Tuesday, December 21, 2010
clarity in discomfort
God has an amazing way to redirect us to himself. I like to think of it as purposeful pain. Now this is not always physical but sometimes emotional or mental. I love when God intervenes in the midst of a mental cloud a funk of sorts and says "ask me i know what to do". So when you are at a loss or feel like your not sure about the issues try to sift through the discomfort of "yourself" and see what God thinks. For me it is a prayerful petition to fix my heart attitude even if i do hurt or am confused. When my heart is bound to the things of God all things can come together for our good and His glory.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas and the messiah
When we think about celebrating christmas we thinking about the coming of the Christ child. I wonder what it would have been like to be apart of israel as they would have hoped for the coming messiah? They would have known he would be great, greater than David and would rule for ever. They would have longed to be rescued from oppression and fear from other nations. They would have been the world power. But this is not why the messiah came. As people living 2000 years after the coming of the messiah we no longer have to hope for his coming we can know the truth that he came. He cam to rescue us from sin and our selves. The messiah has come and he have the joy of celebrating what he has done in us. We can remember what we were when he saved us, what he did in us, and who are based on his amazing love and grace in our lives. As we lead up to Christmas we have the joy and the security the messiah has accomplished what he came for to save a people for himself!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
3 things to ask about culture
There is much talk today about culture and what we should do with it. The obvious question to me is to first ask what how do you define the word culture? Is it people, their customs, they sub groups in them? I am not sure that there is one specific way to define culture to make everyone happy, what I do think is that we can work with things in culture and help give ourselves and families better direction.
Here are the three things: first we can accept what culture wants us to give it no thought and continue on ilife with out a care. Second we can reject it, determine that there is nothing good iit at all and run fast fromm it. Third we can redeem it look at it from Gospel perspective to see how the scripture might influence what we do.
I know this very general but when we look at life through a gospel lens it will give us one of these three options. Not everything is bad, or good, or needs to be changed. So let's seek Gods word for how life should be defined and what we see in culture and react to.
Here are the three things: first we can accept what culture wants us to give it no thought and continue on ilife with out a care. Second we can reject it, determine that there is nothing good iit at all and run fast fromm it. Third we can redeem it look at it from Gospel perspective to see how the scripture might influence what we do.
I know this very general but when we look at life through a gospel lens it will give us one of these three options. Not everything is bad, or good, or needs to be changed. So let's seek Gods word for how life should be defined and what we see in culture and react to.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Who will be your savior?
The world ( culture) has a way of trying to convince you to believe It will be your savior. From the time we are young it promises hope, if you try hard enough. It promises satisfaction if you give your self to it. The world has been an overwhelming force of false hope, false satisfaction and a false sense of belonging. When the world is done with you it will leave you in the dust, with out a care or worry of your well being.
Jesus came that we would not be lost any longer! Through the blood of Jesus we are satisfied, find hope and belong to the greatest family. The amazing thing is that this is not new news. This is the good news of the last 2000 years! But for whatever reason most likely selfishness we push past what will fill us to what will fail us every time. Jesus never fails never gives up on his people. So who will be your savior the world(culture) or Jesus Christ? Who has your heart?
Jesus came that we would not be lost any longer! Through the blood of Jesus we are satisfied, find hope and belong to the greatest family. The amazing thing is that this is not new news. This is the good news of the last 2000 years! But for whatever reason most likely selfishness we push past what will fill us to what will fail us every time. Jesus never fails never gives up on his people. So who will be your savior the world(culture) or Jesus Christ? Who has your heart?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A mother and the Gospel
Mothering for the Sake of the Gospel
by Jenni Roney
I don’t want to be a good mother. I want to be a great mother. I want to speak sweetly to my children like Marmee in Little Women. I want to perform musical marionette shows with my kids and sew their clothes from drapes like Maria in The Sound of Music. I want to teach my boys to relate to each other like the kids in The Boxcar Children. But in reality, I identify more with the Apostle Paul when he says, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).
As an exercise this week, I made a list of all the things that “good mothers” do. In just 10 minutes, I came up with 75 impossible standards that lurk somewhere in the recesses of my subconscious.
Here are a few of the highlights: A good mother never yells, she has a freezer full of nutritious and frugal meals, her children know all of their Fighter Verses, she exercises daily, her kids would rather read than watch a movie, she gives her children only happy memories and records them in scrapbooks, she makes homemade cookies but never eats them herself, her laundry is always caught up, her babies sleep through the night at six weeks, and her boys always lift the toilet lid.
If you’re a mom, I’m sure your list is as lengthy as mine. And if we were truly honest, we would add a few of our personal convictions about the ways that “good mothers” feed, educate, and discipline their children. Here’s the problem—we are living under a self-imposed law of “Mommy Legalism” that isn’t necessarily biblical. Are we mothering for the sake of our own self-righteousness or mothering for the sake of the gospel?
Unfortunately, we will never measure up to our own imaginary laws of good mothering. And when we fall short, we either condemn ourselves or condemn other moms to make ourselves feel better. But the Old Testament Law existed to show us that we can never keep a high enough standard to please God.
Why are we trying to add extra righteousness through “good mothering” when we are already justified through Christ? Mothers, God is pleased with you because when he looks at you, he sees Christ. And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Judgmental Whitewashed Tomb Moms do not bring glory to God. But if we can be mothers who understand our own propensity to sin, we will be astonished by and thankful for the grace of God. We can then extend that grace to our sinful children and to other struggling mothers who may hold different convictions, pointing them to our only hope, Jesus Christ.
I think we could shorten our “good mother” lists to one single item: A good mother models the gospel for her children and for other moms. It is a wonderful thing for our children to see our weaknesses to learn that our strength and hope come from the Lord. And it’s not just our children who need to see our moment-by-moment dependence on Christ. Other women need to know that we, too, are imperfect mothers, in need of God’s grace and sanctification.
We need to encourage one another to press on toward the goal through the many challenging seasons of motherhood. We need godly older women and biblical counsel to help us fight the fight of faith. We need to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25)… As imperfect mothers, may we display the gospel to our children as we point them to a perfect Savior.
by Jenni Roney
I don’t want to be a good mother. I want to be a great mother. I want to speak sweetly to my children like Marmee in Little Women. I want to perform musical marionette shows with my kids and sew their clothes from drapes like Maria in The Sound of Music. I want to teach my boys to relate to each other like the kids in The Boxcar Children. But in reality, I identify more with the Apostle Paul when he says, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).
As an exercise this week, I made a list of all the things that “good mothers” do. In just 10 minutes, I came up with 75 impossible standards that lurk somewhere in the recesses of my subconscious.
Here are a few of the highlights: A good mother never yells, she has a freezer full of nutritious and frugal meals, her children know all of their Fighter Verses, she exercises daily, her kids would rather read than watch a movie, she gives her children only happy memories and records them in scrapbooks, she makes homemade cookies but never eats them herself, her laundry is always caught up, her babies sleep through the night at six weeks, and her boys always lift the toilet lid.
If you’re a mom, I’m sure your list is as lengthy as mine. And if we were truly honest, we would add a few of our personal convictions about the ways that “good mothers” feed, educate, and discipline their children. Here’s the problem—we are living under a self-imposed law of “Mommy Legalism” that isn’t necessarily biblical. Are we mothering for the sake of our own self-righteousness or mothering for the sake of the gospel?
Unfortunately, we will never measure up to our own imaginary laws of good mothering. And when we fall short, we either condemn ourselves or condemn other moms to make ourselves feel better. But the Old Testament Law existed to show us that we can never keep a high enough standard to please God.
Why are we trying to add extra righteousness through “good mothering” when we are already justified through Christ? Mothers, God is pleased with you because when he looks at you, he sees Christ. And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Judgmental Whitewashed Tomb Moms do not bring glory to God. But if we can be mothers who understand our own propensity to sin, we will be astonished by and thankful for the grace of God. We can then extend that grace to our sinful children and to other struggling mothers who may hold different convictions, pointing them to our only hope, Jesus Christ.
I think we could shorten our “good mother” lists to one single item: A good mother models the gospel for her children and for other moms. It is a wonderful thing for our children to see our weaknesses to learn that our strength and hope come from the Lord. And it’s not just our children who need to see our moment-by-moment dependence on Christ. Other women need to know that we, too, are imperfect mothers, in need of God’s grace and sanctification.
We need to encourage one another to press on toward the goal through the many challenging seasons of motherhood. We need godly older women and biblical counsel to help us fight the fight of faith. We need to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25)… As imperfect mothers, may we display the gospel to our children as we point them to a perfect Savior.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Mercy Kissys
When a child says something profound do you hear it? My daughter Ashlyn loves chocolate, especially hershey kisses. Two days ago she wanted some but i did not know it. Most of the time my wife or oldest daughter takes care of these minor cravings since they being female know what chocolate is all about. When she asked me for them she kept asking me for some mercy kissys. At first i did not know what she was saying so me thinking logically kissed her and she quickly let me know that was not a mercy kissy. So as any confused father i asked the translator my wife then told me what she was asking for, hershey kisses. Wow what wonderful and cute girl, i am not planning on correcting her.
This got me thinking what are some of the things that we say that need translation. Are communicating Truth in a confusing way. we know what we are saying and we a confident we are right, but do the people who hear us get what we are saying at all. I think i could have known what my daughter was saying if she had shown me what it was she was saying. How do our lives help communicate our message. When was the last time you said something that did not match up to how you live. The Gospel is word and deed/ action and truth. If all you do is talk something is broken. If you are speaking and being misunderstood let your life do the translation.
By the way go have some mercy kissys it will brighten up your day.
This got me thinking what are some of the things that we say that need translation. Are communicating Truth in a confusing way. we know what we are saying and we a confident we are right, but do the people who hear us get what we are saying at all. I think i could have known what my daughter was saying if she had shown me what it was she was saying. How do our lives help communicate our message. When was the last time you said something that did not match up to how you live. The Gospel is word and deed/ action and truth. If all you do is talk something is broken. If you are speaking and being misunderstood let your life do the translation.
By the way go have some mercy kissys it will brighten up your day.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Prayer
Prayer.
Luke 11
Mathew 6
What is it about prayer that seems so illusive? Why do most Christians feel that prayer is never as good as it should be?
Prayer is where our life and our God meet. Prayer has been taught for so long as a means of getting and not means of knowing. Relational.
-When we pray we are with the one who loves most purely.
-When we pray we are expressing ourselves to the one who truly gets you.
Prayer is not formal does not need precise words. We like this because it feels ok and better as if we have grown in our maturity as a Christian. What does it look like to come to God the way he describes in scripture, like that of a child?
Children come messy
No pretense
You are the only solution to their problem
They are persistent
Learning to become like a child so that we ask, believe and play (wish and hope) in our prayer. Remember the point of Christianity isn’t to learn a lot of truths so you don’t need God anymore; we are going to grow in our desire and need for more of him.
Prayer is a life long journey my hope is that you will never feel as if you have made it. When we feel like we have made it we tend to feel like “what is next” and move on.
Prayer is where real life is… God wants us to come messy and overwhelmed, he wants our scattered thoughts. He is the only one who can really sort through them any way. I think that prayer like this would help keep marriages out of the counseling offices. Our spouses are not equipped to fix our needs it is not their job. God is the only one who knows you best and has all the tools necessary to handle everything that is on your heart and mind. God speaks your language, he understands you babbling he can sort through the tears the words he knows you best.
So Prayer becomes one of our greatest outlets for being with our heavenly father. Luke 11 becomes for me the passage that shows me my need for him. I know that my heart can try to accomplish a lot. I am good at fixing my problems. I know that I have lots of ways to have my needs met with out prayer. “ Money can do what prayer can and its quicker and less time consuming.”
So how do we pray? We need to pray with our whole lives, our everyday with out fixing ourselves first giving God what he already knows about us.
“If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details of my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life. If he is all-wise, then he’s not going to do everything I want because I don’t know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all this. When we put all these things together- god’s sovereignty, love and wisdom, and patience- we have a divine story.”
Learning to pray does not offer us a less busy life it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we have inner quiet. But as we learn to pray as well, we’ll discover that this is my father’s world. Because my father controls everything, I can ask, and he will listen and act. Since I am his child, change is possible- and hope is born.
Pray in the midst of the chaos. As your heart or your circumstances generate problems, keep generating prayers. Pray is not cut and dry and a simple system it is messy and sometimes way out of control just like your life.
If you are going to enter this divine dance we call prayer, you have to surrender your desire to be in control, to figure out how prayer works. You’ve got to let God take the lead.
Prayer Cards-
Prayer journal-
Systems should not cause guilt in us. When we allow them to be a measuring stick to our growth as prayers we have lost the point. Journals and Cards are one way for us to have some sense of remembering the journey God is taking us on.
Thoughts from the book: a praying life, by Paul Miller
Luke 11
Mathew 6
What is it about prayer that seems so illusive? Why do most Christians feel that prayer is never as good as it should be?
Prayer is where our life and our God meet. Prayer has been taught for so long as a means of getting and not means of knowing. Relational.
-When we pray we are with the one who loves most purely.
-When we pray we are expressing ourselves to the one who truly gets you.
Prayer is not formal does not need precise words. We like this because it feels ok and better as if we have grown in our maturity as a Christian. What does it look like to come to God the way he describes in scripture, like that of a child?
Children come messy
No pretense
You are the only solution to their problem
They are persistent
Learning to become like a child so that we ask, believe and play (wish and hope) in our prayer. Remember the point of Christianity isn’t to learn a lot of truths so you don’t need God anymore; we are going to grow in our desire and need for more of him.
Prayer is a life long journey my hope is that you will never feel as if you have made it. When we feel like we have made it we tend to feel like “what is next” and move on.
Prayer is where real life is… God wants us to come messy and overwhelmed, he wants our scattered thoughts. He is the only one who can really sort through them any way. I think that prayer like this would help keep marriages out of the counseling offices. Our spouses are not equipped to fix our needs it is not their job. God is the only one who knows you best and has all the tools necessary to handle everything that is on your heart and mind. God speaks your language, he understands you babbling he can sort through the tears the words he knows you best.
So Prayer becomes one of our greatest outlets for being with our heavenly father. Luke 11 becomes for me the passage that shows me my need for him. I know that my heart can try to accomplish a lot. I am good at fixing my problems. I know that I have lots of ways to have my needs met with out prayer. “ Money can do what prayer can and its quicker and less time consuming.”
So how do we pray? We need to pray with our whole lives, our everyday with out fixing ourselves first giving God what he already knows about us.
“If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details of my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life. If he is all-wise, then he’s not going to do everything I want because I don’t know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all this. When we put all these things together- god’s sovereignty, love and wisdom, and patience- we have a divine story.”
Learning to pray does not offer us a less busy life it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we have inner quiet. But as we learn to pray as well, we’ll discover that this is my father’s world. Because my father controls everything, I can ask, and he will listen and act. Since I am his child, change is possible- and hope is born.
Pray in the midst of the chaos. As your heart or your circumstances generate problems, keep generating prayers. Pray is not cut and dry and a simple system it is messy and sometimes way out of control just like your life.
If you are going to enter this divine dance we call prayer, you have to surrender your desire to be in control, to figure out how prayer works. You’ve got to let God take the lead.
Prayer Cards-
Prayer journal-
Systems should not cause guilt in us. When we allow them to be a measuring stick to our growth as prayers we have lost the point. Journals and Cards are one way for us to have some sense of remembering the journey God is taking us on.
Thoughts from the book: a praying life, by Paul Miller
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