Monthly Archives: June 2007

The Deity of Christ

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Last Wednesday night I was too sick to go to church (much better now!), so I took advantage of the quiet time at home to listen to a message online from the church I used to go to when I lived in Greenville. It’s funny, but I can remember one incident when I was a child in which we couldn’t go to church for some reason, and my mom had us kids gathered around the radio to listen to a message, saying if we couldn’t go to church we could at least hear a sermon. I guess that has stayed with me all these years. I didn’t always follow that practice in my youth, but in the last several years, if I have to be home from a regular church service, I try to listen to a message on the radio, or, more recently on the computer.

My husband downloads messages from Mt. Calvary to listen to while driving for work. He mentioned listening to a really enlightening one on the Deity of Christ, so I looked that one up (I can’t get a direct link to it, but you can go here and scroll down).

Even though this is something I have believed for years, this study really opened up and made crystal clear this truth from the Bible. I wrote an earlier post about a study I had done on the claims of Christ in response to hearing someone say that Christ never claimed to be God. Pastor Minnick pointed out in John 5:31 that Jesus said, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” He explained that that didn’t mean “true” in the sense of the opposite of false — He wasn’t saying He would be lying — but He was saying His witness would not be valid, hearkening back to the OT admonition that things be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. He then goes on in the rest of that chapter to refer to four witnesses to His Deity — John the Baptist, His works, God the Father, and the Scriptures. Though I have read that chapter many times, I hadn’t put it all together like that. As I said, it was enlightening!

There was much, much more to the message. It was full of doctrine without being textbookish. I highly recommend it! I need to listen to the second message on this topic some time.

Also, Romans 10:17 came to mind while listening to this message: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Just hearing those passages laid out so clearly inspired and increased faith.

It’s kind of fun to listen to messages on the computer. I had a Word document open to take notes and the Bible GateWay program opened to look up passages and copy some into my notes. I was actually working on something else while I was listening (at home if I just sit still and listen to a message, I fall asleep — I often get more out of it if I listen while doing something else with my hands. But at church that would be distracting) so I would roll my desk chair back and forth from the table where I was working to the computer to jot notes.

I want to add, too, just so there is no misunderstanding, I’m not advocating listening to messages at home rather than going to church unless you can’t get to church for some reason. There are other reasons for church besides just listening to a sermon, though that’s a big one. But I’m glad we have alternatives when we do have to stay home.

To the Praise of His Glorious Grace

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by D.A. Carson

What astonishing mercy and power:
In accord with his pleasure and will
He created each planet, each flower,
Every galaxy, microbe, and hill.
He suspended the planet in space
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

With despicable self-love and rage,
We rebelled and fell under the curse.
Yet God did not rip out the page
And destroy all who love the perverse.
No, he chose us to make a new race,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

Providentially ruling all things
To conform to the end he designed,
He mysteriously governs, and brings
His eternal wise plans into time.
He works out every step, every trace,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

Long before the creation began,
He foreknew those he’d ransom in Christ;
Long before time’s cold hour-glass ran,
He ordained the supreme sacrifice.
In the cross he removed our disgrace,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

We were blessed in the heavenly realms
Long before being included in Christ.
Since we heard the good news, overwhelmed,
We reach forward to seize Paradise.
We shall see him ourselves, face to face,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

Personal policies meme

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Laura at My Quotidian Mysteries tagged me for a “Personal Policies Meme,” asking about “not moral rules, like ”Do Not Kill,’ I’m talking about the silly policies we impose on ourselves, like ‘Never eat anything you can’t identify,’ or ‘Don’t step on sidewalk cracks.'”

First of all, thanks for the tag, Laura! I think it is fun to be tagged.

I had to think about this for a while — I wasn’t sure I had any personal policies. I should probably ask my family what they think my policies are. 🙂

Before I read the “silly” part, my first thought was that two of my policies are to try to read some portion of the Bible every day and to go to church just about every time the doors are open. Both were instilled in me early in my Christian life and have done a lot to help me grow spiritually.

Beyond that, though, some everyday “silly” policies are:

1. I am kind of germophobic, so I am always asking everyone in the house if they have washed their hands (with soap!).

2. In public restrooms I always put a seat cover or toilet paper on the seat. I know it is probably not really protecting me from anything, but it makes me feel better.

3. I’m not really obsessive-compulsive and I don’t have “a place for everything” like I should, but one place I do like to keep everything in a certain place is the refrigerator. It helps avoid the opening the door and asking anyone in range, “Where’s the…….?” syndrome — though that sometimes still happens. 🙂 I also put the new milk or OJ behind the old — if I don’t, almost without fail someone will open the new one before the old one is finished, then the old one spoils. I’m afraid I can get quite carnal in my heart when I open the refrigerator and the jar of Miracle Whip is there on the center shelf instead of in the door shelf where it always goes. 😳

4. I can’t stand music with words playing in the background when people are talking. I don’t know, it’s something like sensory overload — my brain feels like it should be listening to both and can’t. I love listening to music while I am making dinner or cleaning, but if someone comes in and starts talking to me, I have to turn the music off. Instrumental music is a little better, but not much — I usually turn it off, too, unless I am alone or the room I’m in is quiet. I tend to turn music on blogs off, too, for the same reason.

5. When I was a teen, I tended to skip around in books. Then I began to make myself read from the introduction, forwards, etc., into the main part of the book. That’s usually pretty enlightening, but I’ve suspended it a couple of times recently when reading classics in which the forward gave away way too much of the story — I guess the ones writing the forwards figured everyone must already know the plot.

6. I have to sit where I can get out easily, whether it is at the end of a near-the-back row at church or by the doorway at a bridal shower at someone’s home. I just feel closed-in and trapped and panicky otherwise. I don’t know why. I think it stems from a time when I was having….ah…..digestive issues and needed to be able to get to a bathroom as soon as possible if needed. The source of the problem was found (a medication), but that feeling still remains.

7. I always call an older person by Mr., Miss, or Mrs. and their last name unless they tell me to do otherwise. That’s just what I was taught. Sometimes even if they tell me to call them by their first names, I have trouble doing it, especially an authority figure.

That’s all I can think of right now! If any other things come to mind, I’ll add them on.

(I did think of one more: I almost always take a Sunday afternoon nap!)

I’ll tag Alice, Jen, Janeen, and Joyful Days — and anyone else who would to to do this!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: Shoes

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Theme: Shoes | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I’ve been pondering this week’s theme for days. None of us has any interesting-looking shoes. Ideas I had for what would have made neat shots were hindered by the fact that I didn’t have access to the shoes I was thinking of (like Barbie doll shoes from my childhood). All the boys’ shoe sizes are too close to the same size to make a line-up from oldest to youngest look interesting. All I could come up with was this: a button of a Victorian boot on a piece of jewelry I made. I love the way it looks but I am so glad we don’t wear those these days!

Show and Tell Friday: My grandmother

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show-and-tell.jpg Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts the “Show and Tell Friday,” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky.“

My mother’s mother passed away when I was about four. A few weeks ago I was thinking about her and realizing how little I actually knew about her as a person, so I wrote to my my aunt, my mother’s sister, and asked her a bunch of questions about her.

I had forgotten about that until my aunt called me this morning (Thursday). Her voice was about the last I had expected to hear when I picked up the phone! We chatted for a while, catching up with various family members, and then she began to answer some of my questions about my grandmother. I had grabbed a pen and tablet of paper and was furiously trying to jot things down as she spoke.

I learned that “Memaw” had always been thin and had gone to college to become a P. E. teacher (somehow I didn’t inherit either of those genes, thinness or athleticism!) She left college to get married. She loved music and played the piano. My aunt said she had a mental image of her mom playing the piano and her dad standing behind her, looking over her shoulder at the music and singing along.

She passed away from cancer when she was only 48. She had ovarian cancer and waited too long to deal with it, then one of her ovaries burst. They did surgery, but the cancer spread to her colon. She had radiation, but they did too much of it and she suffered burns from it. They tried chemotherapy, which at that time they had to sign off on as an experimental procedure. She told my aunt she would have never gone through with the chemo except that Papaw so wanted her to be able to live longer.

Even with feeling so awful and the outlook not very promising, in the hospital she told everyone not to feel sorry for her, because she had gotten to see her kids grow up and to see many of her grandkids. She said, if you want to feel sad for someone, go to the children’s ward.

I so enjoyed not only the conversation with my aunt but getting a better picture in my mind of my grandmother as a person. I’m so glad my aunt took the time to call.

Over the years I have really grown to love the idea of family treasures to pass down to the generations — not expensive things, but sentimental things. I’ve so — not envied, exactly, when I have heard or read other people talking about things passed down from the their loved ones, but just regretted that for various reasons our family has not passed things down or has lost some items along the way during moves. But a few months ago while cleaning out a desk I rediscovered some pictures my mom had sent me before she passed away. These were pictures she had sent to her parents that eventually had gotten back to her after both her parents were gone. In that package was this special picture of my grandparents holding me when I was a baby.

It is a treasure to me not only because of who they are, but because it is one of the few mementos I have of them, made all the more precious to me today because my mental picture has been fleshed out a little more by the conversation today with my dear aunt.

Ode to a summer cold…

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To the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”

Oh, my nose, it runs
At most inconvenient times
Leaving overflowing trash cans
Filled with tissues full of slime.
It’s become a drip-o-matic.
My condition still is static!
Oh, my nose, it runs.

Oh, my head is filled
With such pressures in my sinus
And such fogginess of brain.
And my energy is minus.
Who’d have thought a simple head cold
Could cause scheduling to implode?
I’m ready for a nap.

An original composition.

Booking Through Thursday: Encore

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btt2.jpg The Booking Through Thursday question for this week is:

Almost everyone can name at least one author that you would love just ONE more book from. Either because they’re dead, not being published any more, not writing more, not producing new work for whatever reason . . . or they’ve aged and aren’t writing to their old standards any more . . . For whatever reason, there just hasn’t been anything new (or worth reading) of theirs and isn’t likely to be.

If you could have just ONE more book from an author you love . . . a book that would be as good any of their best (while we’re dreaming) . . . something that would round out a series, or finish their last work, or just be something NEW . . . Who would the author be, and why? Jane Austen? Shakespeare? Laurie Colwin? Kurt Vonnegut?

I guess the two I would love to hear more from are Janette Oke and Elisabeth Elliot. They both have written prolifically and I don’t feel anything else is needed to finish or round out anything — I just like reading them both, and they are both at an age where we’re probably not going to have any more books from them, and that makes me sad.

Janette Oke was the author who first got me started reading Christian fiction. I loved her gentle “voice” as an author and the godly wisdom imparted through her stories.

And speaking of godly wisdom — Elisabeth Elliot has been a source (or maybe conduit would be a better word?) of that to me for years.

Book Review: Sunrise

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I finished Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury sometime last week, but hadn’t yet sat down to review it. It wasn’t on my original Spring Reading Thing list, but when I knew it was coming out in early May, I added it, just barely restraining myself so my kids could buy it for me for Mother’s Day. 🙂

The characters in Sunrise, the Baxter family, originated with the Redemption series of five books, then continued primarily focusing on John Baxter’s oldest son, an actor named Dayne, in the next Firstborn series of four books. The Sunrise series will end the Baxter family saga with I believe another four books, the first of which is Sunrise.

Sunrise has an ensemble cast: Dayne and Katy’s story continues, as does John Baxter’s and his daughter Ashley’s. The other Baxters are there in the book, but we see the most of these. Also, the family Katy lives with, the Flanigans, are spotlighted a little more in this book than the previous ones.

There are several issues touched upon: teen-age alcoholism, a friend’s jealousy, the need to be careful in dating — their are three dating or almost, sort of dating couples in the book, and each relationship has its challenges. There’s the issue os what a prime Hollywood actor would have to face if he became a Christian and the issue of dealing with the media. This storyline seemed the most real to me, even though I know no one in Hollywood. I am thinking that Karen must — or else she has a good imagination. 🙂

But one of the things I most enjoyed about the book was the continuation of Dayne and Katy’s story. In so much fiction, when the guy and girl get together and declare their love, that’s pretty much the end of it. But Karen progresses Dayne and Katy’s relationship and shows some of the struggles they will face and concessions and sacrifices they will have to make, especially when joining together from such different worlds.

Overall this was one of my favorite Karen Kingsbury books.

(By the way, many Spring Reading Thing participants are linking to reviews of the books they’ve read on Katrina’s blog here, if you’d like to see what other people think about other books. Plus Semicolon sponsors a weekly book review link on Saturdays.)

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Summer Actvities

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wfmwheader_4.jpg This week’s Works-For-Me Wednesday is a themed one, the “Mom, I’m bored” edition where we share tips about how things our kids can do to while away the summer days.

Here are a few ideas for children or for parents to do with children — or even for adults to do on their own:

· A special Bible study project like a study of the wise man in Proverbs or all the synonyms for God’s Word in Psalm 119.

· Swim lessons

· Learn a new craft—take a class, get an instruction book and teach yourself, or ask someone to teach you.

· Work on a jigsaw puzzle as a family project.

· Run through the sprinkler.

· Water balloon fights

· Find free concerts where you can take a picnic and listen to music. One orchestra not far from here usually has concerts near a lake in the summer, and often has the 1812 Overture complete with cannon and fireworks near the Fourth of July.

· Visit museums

· Read, individually or together

· Have dinner or lunch at a park; feed the ducks; ride the paddleboats

· Listen to an audiobook while doing something else with your hands.

· Get together with friends.

· Meet a neighbor.

· Acquaint yourself with classical music. Listen together while just relaxing or doing something else with your hands. You might do some general listening or focus on one composer or era and supplement your listening with a little research on the Internet. There are some interesting stories behind some pieces like Haydn’s Surprise Symphony (No. 94) and Farewell Symphony (No. 45) and Handel’s Water Music and others.

· Work on a major project like cleaning out the attic. Involve the children. Some of the best family times are not just the vacation and fun days, but working together. It can be a fellowship time as well as a teaching and work time.

Find other workable summertime tips at Rocks In My Dryer.