Archive for January, 2008
Friday Photos — By Request
January 18th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in » Pictures
Yeah yeah yeah… I know… it’s been too long since I’ve posted pictures of the kids.
Here’s a few of the better ones from recent weeks, just for their Aunt Debbie!
Pray for the Halley Family
January 16th, 2008 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Prayer Requests
To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to say tonight, so I’m simply going to tell it like it is.
The Halley family needs our prayers.
You see, Brian Halley has melanoma, and doctors have recently informed them that despite all their efforts to combat the cancer, there is nothing more that they can do… Brian’s cancer is expected to be terminal. Jenni Halley has shared their heart-wrenching story as it has unfolded here.
Brian, Jenni… whatever words I could offer to you from my own heart would clearly be inadequate, so tonight I simply pray that the promises found in God’s word in Romans 8 would bring comfort, peace, and hope to you and your family:
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
”For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May the love of Jesus Christ be clearly evident to you through these trials, and may faith in Christ sustain you and bring you hope.
(In case anyone wonders about the relation here, it’s through my sister. She is a close friend of Jenni Halley’s sister, and shared this with me tonight, asking me to post it here.)
Circumstantial Faith
January 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
I was listening the radio the other day, captivated by the testimony of a Christian musician who was sharing the story of a time in their life when they felt distanced from God due to a number of things, primarily due to an inability to “feel” God’s presence, probably driven by difficult situations they were going through in life. As you might suspect, they captured the time and their struggle with music. I don’t recall all the details, but they’re not terribly important to the topic at hand… circumstantial faith.
All of us go through difficult times in our lives… sickness, financial troubles, difficulties at work, deaths of those close to us, marriage problems, frustrations with our children… need I go on? Suffering is an unavoidable part of life.
In those times, God doesn’t always “feel” so close at hand. Our mountaintop faith experiences, ones where God’s presence is so real we can almost reach out and touch Him… well, they’re temporary. Back in the “real world”, those valleys in our faith journey where we commonly live, God often seems distant… even almost non-existent or completely unreachable sometimes.
John writes in his gospel of this in the account of Thomas:
John 20:24-31
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Circumstantial faith is like that of Thomas… having to see the marks and feel the holes… needing to experience God first-hand on a regular basis… dying slowly when those experiences simply aren’t present.
While it’s natural for our faith to wax and wane some related to our personal experience with God, what kind of faith do we have if it’s wholly based on our experiences? Is circumstantial faith real faith? What happens when we rely on feeling to determine our level of faith?
The answers to those questions aren’t all that pleasant, if you ask me.
So how can we grow our faith beyond the circumstantial, that we might remain strong when God does seem distant? We know that it’s almost a certainty that difficult times in our lives will come and that God won’t always feel right there beside us. How do we cope?
Perhaps belief is simply a matter of will sometimes… trusting what you know to be true, and remaining determined to stick with it to the end?
Any thoughts?
Out of the Overflow…
January 8th, 2008 | 4 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life
I was looking back over some of the things I’d written from various times of Bible study over the years, and ran across a devotion on Luke 6:43-45 I’d written almost five years back. In thinking over what I’d written, it occurred to me that this passage might be somewhat applicable to much of the rhetoric, debate, and conflict in Baptist life recently. Or, maybe it’s just applicable to me.
Regardless… here’s the passage:
Luke 6:43-45
43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
I’d originally written the following:
I don’t think this passage needs much explanation. Think about it a bit, then ask yourself the following:
- What’s coming out of my mouth?
- What are my most frequent topics of discussion?
- What do these things reveal about my heart and what’s most important to me?
These questions are still applicable for self-evaluation… it’s clear, beyond a doubt, that what we talk (or write) about reveals a lot about what’s important to us.
The question I find myself asking tonight is simply this:
If a blog primarily focuses on the conflict in Baptist life, what does it reveal about the author?
If you look at the categories in my left sidebar, you’ll notice pretty quickly that “Baptist Issues” is my number one topic. Worse, were you to look at my bloglines feeds, you’d find the majority of blogs I read deal with Baptist conflict.
While I feel I’ve been civil (for the most part) in the discussions in which I’ve partaken, and I’ve moved away from this almost completely in the last couple months, tonight I simply find myself ashamed of the fact that this has been what has consumed my blogging interests in the past… foolish and stupid arguments (2 Tim. 2:22-26).
No more.
Somewhere in the Middle
January 7th, 2008 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Song of the Day
For Christmas, Nancy got me the latest Casting Crowns CD, “The Altar and the Door”. I’m not sure it’s as good, musically, as their previous two offerings, but the lyrics are top notch (as always).
“Somewhere in the Middle” is simply phenomenal, which makes it my Song of the Day. Click above to find a preview (it’s track 7).
Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find meSomewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You’re making me
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find meJust how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control
Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middleSomewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing wavesSomewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You’ll find meJust how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control
Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You’re by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I’m caught in the middle
Work and Worship
January 6th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
This morning during Sunday School, we had an interesting discussion on the relationship between work and worship. They’re two topics we don’t generally link, but in light of Colossians 3:23-24 and other Scripture passages, it’s clear that work is ordained and valued by God:
23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Statistics tell us 1 out of every 3 people hate their jobs, and that 2 out of every 3 people feel they work in the wrong field. People commonly complain about their bosses, company policies, benefits, co-workers, pay rates, hours worked… you name it. Christians respond similiarly to non-Christians.
So how do we respond to this? If, according to Scripture, we’re supposed to work at whatever we do with all of our hearts… as if working for the Lord, no less… should we consider our work a form of worship?
How does this change the way we go about our daily tasks? How does this change our outlook toward work? How does this play out? What does it look like?
Any thoughts?
