Pasha...
lovely...
...and
Allyssa (on the right)...sorry for the side shot.
What can I say? I was struggling...
Then last, but definitely not least...
Noah and Ayden...
when we started several months ago they were both in infant seats.
Now they're crawling and having a big time together!
This particular Thursday we were missing some ladies,
Kelly was there but left before I got the camera out...smart girl!
Joy, Amanda and Tracy couldn't make it this time...we missed them!
I guess that means more pictures at a later date...
The title of this post is actually the first line
from a song penned by my brother.
I always give my posts their titles
after I finish writing them.
This line from my brother's song
just kind of "appeared" in my mind.
I'm glad. I really like the song.
...and what it speaks of our Father.
So...the book "short list" I mentioned
in an earlier post...it's getting shorter.
I have begun, to Sweet Husband's delight, Broken Down House by Paul David Tripp.
It has proven to be every bit as challenging
and encouraging as he said it would be.
To give you a hint of what it's about...
the synopsis on the back cover says,
"Sin has ravaged the house that God created. This world sits slumped, disheveled, in pain, groaning for the restoration that can only be accomplished by the hands of the Builder. The bad news is that we are living in the midst of the restoration process. The good news is that the divine Builder will not relent until his house is made new again. Someday you will live forever in a fully restored house, but right now you are called to live with peace, joy, and productivity in a place damaged by sin. Emmanuel lives here with us, and he is at work returning his house to its former beauty."
So...this book details how we, as Christians,
can live above the damage... "Even better, how we can be an active part of the restoration that is at the heart of God's plan of redemption."
Last night I read a chapter about resting in God's
sovereignty. The following paragraph resonated
in my soul. I hope it encourages you...
"In this broken world you need a place to run for comfort, encouragement, motivation, strength, and rest. There is no better place to run than into the arms of the One who reigns over it all for your sake. No, you won't always understand. Yes, there will be moments when life will seem overwhelmingly difficult. Sure, you will wonder why he has chosen you to go through what you are enduring when the person next to you seems to have it so easy. And there will be times when you are tempted to question his wisdom and love. But in those moments, determine to do this one thing. Determine to run to him and not from him. Run to him with your questions, doubts, confusion, and fear. He loves you; he will not turn you away. He wants you to know rest. This is precisely what he has told you again and again in his Word - that he is in control, so that in those moments when you are confronted with your lack of control, or when life seems out of control, you would know peace. Not because you understand what is happening, but because you know and trust your Father."
Doesn't that just make you feel like you're
wrapped up in a big bear hug?
"No need to fear what's coming. The God who orders your life provides the grace necessary to face what he has ordained."
Paul Tripp
This was an encouraging word for me this morning
as I prayed for...
a friend (and his family) who was just diagnosed with cancer,
a friend whose marriage is hanging on by a thread,
a friend in transition who is struggling to trust God,
a friend who just miscarried their third child,
our son and daughter-in-law who live far, far away,
our daughter and son-in-law who are facing days
unlike any that Sweet Husband and I have experienced,
our son and daughter-in-law who are adjusting to
new, differing schedules this year,
our son who is preparing to begin his senior year of college,
Sweet Husband and I, as we approach the beginning of
our 29th year of marriage.
"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory."
Psalm 90: 12, 14-16(New Living Translation)
One of Sweet Husband's favorite authors is Paul Tripp.
He has read and re-read one of Mr. Tripp's books... How People Change,and will, I'm sure,
revisit it again in the near future.
Sweet Husband has also enjoyed Lost In The Middle, Broken Down House,
and the men's group he's in has read Whiter Than Snow together.
They are currently working their way through A Shelter In The Time of Storm.
Broken Down House is one Sweet Husband
has encouraged me to read.
I haven't...yet. But, it's on my short list.
If you are looking for something to read...
pick up one of these books.
Sweet Husband guarantees you'll be challenged
and encouraged.
Something I did read and re-read by Paul Tripp
was on the Desiring God blog today, entitled
"Grace: Right Here, Right Now".
Mr. Tripp writes:
"Do you understand the majesty and practicality of the grace you have been given? If you don't, in subtle and not so subtle ways, you are looking to other things to get you through. You don't need to go out searching for hope and help, because they are already yours in the resources of grace that you have been given as God's child.
'Grace' is the most transformational word in the Bible. The entire content of the Bible is a narrative of God's grace, a story of undeserved redemption. By the transformational power of his grace, God unilaterally reaches his hands into the muck of this fallen world, through the presence of his Son, and radically transforms his children from what we are (sinners) into what we are becoming by his power (Christ-like). The famous Newton hymn uses the best word possible, maybe the only word big enough, for that grace - amazing.
So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God's character and it is your only hope. Grace is a transforming tool and a state of relationship. Grace is a beautiful theology and a wonderful invitation. Grace is a life-long experience and a life-changing calling. Grace will turn your life upside down while giving you a rest you have never known. Grace will require you to face your unworthiness without ever making you feel unloved.
Grace will make you finally acknowledge that you cannot earn God's favor, and it will once and for all remove your fear of not measuring up to his standards. Grace will humble you with the fact that you are much less than you thought you were, even as it assures you that you can be far more than you had ever imagined. You can be sure that grace will put you in your place without ever putting you down.
Grace will enable you to face shocking truths about yourself that you have hesitated to consider, while freeing you from being self-consciously introspective. Grace will confront you with profound weaknesses, and at the same time bless you with new-found strength. Grace will tell you again and again what you aren't, while welcoming you again and again to what you can now be. Grace will make you as uncomfortable as you have ever been, while offering you a more lasting comfort than you have never before known.
Grace will work to drive you to the end of yourself, while it invites you to fresh starts and new beginnings. Grace will dash your ill-founded hopes, but never walk away and leave you hopeless. Grace will decimate your little kingdom of one as it introduces you to a much, much better King. Grace will expose to you the extent of your blindness as it gives you eyes to see what you so desperately need to see. Grace will make you sadder than you have ever been, while it gives you greater cause for celebration than you have ever known.
Grace enters your life in a moment and will occupy you for eternity. You simply cannot live a productive life in this broken-down world unless you have a practical grasp of the grace you have been given.
Are you living out of this amazing grace? Does it shape the way you respond to your personal struggles, your relationships, and your work? Does your trust in this grace form how you live with your husband or wife? Does it propel the way you parent your children? Does it give you comfort when friends have disappointed you? Does it give you rest when life is unpredictable and hard? Does it make you bold and give you courage in places where you would have once been timid? Does it make the idols that tempt you less attractive and less powerful? Do you wake up and say, 'I don't know what I will face today, but this I do know: I have been given amazing grace to face it right here, right now.'
May God help you to understand and rest in the grace that you have been given!"
So...I had an exciting and exhausting Saturday.
Actually, the exhaustion lasted from Thursday through Sunday.
But, the excitement was pretty much confined to Saturday.
I work for our local Chamber of Commerce and
we have an "Annual Benefit Dinner" each summer.
Saturday evening was the 4th Annual Benefit Dinner.
Each dinner has a high profile speaker...
someone who is sure to draw a crowd,
which means selling a lot of tickets...
which means the Chamber benefits!
Any-hoo...the first dinner's speaker was Steve Spurrier,
of SEC football playing and coaching fame.
The second speaker was Bruce Pearl,
of University of TN basketball coaching fame.
The third speaker was Pete Rose,
of Cincinnati Reds baseball (and gambling) fame.
And...drum-roll, please...
This year's speaker was...keep drum-rolling...
No...not a soccer star.
Nope...no hockey hero.
Negative...not even a badminton bad boy.
This year's speaker didn't even know who Steve Spurrier was!
Seriously.
He asked my boss, "So, who is Steve Spurrier?"
Isn't that great?!?
Okay...enough playing.
The guest speaker at Saturday evening's dinner was
KIRK CAMERON!
...of "Growing Pains" fame...
which meant nothing to my mother...
but, will translate to Mike Seaver for anyone
who was jr. high to high school age in the 70's and 80's.
Of course, he knows that he still has "adoring" fans
from his teen-idol days.
But, the last person he wants to talk about now
is Kirk Cameron aka Mike Seaver.
What he gets the most joy talking about is
how Jesus Christ has transformed Kirk Cameron.
There were over 1,300 people in attendance Saturday.
We had tables and chairs on the floor for 620 and
over 700 people came just for the program and
sat in the bleachers and mezzanine seats of a local high school gym.
Oh, there were plenty of ladies there who
rushed down to take Kirk's photo when he entered the gym.
One lady even had a "Teen Beat" magazine from the 70's,
in which the centerfold was...oh yeah...Kirk Cameron.
When she put it in front of him to autograph,
he just sort of smiled and folded the centerfold back down
and signed his name on the lower portion of the page.
It's a past he can't deny...but, it's not his identity anymore.
He had strong words for the crowd that evening.
Marriage was his topic and he didn't beat around the bush.
He clearly shared the gospel and
challenged married folks whose marriages were in crisis
that the only remedy is a heart change.
Oh, you can do outward stuff like Caleb Holt did in "Fireproof"
(Kirk played that character) such as,
making your spouse dinner,
making your spouse coffee in the morning,
calling and checking on your spouse during the day,
buying your spouse flowers or gifts...
but, none of those things will solve the problem.
Only a new heart, a heart of flesh filled with Christ Jesus
will be able to reach out to a spouse,
not seeking to satisfy selfish desires, but seeking to serve;
not first looking for the fault in a spouse,
but knowing the biggest problem is one's own sinful self.
Kirk also challenged anyone who was dabbling in
or addicted to pornography.
He said just as Adam stood by and didn't protect Eve
from the serpent...
husbands who are looking at pornography
are not protecting their wives and
are allowing the serpent to crawl in bed
and curl up right next to their wives at night.
He challenged couples who live separate lives...
separate checkbooks,
separate vacations,
separate friends,
separate mealtimes...
these are marriages that are in serious trouble.
He said bridges to sin need to be burned and
altars to God need to be raised;
and that's only possible through the cross.
One thing that really troubled people from the get-go was
Kirk would not allow any photographs to be taken
of himself with any woman or group of women
unless another man was in the photo, too.
All I could think was how safe and protected his wife must feel,
and how glorifying to God this was!
We heard comments like,
"What's the big deal?!"
"That's pretty extreme!"
"That's silly!"
and someone actually said,
"I think that's bordering on discriminatory!"
Unbelievable.
Some facts that Kirk shared...
people in the Bible-belt are more familiar with
Billy Graham than the Holy Bible.
When asking random people, who said they owned Bibles,
who delivered the Sermon on the Mount,
92% answered, Billy Graham.
Oh. my.
So...other than being reminded that we live in an area
of the United States where people are very religious
and sadly don't realize they are very lost,
it was a great evening.
Kirk's 13 year old son, Jack, came with him.
He's about 5'11" and wears a 16 1/2 shoe.
The doctor thinks he'll be 6'9" when he stops growing.
That's compared to Kirk's 5' 8".
Oh, yes...Jack is adopted.
Chelsea, Kirk's wife, was adopted.
So it was a very deep longing of her heart to adopt.
After they married, she and Kirk adopted four children
before having two birth children of their own.
Jack is the oldest.
One other anecdote...
Sweet Husband and I were going to have the privilege
of taking Kirk and Jack back to Knoxville on Sunday morning,
since we go to church in Knoxville.
However, while Rob was bringing them to Athens from the airport,
Kirk saw a billboard advertising "The Lost Sea"
and asked Rob, "What's The Lost Sea?"
Rob informed him it's the largest underground sea in the world.
Kirk looked at Jack and said,
"We've got to see that while we're here!"
So...Rob called the manager, whom he knows personally,
and she agreed to have some employees there at
6:30AM on Sunday morning
to tour Kirk and Jack around The Lost Sea.
Rob told me that he would be happy to take them.
Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed in the least.
I don't do closed in spaces well at all...especially at 6:30AM!
Here's a taste of Saturday in photos...
So...how do you photograph 1,300 people?
With a wider lens than I had!
I couldn't get everyone in the frame.
Nice problem for a benefit dinner!
These are the miracle people from Spice of Life Cafe.
They fed 620 people some mighty good food!!
Darren Phipps is the chef...the guy in the red jacket.
Do you ever go to church and not want the meeting to end?
I had that feeling today as we worshiped at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville. Sweet Husband and I love gathering with the saints at CCK... and today was especially glorious! Mark Altrogge led us in praise and worship in song, and CJ Mahaney taught us from God's Word.
This was the second Sunday in a row that CJ Mahaney served us through preaching. He and his family vacation each year on Douglas Lake and CCK is blessed each year to have him preach during that time.
Last Sunday he preached from Jude 1b. He encouraged us...as Jude does... that we are called, beloved, and kept. All God's doing...all God's sovereign grace.
Today he preached from Jude 20-21. He reminded us...as Jude does... that we are to "keep ourselves in the love of God by building our faith, praying in the Spirit, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ."
He reminded us that the assurance of God's keeping us, as Jude writes in 1b, does not negate our responsibility.
There are indicatives in Scripture ("kept for Christ Jesus") and there are imperatives in Scripture ("keep yourselves in the love of God").
Indicatives reveal sovereign grace. Imperatives address personal responsibility. DO NOT DIVORCE THE TWO!
Indicatives point to imperatives...but, don't stop there... return and land on the indicative, lest you reduce the gospel to legalism... thinking that you can earn God's favor and salvation.
God saves us...God alone...and we are kept by him for Jesus. But, until we are with him, he is kind to give us three means to "keep ourselves in the love of God."
1. "Building yourselves up in your most holy faith..." Preach the gospel to yourself! The only way to fight the condemnation of our hearts and the forebodings of our conscience is by seeking to master the content of the gospel... which is not possible in this lifetime, nor the next... we will spend eternity marveling at the gospel and God's sovereign grace. God says, "Building yourselves..." plural pronoun. This is corporate activity. God did not intend for us to be islands unto ourselves. We need each other...we need the Body of Christ... the church...the Bride that Christ died for. 2. "Praying in the Holy Spirit..." Structured times of prayer, as well as spontaneous prayers. Do you pray during the day? In your car...at your workplace...throughout your day... 3. "Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life..." What you're waiting for makes all the difference. As believers we should be thankful that we are awaiting God's mercy...not his wrath! Anticipating what is to come transforms my thinking about what is happening presently. Waiting is not resignation...waiting is ANTICIPATION!
CJ told a story about a young man in Kentucky, who scored perfect scores on the ACT and the SAT. A reporter, in an interview with the young man, asked him what his "secret" was to scoring perfectly on both college entrance exams. The young man told him there was no "secret" at all. He just paid attention during class.
Oh how we long for "the secret" to the effortless Christian life.
There. is. no. such. secret.
Yes...Christ did ALL the work required on the cross. There is nothing I can add to his perfect sacrifice.
But, lest our lives become like a big sink hole that forms over time due to erosion taking place underground, finally giving way and plunging all that appears lovely on the surface into the depths of darkness...
where we are, even there, embraced...yea, "kept" by God's loving arms, let us "keep ourselves in the love of God" by "building ourselves up in our most holy faith... praying in the Holy Spirit... waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life."
How do I thank You, oh Lord,
For taking my place on the cross?
And how do I thank You, oh Lord,
For all of Your mercy and kindness?
For calling me to You...
For letting me hear You...
For opening my heart to the gospel.
As long as I have breath, I will praise You!
As long as my heart beats, I will sing!
As long as life flows in my veins,
I will bless Your name!
How do I thank You, oh Lord,
For all of the love in Your eyes?
And how do I thank You, oh Lord,
For how You have changed me forever?
For giving me power, a hope and a future, with favor and gladness and every good thing!
As long as I have breath, I will praise You! As long as my heart beats, I will sing! As long as life flows in my veins, I will bless Your name! (by Mark Altrogge)
