Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ

I've been really enjoying John Piper lately. He has such a great way of encouraging you to live for the glory of God, to make delighting in Him your desire. He is particularly good for me as I tend to be too duty and checklist driven, although I'm growing in that. :) You've probably heard his classic quote, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." 

A number of months ago a friend gave me the book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. It is broken into 13 short chapters each focusing on one aspect of who Christ is. As the title implies, his purpose is to open our eyes to the value and beauty of our Savior...to hear testimonies of who He is and be changed. Good stuff. 

Here's an excerpt from page 31-32:

So Christ is a lamb-like Lion and a lion-like Lamb. That is his glory --"an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies."

This glorious conjunction shines all the brighter because it corresponds perfectly with our personal weariness and our longing for greatness. Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Mt 11:28-29). The lamb-like gentleness and humility of this Lion woos us in our weariness. And we love him for it. If he only recruited like the Marines, who want strength, we would despair of coming. 

But this quality of meekness alone would not be glorious. The gentleness and humility of the lamb-like Lion become brilliant alongside the limitless and everlasting authority of the lion-like Lamb. Only this fits our longing for greatness. Yes, we are weak and weary and heavy-laden. But there burns in every heart, at least from time to time, a dream that our lives will count for something great. To this dream Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt 28:18-20). 

The lion-like Lamb calls us to take heart from his absolute authority over all reality. And he reminds us that, in all that authority, he will be with us to the end of the age. This is what we long for--a champion, and invincible leader. We mere mortals are not simple either. We are pitiful, yet we have mighty passions. We are weak, yet we dream of doing wonders. We are transient, but eternity is written on our hearts. The glory of Christ shines all the brighter because the conjunction of his diverse excellencies corresponds perfectly to our complexities. 

On a completely different subject...I finally succumbed...I signed up for a Facebook account on Wed. Yikes! Right now I'm not really sure if I'm glad about that or not. :) It definitely can be a tremendous time drain, something I don't have a surplus of right now. But, I have enjoyed seeing all sorts of random friends and family...

One of my favorite annual activities...Valentine cookie decorating with the buddies

One Year Bibles

I know this is a little late to be all that helpful this year, but for any of you who have been going back and forth about starting a One Year Bible, maybe this will give you the encouragement you need. Really, there is also no reason why you can't start any day of the year and either begin on that actual day, or begin at the beginning and just read one day's worth at a time. Over the years I've done a number of OYBs, but I'm pretty sure I haven't done this one yet. It's called The One Year NIV Devotional New Testament and it has commentary by Allistair Begg throughout. I purchased it a number of years ago for the kiddos to read as it's a nice, relatively easy one (although I can't remember if they read it either!). As the title implies, it doesn't cover the Old Testament, but it does contain Proverbs...a couple verses at a time. Also rather than just go forward verse by verse, there is a section from the gospels/Acts and a section from the epistles each day. To give you a feeling for the value of the commentary, here are some thoughts Begg has contributed so far this year:

Herod was afraid that this newborn king would one day take his throne. He completely misunderstood the reason for Christ's coming. Jesus didn't want Herod's throne, he wanted to be king of Herod's life. He wanted to give him eternal life,  not take away his present life. Today people are often afraid that Christ wants to take things away when, in reality, he wants to give them real freedom, peace, and joy.  

Whenever we find ourselves feeling justifiably angry about some sin we have observed in our community, we should be careful. We need to speak out against sin, but we must do so in a spirit of humility. Often the sins we see most clearly in others are the ones that have taken root in us. If we look closely at ourselves, we may find that we are committing the same sin in more socially acceptable forms.

Personally, although there are many bible reading programs out there, I really like the ones that already come in book form that I can just read page by page. Here are two more I've read at least once over the years...

The One Year Bible - This one has a section from Old and New as well as a portion from Psalms and Proverbs. It's probably my favorite way of reading through in a year. It's also available in ESV.

The One Year Chronological Bible - This one would be practically impossible to do on your own, but it works really well in book form. I particularly liked it this way as it helps you to see how all the books flow and relate to each other. It's very interesting to read the OT History books and have the Prophets interspersed accurately through them. I'd definitely recommend you read the bible this way at least once. 

And, here's a website with a list of bible reading plans that you could print out or read right on the web. Hope you'll make bible reading a priority in 2014 in whatever form you decide to do it. :)

Here are some pics from Oct at Smallwoods
We've been having the opportunity to get to know many of the Int'l Students
at the college...we even have a small bible study with some of them weekly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Did You Expect?

Some of you with good memories might remember that my sweet friend and I have been going through Paul Tripp's book What Did You Expect during our time together. Well, as of two weeks ago, we completed it! Yay, hooray! And, it was super all the way through...still highly recommend it. Tripp starts from the premise that we're a sinner married to a sinner in a sinful world...that God places us in that situation to perfect us and change us into more of His likeness...that first and foremost our problem is a worship issue, that we worship our comfort and desires more we worship Him. When we can look at our marriages from that vantage point, we can act, respond, and live differently. Tripp then weaves 6 commitments throughout the rest of his book:

• We will give ourselves to a regular lifestyle of confession and forgiveness
• We will make growth and change our daily agenda
• We will work together to build a sturdy bond of trust
• We will commit to building a relationship of love
• We will deal with our differences with appreciation and grace
• We will work to protect our marriage

Each chapter challenges, convicts, and gives examples of how to live those commitments out in our marriages. And most of them are real doozies. :) But as Tripp is so good at reminding us, God did not leave us alone in our marriages, He gave us the best help we can have...His Spirit within us, working to sanctify and grow us each step of the way. Really good stuff. It has been a huge help for me to look at Dave and my relationship differently...to not be so quick to point the finger of blame, but take responsibility for my part...to make the choice not to just work on "problem" areas, but to also seek ways to do good to the other...to choose a level of vulnerability and trust...to appreciate differences rather than desire sameness...to truly love for the other's best interest rather than seeking your own way...etc, etc. I still have a long way to go, but Tripp has really helped hone my perspective into one that glorifies God and seeks the better path. 

Here's an excerpt from the final chapter...So what is it that produces a marriage of unity, understanding, and love? This kind of marriage is the result of a lifelong commitment to daily marital work and deep trust in God's transforming grace. What produces a commitment to work and a trust in grace? There is only one thing, and one thing alone, that can form in you this commitment to toil and trust. It is worship.

Think of the commitments that make for a wonderful, God-honoring marriage, the commitments that form the content of this book. What does it take to deal honestly with your sin, weakness, and failure? Toil and trust. What does it take to make growth and change your daily agenda? Toil and trust. What does it take to build a strong foundation of trust? Toil and trust. What does it take to build a relationship of love? Toil and trust. What does it take to deal with your differences with appreciation and grace? Toil and trust. And what does it take to work to protect your marriage? Toil and trust. It is a lifelong lifestyle of joyful marital work and living together as you really believe in God's grace, which really does give you everything you need to do the work he has called you to as husband and wife. But what propels you to give yourself to the daily labor of a good marriage and a practical belief that God will not call you to work that he does not enable you to do? Worship. This and this alone is the foundation of a marriage of unity, understanding, and love. 

Every day after Thanksgiving we set up our Christmas decorations
 

 

the kids always particularly love setting up the nativity sets
 

maybe my favorite Christmas decoration...a German Christmas Pyramid
 

finishing up with some yummy peppermint cocoa with candy cane garnish :)
 

The Final Bow

Busy, busy around here...Dave and I leave for Israel next Friday...wowsers! Lots to do between now and then.

Since I haven't had time to write a thoughtful post, I did want to share with you another book I read a number of weeks ago now. It was one I picked up at Salvation Army in my book buying spree a couple months back. :)

The book is entitled The Final Bow, and it takes place in the 4th century during the Roman persecution of Christians. I picked it up particularly because I had read Maier's Pontius Pilate or Flames of Rome and really appreciated how they made that time in history come alive. This book is similar in that it takes a reasonably likely historical character, Genesius, and crafts a story around him. The main character is an actor who performs for Diocletian, who desires to suppress the Christians, and Galerius, who vehemently hates the Christians. Genesius scripts many plays defaming Christianity and in his "research" he infiltrates Christian gatherings and eventually converts. That, of course, is in direct conflict with his acting and leads to many difficulties for him. The story then weaves in and out through events in about one year of his life. 

It was definitely an interesting and eye-opening book into the Christian persecution under Diocletian. It was also a bit crass at times and somewhat strange at times. The crassness was probably an accurate representation of the content of the plays...and likely even toned down from what would be considered obscene. The strange aspects detracted from the book for me and made it seem less realistic and likely. So, all in all, a decent read, but I would recommend Maier's books much more highly. 

A couple weeks ago I went out to check the mail and found these in the yard 

at first I thought they were flowers and then couldn't figure out where they came from

the kids wanted to keep them...Dave thought I was pushing my lawn decoration limits

But, they were really a clever mission trip support raising idea
you paid to get them off your lawn or to send them to someone else...pretty neat

Hidden in Plain Sight

I had forgotten that I have never gotten around to reviewing this book. It was one by an author I saw recommended on a blog, and I happened upon it at Goodwill in one of my book hunts. :) I had a bit of a concern with it containing a recommendation by an emergent church author on the back, but picked it up and read it anyways. It's definitely not a heavy read and, overall, I quite enjoyed it. Basically the book works through the person of Peter and the section of verses found in 2nd Peter chapter 1. He speaks about faith, the Holy Spirit, and then the virtues found in that chapter. His style is conversational and practical, pleasant and easy to read. Following each of the chapters, there is a snapshot of Peter as he exhibits the previous trait.

I've been thinking quite a bit about self-striving vs. dependence on the Spirit lately, so this following excerpt jumped out at me while I read:

"There is no excellence without discipline." I believe that. But more and more I believe that there can be no discipline in any sustained way without the Spirit  Discipline can created impressive, even dazzling, results in the short term. But it always needs a Coach Carter around to prod it and drive it, and after a while that grows wearisome too. No, the only power on earth that can enliven a whole lifetime of disciplined attentiveness and obedience to God is the Holy Spirit. If virtues groundwork is faith, its lifeblood is the Spirit.

I think of two men I know, both men of faith and virtue  But one seeks the Spirit and the other doesn't. One invites, daily, the Spirit to meet him and fill him and guide him and empower him. And the other is his own Coach Carter, haranguing himself to work harder, chastening himself when he falls short. In some ways, the second man is more impressive: he is lean and sharp and focused. He gets more done, has fewer mess-ups, can quote, with flawless accuracy, more Scripture. He just lacks joy. His faith and virtue sour more with each passing year. He struggles with judging others and hating himself, the twin offspring of self-striving. He nurses, I suspect, bitterness toward God. His children are mostly silent, but have watchful, distrustful eyes.

The other man garbles Scripture and can never remember what passage comes from where. He bumbles and ambles at times. He is earthy in a way some people find shocking. He could lose a few pounds, and sometimes forgets, mid sentence, what he's talking about. But he abounds with joy. He gets sweeter by the day. He is one of the few people I know who truly loves sinners and hates sin, and people instantly sense it, sense they are safe with him. His love for God is as inviting as a blue lagoon and contagious as laughter. He is his children's hero.

Some difference between these two men is simply owing to temperament  But only some. The one man, the man with joy, was not always like this. There was a time he was angry and self-absorbed, and he nearly divorced his wife. He was a lover of money and a lover of self. But he changed. And what changed him was the Holy Spirit...

Two men, both with faith and virtue. But one of them seeks the Spirit, in season and out. And the other just tries harder. It's the first one I want to be like.

---from pages 60-62

We had our 2nd annual Spring party on the 1st day of Spring - as I mentioned last year
I've been trying to change Easter Sunday to Resurrection Sunday, but I still love the
traditional Easter activities...so now we do them on the 1st day of spring
 

We did some egg balancing, although when I looked into it,
it can happen any day of the year...sorry AR :(
 

we always color uncooked eggs :)
 

Idols of the Heart

This is the first book I've read by Elyse Fitzpatrick although I know a number of my friends have enjoyed her books and her ministry (I guess that's not true as I just saw she also wrote Give Them Grace which I have read...hmmm, forgot about that). It's actually a book I grabbed off the shelf at Goodwill and then my friend chose it as the next book to go through in our discipleship time. As the title suggests, this book is about understanding what your heart is worshiping and replacing that wrong worship with right worship of God. Fitzpatrick does well at explaining her main focus of each chapter both scripturally and through concrete examples. I also appreciated how she didn't just leave her concepts at the theory stage, but sought to apply them practically to our lives. Each chapter is followed by a handful of questions that make it particularly useful for a discussion. If the concept of heart idolatry is new to you, this would be a good book to pick up. However, if you are familiar with this idea, there may not be a whole lot of fresh material in the book although the subject is always relevant as rooting out idols is a life long process ("man's nature...is a perpetual factory of idols" Calvin). 

Her last chapter was on Delighting in God so I thought I'd include an excerpt from there (pgs 192-3):

Have you ever been so moved by God's glory--His goodness, holiness  kindness, or mercy--that your heart just exploded with praise? Could you imagine being so taken up with God's majesty that you felt like dancing? David knew what it was to "skip about life a calf from the stall." 

How long has it been since your heart "overflow(ed) with gratitude" (Col 2:7)? That word overflow in Colossians means to superabound or excel with gratitude! What would it be like to burst forth with passionate praise...and why don't we? In answer to that question A.W. Tozer writes, 

Orthodox Christianity has fallen to its present low estate from lack of spiritual desire. Among the many who profess the Christian faith scarcely one in a thousand reveals any passionate thirst for God...We fear extremes and shy away from too much ardor in religion as if it were possible to have too much love or too much faith or too much holiness...(If you don't) refuse to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment...you will reach at last (and unknown to you) the bone yard of orthodoxy and be doomed to live out your days in a spiritual state which can be best described as 'the dead level and quintessence of every mediocrity.'"

----we're set to begin What Did You Expect by Tripp tomorrow...very excited about that! 

 

 

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

Wow, what a book! I've decided that Paul Tripp is one of my new favorite bible teachers. I've been listening to quite a few of his sermons online lately, and just finished his book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. The subtitle states it's purpose so succinctly...People in need of change, helping people in need of change. I guess this could be considered a book on biblical counseling. But, Tripp clearly points out that we are all counselors and God means for us to counsel others. Not that this means professionally schooled and with a degree, but rather that God has created us to be in fellowship, in community, with one another for a main purpose of helping each other grow and mature in Christ.

This, however, is not an easy book to read and begin applying. I almost feel like I need to just start back at the beginning and begin again. Tripp does an amazing job at peeling back the layers and addressing true heart issues rather than outward actions/words. He not only gives scriptural insight, but many examples of situations, and also practical ways to apply these concepts. What he lays out is not a quick, slap a bible verse on their problem and send them away, but a gathering of information, really seeing where people are coming from, and then designing spiritual eye-opening counseling to meet them where they are at. He lays out the importance of scripture as a mirror; that God uses His word powerfully in people as they submit themselves to His truth.

I could probably pull some great excerpts from most any page of this book...here's the one I happened upon this afternoon:

You Can Bring Purpose (pages 300-301)

Everyone who comes for counsel comes for a reason. They have an agenda, something they would like to see accomplished. But as a counselor you must remember that spiritual blindness will prevent counselees from seeing where their agenda is narrow, selfish, or too temporary ("this worldly") in nature. They will need your help to see when their purpose for counseling reveals that they have exchanged the worship and service of the Creator for worship and service of the created thing (Rom 1:25).

The man who is separated from his wife comes to counseling because he wants his family back. The wife comes to counseling because she wants a husband who really loves her. The teenager comes because his car has been taken away "until he gets his act together." The depressed young man just wants a little bit of happiness. The pastor wants to understand why he is not more successful in ministry.

Each has a reason for coming to counseling, yet none of them sees the self-orientation of their purpose. In reality, they want little more than the particular piece of the created world that would make them happy. Yet they are children of a God who wants much, much more for them and who sacrificed his own Son in order to secure it!

Such a counselee comes to counseling blind to the fact that his agenda is colored by fear, self-interest, control, personal happiness, or a desire for some other aspect of creation. His problem is not that he wants too much from the Lord, but that he is willing to settle for too little. He seeks the temporary pleasures of the created world when God wants him to become nothing less than a partaker "in the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4).

The counselee needs someone to come alongside him who is armed with purpose--but not the narrow purpose of self-interest. He needs someone who has a redemptive purpose that is not crippled by self-interest and a desire for personal gain. He needs someone to introduce him to God's grand, redemptive agenda, which is higher, fuller, and deeper than anything he would have wanted or planned for himself.

Peter says that God is working on more than giving me a happy marriage and good kids. As Paul says at the end of Eph 3, he is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." In our counseling, we do not want to be shortsighted; we do not want to settle for too little. We want to be used of God to move people from being joyful because it seems as though God is fulfilling their plans to the place where they have forsaken their personal dreams for the greater joys of participating in what God has planned for them.

The biblical counselor wants what God wants for the counselee. His agenda is formed by Scripture--to help the counselee invest in things that will not fade or perish. To accomplish that, he needs to help the counselee uncover his heart's true intentions while opening his eyes to God's glorious purposes for him. As a counselor, I want the questions I ask to accomplish this goal. I want them to open my counselee's eyes to what he is really living for and to created in him a hunger for more than the temporary pleasures of this life. I want to greet the counselee's agenda with redemptive purpose.

In our counseling, we are representing the Messiah. What is his work?
To open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness (Is 42:7)
Can we as his servants be committed to anything less?

beautiful lunch spot
 

trying to catch lizards
 

 

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Since the last snafu with my previous book choice occurred, I figured I had better get an early start on our next selection for the book club in case there was a repeat performance. :) Thankfully, it ended up being a relatively pleasant read. The Beekeeper's Apprentice is kind of like a companion novel to the Sherlock Holmes Novels. I haven't read any of those, but have watched the two most recent movies about him. In this novel, Holmes is basically retired and amuses himself with experimenting and writing. Enter, Mary Russell, a extremely bright and unique individual whom Holmes takes under his wing and instructs in the fine craft of sleuthing. The rest of the book details their exploits and a few cases they worked on together. I enjoyed the explanations of how to gather clues and identifying tell tale signs of what has occurred. If you really enjoy mystery/sleuthing books, you will likely find it amusing. Overall, it was a fun and quick read, but not one that would go at the top of my recommended reads list.

The Cure

A bit ago, I finished a good and very short (108 pgs) book called The Cure: What if God isn't who you think He is and neither are you. It was recommended by one of our leaders in the Redemption Group a few months back. It is written in a unique (and partly bothersome, to Dave) way with a intro section, kind of allegorical, followed by what is an explanation-type section. I really liked it because it challenged me to see myself in light of my identity in Christ...that my works don't gain His favor nor my lack of works gain His displeasure...that living under grace is far better than living under good intentions...that loving more is a far higher goal than sinning less. Lots of interesting and challenging and hmmm-can-that-really-be thoughts (I'm not quite sure I completely agree with all their conclusions). I'm actually hoping someone else will read this so I can dialogue with them about it...any takers? :)

Here's a somewhat lengthy, and not one of the more edgy, concepts in the book (pgs 46-47):

Almost every book on fighting sin focuses on how we can react better at the moment of temptation. Thousands of tips and techniques are laid out to keep us from acting out. While helpful, these books miss the point: We didn't reach this moment randomly. We got here by gradually distorTing our view of God back there.

Those prevention tools made sense until we allowed ourselves to entertain a thought that would eventually lead us into crisis. The moment those safeguards are needed, it's too late. We no longer want them to help. We are now way past wanting to do right. The problem is actually rooted far back when our course was fundamentally altered. The problem is our distorted picture of God.

That distortion is a pall over our eyes, keeping light out.

That distortion is there because we believe these five things about God:
1. God can't satisfy me as much as this sin.
2. I've always been this way. I don't believe you're powerful enough to change that.
3. There is something fundamentally wrong with me.
4. I don't believe God has been fully good to me.
5. I'm going to feel like a failure anyway, I might as well enjoy it!

These are the root beliefs behind the permission we give ourselves to fail. They all are formed from picturing God separated from us.

As that point, it's only a matter of time, opportunity and our particular areas of vulnerability.

That's why this is a big deal.

Those in the Room of Grace are continually allowing God to work on removing the pall from their eyes. Light pours in, and they are in the process of being freed to live beyond preoccupation over their next failure.

Those in the Room of Good Intentions are rarely willing to confront those five statements. They're too busy covering their tracks and grinding it out against temptation. The great regret is they know they've already given themselves permission to fail.

In fact, the insidious truth about sin is that fighting it only serves to heighten the anticipated pleasure.

If you ever want to truly connect with a family member or friend who has issues of repeated failure, reaching the root of those five distortions about God will help you resolve and heal sin issues exponentially better than techniques tailored to a moment, or prevention gimmicks that works just fine until you don't want them to. The fruit will be a lifetime of conversation, hope, protection, and healing.

If we see God through a veil of shame, we'll think the goal is to "fix" the behavior. Shame wants us constantly trying to prove we're not as bad as we imagine. In the Room of Grace, however, we're learning to believe we are no longer identified by our shame. Our God doesn't see us that way, and He doesn't need us to see ourselves that way. We're free to trust His delight and love even in the midst of our erratic, maturing behaviors. He wants us to learn dependence on Him instead of performance. We're learning to trust His power in us. The beauty is, we actually fail less in doing so.

----So, if you're wanting a quick read to get some thoughts churning, you may want to pick up this book.

The Book Club

A month or so ago, I alluded to the fact that our GC group is starting a book club. However, it is really just now actually getting started so I thought I'd give you all some info about it in case you'd like to start one as well. Since it's taking place in our neighborhood, I've been the primary one to figure out how it's going to work. I must say I never realized how complicated it was to choose books that most people should like and that don't have any (or at least little) questionable matter in them. :) Last night I spent the evening finalizing the selections for 2013 (we're reading one every two months)...here they are:

The Shadow of the Wind - Zafon
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Gladwell

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Shaffer

Emma - Austen
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini

Please note that I haven't read any of these, and they are not meant to be Christian selections...so, if you read them, be discerning. I'll write a review as we finish them.

For any of you that may be thinking about starting a book club, here are some helpful links:

How to Start a Book Club
LitLovers
and, of course, Oprah's Book Club

If you live in Wenatchee, our library system is quite an amazing help for book clubs. They have a whole section dedicated on their website to book clubs and even have a specific contact for book clubs. Anyone who is interested in creating one is able to do that, and they will set aside books for your club to check out. Let me know if you want more info. Happy Reading...

Two Paradigms

It's been an awfully long time since I've read a marriage book, but the other day a friend mentioned one by Paul Tripp (whom I have come to really enjoy and appreciate) so I searched around to find it. The title is What Did You Expect? Here is a spot that has many of the beginning pages although it seems to skip about quite a bit as you get into the book (I haven't read too far). But, I've already been appreciating the book and wanted to share an excerpt with you (from pgs 22-23)...

With this word, tested (from 1 Pet 1:6-7), God tells you one of the most significant things you will ever understand about your marriage in the here and now. God decided to leave you in this fallen world to live, love, and work, because he intended to use the difficulties you face to do something in you that couldn't be done any other way. You see, most of us have a personal happiness paradigm. Now, it is not wrong to want to be happy, and it is not wrong to work toward marital happiness. God has given you the capacity for enjoyment and placed wonderful things around you to enjoy. The problem is not that this is a wrong goal, but that it is way too small a goal. God is working on something deep, necessary, and eternal. If he was not working on this, he would not be faithful to his promises to you. God has a personal holiness paradigm. Don't be put off by the language here. The words mean that God is working through your daily circumstances to change you.

In his love, he knows that you are not all that you were created to be. Even though it may be hard to admit, there is still sin inside you, and that sin gets in the way of what you are meant to be and designed to do. And, by the way, that sin is the biggest obstacle of all to a marriage of unity, understanding, and love. God is using the difficulties of the here and now to transform you, that is, to rescue you from you. And because he loves you, he will willingly interrupt or compromise your momentary happiness in order to accomplish one more step in the process of rescue and transformation, which he is unshakably committed to.

When you get on God's paradigm page, life not only makes sense (the things you face are not irrational troubles, but transforming tools) but immediately becomes more hopeful. There is hope for you and your marriage because God is in the middle of your circumstances, and he is using them to mold you into what he created you to be. As he does this, you not only respond to life better, but you become a better person to live with, which results in a better marriage.

--As with all of Tripp's material I've read so far, it's not about changing circumstances, but changing you. The sin in our hearts is the underlying problem regardless of the many difficult and trying things we face. Very good book so far...I'll provide a more thorough review when it's done. :)

James turned 19 today
 

 

The Gospel Centered Life

Just wanted to share a book recommendation on The Gospel Centered Life. This is the book we've been going through in our men and women's dna time each week. And, it has been excellent! I would highly recommend any small group using this resource to get a right view of how the gospel affects and changes our lives. This is not a fix-it book, but rather a deep digging, root issue book that can then be used to change your view of who God is and who you are in relationship to Him and others. The articles and exercises are very challenging and bring out heart issues that you may not have even thought about before. The Leader's guide has an easy format for someone to lead the group with talking points and questions to ask. They estimate the total time per session to be approximately one hour although I found it went a bit longer than that if you allowed a lot of discussion. It would also be best utilized in a smaller size group, maybe 6ish, unless you allow quite a bit more time for everyone to participate in the interaction. Since this book also really expects true openness and sharing, the group would need to be ready for that level of honesty. So, if you're evaluating the next book to do in a small group type setting, make sure to check this one out. 

the last day the cousins were here we had some great packing snow
they spent multiple hours outside building this snow fort
 

 

 

 

Unbroken

A month or so ago, our GC Group completed its covenant which included writing down ways we wanted to be intentional about getting to know more people. One idea I thought would be good for my neighborhood was beginning a book club. Books are a good way to connect people as well as draw out their world view. That meant we needed a book...I had been hearing great things about Unbroken, and so we decided to start with that. It's a true story based upon the life of an Olympic athlete turned WWII pilot. Following the demise of his plane and weeks at sea, he ended up becoming a POW in Japan. Hillenbrand is a great author and did an amazing job recreating his life from childhood on. The story line is not easy to read as he suffered miserably at many points, even enduring things that seem almost unimaginable. One line from the book seemed to encapsulate his captivity well, "The Pacific POWs had an intimate understanding of man's vast capacity to experience suffering, as well as his equally vast capacity, and hungry willingness, to inflict it." This is not a feel good book, yet it is a very real book. Even though it's been many, many years since I've read it, I would say that this book would be similar to Night by Elie Wiesel. However, even though the content is difficult, I recommend reading it and seeing the story of survival, resilience, and redemption. It is truly an amazing story. 

we had a hoedown with our church a couple of weeks ago
Dave should have won best dressed...he borrowed some clothes
from his dad, and we found the perfect shirt at Goodwill

You Can Change

This past summer at church, our leadership gave us a couple of activities to complete including the reading of Tim Chester's You Can Change (he is the same author as Total Church if you are familiar with that book). With all the busyness of summer, we just ended up finishing it. The book is good at challenging you as to the reason why you desire change (to prove yourself to God, to prove yourself to others, to prove yourself to yourself) and why we can't change ourselves. Our issues stem from our heart, and it is only God's work in us as we seek to become like and please Him. Probably my favorite part of the book that our pastors reference on occasion is the 4 G's: God is great, so we don't have to be in control; God is glorious, so we don't have to fear others; God is good, so we don't have to look elsewhere; God is gracious, so we don't have to prove ourselves. As I'm flipping through the book again tonight, there are a lot of good and practical sections that show us the way to true change. If you have been struggling with a certain area or just want to find out how to be more resistant to sin, then this book can be of benefit to you. Here's an excerpt from page 113:

God is Bigger than my Sinful Desires...Sometimes in the presence of temptation we feel sin is inevitable. A friend once emailed me, "Temptation comes in two forms. 1. Sin seems attractive. 2. Sin seems inevitable. We feel like we can't do anything about it. We feel trapped. And so we give in to sin." That's certainly true in my experience. I say no to temptation, but the temptation keeps coming back. In the end it no longer seems a question of whether I'll give in, but when. But this is a lie. Sin isn't inevitable for a child of God. We've been set free from its power. I need to believe the truth that God is bigger than my sinful desires. I need faith in God's power if I'm to repent of my sin. 

God is Better than my Sinful Desires...We choose to follow our sinful desires because in that moment we believe they offer more than God. Faith is the realization that God is much, much better than my sinful desires. And when we affirm this in our hearts, we'll inevitably turn from those deceptive and empty desires to find true satisfaction in God. 

how would you like this for breakfast!??!?! :)
my sis did this fun spine project a while ago and since we're doing
human body this year, it was our turn to try it out -
licorice, spinal cord; donuts, vertebrae; gummy savors, intervertebral discs