Category Archives: Thoughts From Scripture

Going Home

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This past week my dad would have celebrated his 80th birthday if he were still alive. He passed away about 13 years ago.

I don’t approach his birthday or the anniversary of his death with the same emotions as I do my mom’s. Our relationship was not as close, those we did love each other. I wrote about him, his alcoholism, and his conversation late in life here partly as an encouragement to others who have prayed long years for lost loved ones. But even though he did become a genuine (as far as I could tell) believer and there were some evident changes, long years as an unbeliever and lack of means of spiritual growth prohibited a dramatic turn-around. I’ve ben surprised at the amount of anger, resentment, and disappointment I’ve experienced since his death. As I wrote previously:

I was surprised that I had a great deal of anger in the years after he died — anger that our relationship wasn’t what it could have been, and though I couldn’t talk to him about it, anger at his anger. I felt it was kind of silly, really, to be angry at that point when there was no way to reconcile anything with him. I have read, though, that those feelings are pretty normal. What helps is to know that now, in heaven, where hearts are made finally perfect, knowing what he knows now, everything is all right on his end and he would do things differently if he could.

And that’s the encouragement I want to leave with people today. I know people who have had horrible relationships with their parents, involving manipulation and twisted emotional abuse, made worse by the fact that these were professing believers. Making a profession doesn’t necessarily make one a believer, of course, if there was no faith and repentance behind the profession; however, many true believers are far from what they should be (see Lot and Jonah for examples). When those kinds of parents (or siblings or friends or whoever) pass away, instead of or along with some degree of relief there is an unsettledness that things were left unresolved and that there is no way to resolve them now.

But there, in heaven, where “the spirits of just men [are] made perfect,” their hearts are finally perfectly right, they can see things clearly, and they would apologize if they could, and we can look forward to a joyful reunion.

I can’t remember where I saw this video: I scrolled through recent posts of a few blogs I regularly read, but I couldn’t find it. But after Dr. John‘s recent passing, the anniversary of my father’s death, and this week the passing of my pastor’s wife’s sister-in-law, a woman I looked up to in school, this seemed particularly poignant. I had know for years that a song called “Going Home” had been made with the melody of the second movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony, but I had never heard all the words before.

Wednesday Random Dozen

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Linda at 2nd cup of coffee created and hosts the Random Dozen meme every Wednesday. You can answer the questions on your blog and link up to Linda’s plus find more participants there.

1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow?

Bow and arrow: no, except maybe my kids’ Nerf bow when they were younger. Gun: I can remember my dad taking us out to shoot tin cans once when I was a kid, but only that one time.

2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are?

Sadly, no. I think one is still in the town I grew up in. Last time we were there — about 21 years ago — I looked up her parents’ number and called, but missed her and never got back to her because we were at a family reunion.

3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time?

Yes. 🙂 It varies. I like to arrive a bit on the early side, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

4. Are you more of a New York or California type?

I’m not sure what is meant by such “types.” I think of Californians as barefoot free spirits and New Yorkers as rude and busy — but I am sure those broad stereotypes are no more true than the ones people had of Texas when they learned that’s where I was from and asked me where my accent was. I sometimes thought of saying, “Back on the ranch with my ten-gallon hat and tumbleweed.” 🙂

5. Do you have a special ring tone?

No, just a regular phone ring.

6. What is your favorite type of chip?

Used to be Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar, but lately I’ve been gravitating to Lays’ Sour Cream and Onion. Surprising because I am not all that fond of sour cream.

7. Best comedy you’ve ever seen is ….

I loved Boy Meets World in its early days. We stopped watching it when the kids in it got to middle school and constantly thought about kissing — didn’t want my guys to think that was the primary concern of kids that age! But we picked it up again in its later years.

8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, “How’d that work for ya?”

Yes, I have, and surprisingly it looked okay. Not so well that I wanted to keep doing it, but passable.

9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self?

That would be a hard choice. If it was all expenses paid and they wouldn’t do anything without my preferences in mind, probably the house. But there are certain things I’d love to have a personal consultation about.

10. Are you allergic to anything?

Penicillin and sulfa drugs. Some artificial scents give me a headache, but I don’t know if that is properly an allergy.

11. Why is it so hard to change?

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). But “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16) and “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).

12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, “To love is to be vulnerable.” Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you’d like to about this topic.

I think that is true, because if you let someone know you love them, they might reject your love and therefore hurt you. Even if they accept it and love you in return, there will be times you’re not 100% in sync, and disagreement with the one you love most is more hurtful than disagreement with anyone else. The primary example of vulnerability in love is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was vulnerable to the point of death for people who did not understand and for some who rejected that gift. Yet His sacrifice made it possible for those who do believe and accept His love to enter into a loving relationship with Him.

Book Review: Interwoven

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The cover of the book Interwoven by Russ and Nancy Ebersole shows cloth intricately woven by Igorot women in the Philippines to illustrate the interweaving of the lives of Russ and Nancy.

Russ and his first wife, Gene, were married in 1950, and after graduate school spent ten years as missionaries in the Philippines. After battling cancer for three and a half years, Gene passed away, leaving Russ a widower with five children.

Nancy and her first husband, Harry, were married in 1957. He studied in seminary, and then they were led to work as missionaries in Bangladesh (East Pakistan at that time). After just two short years on the field, though, Harry became suddenly and seriously ill, and the Lord took him home in 1965, leaving Nancy a widow at 27 with three children.

Though a few threads of their lives had intersected before, four years later Russ and Nancy were led to each other, married, and blended their families together.

This book shares the testimonies of their early lives and that of their first spouses as well as how the Lord sustained them during loss, brought them together, and used them for many years afterward in various forms of service. Included are adventures such as the rescue of the family of Russ’s first wife, Gene, in the Philippines from the Japanese during WWII on the very morning they were scheduled to be executed in what “General Douglas MacArthur called…’the most thrilling rescue in all of American history'” and Russ and Nancy’s later being on a plane that was hijacked to China. Particularly poignant to me were the sections dealing with Gene’s response to cancer and Nancy’s adjustments as a young widow as well as many stories of the people they ministered to who became strong, fervent believers, some in spite of intense persecution. Some of the struggles and adjustments for the family after Russ and Nancy first married illustrate that missionaries are ordinary people with problems like everyone else would have, yet the Lord helped everyone to adjust and blend together over time. Woven into every part is God’s faithfulness and love.

Though a book like this is not meant to read like a novel, I did find the style just a little dry here and there, reading somewhat more like a report in places. But overall I can and do highly recommend this book.

(This review will be linked to Semicolon’s Saturday Review of Books.)

The Week In Words

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http://breathoflifeministries.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-week-in-words.html Melissa at Breath of Life hosts a weekly carnival called The Week In Words,which involves sharing some words from your reading. Melissa explains,

“Playing along is simple, just write a post of the quote(s) that spoke to you during the week (attributed, of course) and link back here [at Melissa‘s]. They can be from any written source, i.e. magazine, newspaper, blog, book. The only requirement is that they be words you read.”

I like this idea because I often will see a quote that really speaks to me, but then I forget it. Just recording them here helps me remember them a little better.

Here are a few words of wisdom from the past week’s reading:

From Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word, p.28:

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap!

These two were from a friend’s Facebook:

“Keep out of your life all that will keep Christ out of your mind.” – Anonymous

“The way to know whether you’ve made an idol in your heart is when you’re either willing to sin in order to get it or sin because you can’t have it.” – Anonymous

Seen at  ivman:

“Being missions-minded is more than paying someone else to make disciples somewhere else.” – Drew Conley

Seen at Practical Theology For Women:

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

Tim Keller, The Reason For God

I’ve not read the book and I don’t know anything about Tim Keller, but I liked this quote.

You can visit Melissa‘s for more or to link up with your own quotes.

A happy birthday, laudable links, and thoughts about Lent

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Today is Mittu’s birthday!

Hope you’re having a wonderful birthday! You are a sweet, lovely addition to our family — I can’t imagine our family without you!

________________________________________________________________

They went for a super-quick trip back to see Mittu’s mom and friends in OK for her birthday, and we’ll celebrate here when they get back.

This is one of those areas as a relatively new mother-in-law where I’m never quite sure what to do. Do we do the birthday traditions we always do? Or would they rather do something different? We’ve tried to always keep the lines of communications and options open, to offer but to let them know we won’t be offended if they want to make other plans.

We’re dog-sitting little Spresso, who doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. He finally stopped barking, but I haven’t seen him lie down or even sit down yet. We did take him back to their house to sleep at night — he’s used to being alone in their laundry room at night, so we felt he’d probably feel more at home there. As excitable as he is normally, I can only imagine how he’ll react when they get back! Our dog, Suzie, doesn’t quite know what to make of him.

I didn’t get a nap yesterday like I thought I would except for briefly dozing off in the computer chair, but I did fall asleep on the couch about 8:30 or so. I woke up and went to bed around 4 and then woke up again I think around 7 this morning. So I think I’m caught up again! I feel back-to-normal now.

On Saturday I often share interesting links I’ve seen through the week, and today just have a few:

Arguments Against Anxiety by Justin Taylor. I don’t know who Justin Taylor is and failed to note where I saw the link to this, but this is a great list.

A Whole New Perspective on the children’s song “Zacchaeus” by Mocha With Linda.

Bobbi at Blogging Along has some good thoughts in a Lenten Rant. I’ve never quite understood Lent, even though I was in the Lutheran church as a child and then again a few years as a teen, or felt compelled to observe it since there is no example or instruction about it in the Bible. Christ fasted for 40 days, but that was at the beginning of His public ministry and was nowhere near the time of His death or resurrection. I can see how it could be a deep spiritual exercise, but giving up something for 40 days just to say I did so for Lent doesn’t seem to be so. No offense to anyone who does observe it and gain from it spiritually.

I do, however, like the idea of reading through the narratives of Christ’s last week on earth, His death, and resurrection in the weeks leading up to Easter (or Resurrection Sunday, as some prefer to call it). BibleGateway has a daily plan for that here: you can click on different days in the calendar on the top left if you’re behind, and you can click on a drop-down menu for the Bible version you prefer.

I mentioned yesterday I ordered  Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, various thoughts and essays from as far back as Jonathan Edwards, C. H. Spurgeon, and Martin Luther up to current day John Mac Arthur and others, covering different aspects of Christ’s death and resurrection, compiled by Nancy Guthrie. It just arrived yesterday, and I flipped through it a bit and am looking forward to delving into it. I’m in Genesis right now in my Bible reading and want to get to the end of that before taking a break for this book.

Last Saturday there were a few inches of snow on the ground: this Saturday it’s sunny and shirt-sleeve warm. I love it.

Happy Saturday!

A loss in the blogosphere

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Quite often on a “blogiversary” post or a blogging meme, many bloggers who have been at it for any length of time will comment that, whatever their reasons for starting a blog, one of the things that surprised them was the sense of community among bloggers. Once we find certain blogging friends, they become true friends.

I was very saddened to learn yesterday that a member of the blogging community had passed away. Dr. John at Dr. John’s Fortress went Home on Monday. I didn’t know him very well — I read his blog here and there, and we occasionally crossed paths when we participated in the same memes. But what I knew of him came mostly from his comments on mutual friends’ blogs. And one thing stood out: being a pastor wasn’t just a job from which he was retired: a pastor is what and who he was in his very essence.

Somehow we don’t think about heaven much until someone dies. Elisabeth Elliot once wrote than one reason we don’t know much about it is that we wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what we’re to do here if we knew all the dazzling glory awaiting us there. We do know there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, pain or sin and that God is there. That’s plenty to ponder and to look forward to! I am so grateful He made a way for sinners to be washed, cleansed, forgiven and fit for heaven, and that we can know that those who trusted in Him for their salvation are experiencing heaven’s joys as soon as they pass on.

We couldn’t wish them back from what they are experiencing now. But we do miss them, incredibly, achingly. Through time, grace, love and support, that ache will lessen to some degree, though it will never go away completely until we join them there. If you’re so led, I invite you to join me in prayer for the family and friends of Dr. John in the days ahead. And if you don’t know whether you would be joining that reunion in heaven, please read the verses linked above or read more here.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. John 17:24a.

The Week In Words

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http://breathoflifeministries.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-week-in-words.html Melissa at Breath of Life hosts a weekly carnival called The Week In Words,which involves sharing some words from your reading. Melissa explains,

“Playing along is simple, just write a post of the quote(s) that spoke to you during the week (attributed, of course) and link back here [at Melissa‘s]. They can be from any written source, i.e. magazine, newspaper, blog, book. The only requirement is that they be words you read.”

One quote that really stood out to me from a book I am reading is one I want to save for when I discuss that book after I finish reading it. But there were two that really spoke to me this week from the devotional book Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer.

From the reading for Feb. 9:

Let us claim the promise–“They that wait on the Lord shall change their strength.” Too often in the past we have depended on the stimulus of services, sermons, conventions which have made the embers glow again on the heart’s altar. We have gone back to our homes, to our daily calling, with a new zeal and impulse that has lasted for weeks or months. Then we have found ourselves flagging again; we have run and got weary; we have walked and become faint.

To all such comes the word; if you would once more mount up and run and walk, you must change your strength. Time tells on us! Moods influence us! Circumstances impede us! Satan blows cold blasts on our heart-fires and cools them! Sins pile up their debris between us and God! From all these let us turn once more to Jesus and wait on Him. “My soul, wait thou only upon the Lord, for my expectation is from Him.” Look not back, but forward! Not down, but up! Not in, but out! Never to your own heart, but keep looking to Jesus, made near and living by the grace of the Holy Spirit. So shall you change your strength, as you wait upon the Lord.

PRAYER
Thou knowest, Lord, how often I am sorely let and hindered in running the race which is set before me. May Thy bountiful grace and mercy come to my help, that I may finish my course with joy, and receive the crown of life. AMEN.

And from Feb. 10:

“Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.”– Jn 2:5, 6, 7.

DO NOT forget the necessity of obeying the inner voice of Christ, which may be recognised by these three signs–it never asks questions, but is decisive and imperative; it is not unreasonable nor impossible; it calls for an obedience which costs us some sacrifice of our own way and will. “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!”

Do as you are told. It was a severe test to obedient faith to fill up those big jars, which stood in the vestibule of the house. Each would contain about twenty gallons, and as they were probably nearly empty, it would be a long and tedious business to fill them, especially at a time when guests required other attention… “They filled them up to the brim!”

In your obedience, always give Christ brimful measure. It may be a very small thing He asks you to dot–to teach a class of children, to pay a visit to some sick man or woman, to write a letter, to speak a word of comfort, to hold out the helping hand, to give the glass of cold water, but see to it that your response is hearty and brimful! The jar is your opportunity! A very common and ordinary one! An act that may seem needless or inconvenient; but out of it may come the greatest achievement of your life! When the Lord calls you into co-partnership, be sure not to say: “‘Please do not ask me!” Nay, serve Him to the brim! He never asks you to do one small act for Him, without being prepared to add His Almighty grace to your weakness, thereby perfecting the act. It is an amazing thing that He should want our help. Let us give Him to the brim, and, as we do so, we shall see a wonderful and beautiful thing, which is “hidden from wise and prudent, but revealed to babes”. “The servants who drew the water knew.” Many of us realise that this miracle is constantly taking place. We fill our waterpots to the brim with water; but at the end of days of careful preparation we sadly review the result, and say to ourselves: “After all, it is very poor stuff, only water at the best!” But as we pour it out in service to others, we know that the Master has been collaborating with us, and has turned the water into wine! There are secrets between the Lord and those who obey Him! It is blessed when we are workers together with Christ. He knows, and you know. A smile passes between you and Him, and it is enough! The best wine is always kept in reserve!

PRAYER

Enable me to do not only what I like to do, but what I ought. Cause me to be faithful in a little, and in common tasks to learn Thy deep lessons of obedience, patience, and conscientiousness. AMEN.

Here Is Love

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In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. I John 4:9-10.

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Oh, how marvelous; oh, how glorious,
Is my Savior’s love for me!
Oh, how marvelous; oh, how glorious,
Is my Savior’s love for me!

— William Rees, 1803-1883.

An excerpt can be heard here.

The Week in Words

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http://breathoflifeministries.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-week-in-words.html Melissa at Breath of Life hosts a weekly carnival called The Week In Words,which involves sharing some words from your reading. Melissa explains,

“Playing along is simple, just write a post of the quote(s) that spoke to you during the week (attributed, of course) and link back here [at Melissa‘s]. They can be from any written source, i.e. magazine, newspaper, blog, book. The only requirement is that they be words you read.”

Here are a few things that stood out to me this week:

From Elisabeth Elliot’s book On Asking God Why as quoted in the daily e-mail devotional:

There are those who insist that it is a very bad thing to question God. To them, “Why?” is a rude question. That depends, I believe, on whether it is an honest search, in faith, for his meaning, or whether it is a challenge of unbelief and rebellion. The psalmist often questioned God and so did Job. God did not answer the questions, but he answered the man–with the mystery of himself.

He has not left us entirely in the dark. We know a great deal more about his purposes than poor old Job did, yet Job trusted him. He is not only the Almighty–Job’s favorite name for him. He is also our Father, and what a father does is not by any means always understood by the child. If he loves the child, however, the child trusts him. It is the child’s ultimate good that the father has in mind. Terribly elementary. Yet I have to be reminded of this when, for example, my friend suffers, when a book I think I can’t possibly do without is lost, when a manuscript is worthless.

From the same source, a quote she included which I’ve found all too true in myself:

Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote, “There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

From the chapter “A Wife’s Responsibility to Help Her Husband” by Barbara Hughes in Becoming God’s True Woman:

No one wants to play second fiddle. But the fact is, without a second violin there is no harmony.

From Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping (I quoted extensively from this book in a review here):

She taught that women were not just doing chores, they were creating — creating a home, a place of security, warmth, contentment, and affection (p. xii).

From a friend’s Facebook wall:

I have cast my anchor in the port of peace, knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands –Valley of Vision

From the Facebook wall of a friend battling cancer:

As we remember the lovingkindness of the Lord, we see how good it was to find our own strength fail us, since it drove us to the strong for strength. ~ Spurgeon

What interesting finds have you come across in your reading this week?

In His Love and In His Pity

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In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9.

In His love and in His pity He redeemed us.
In His love and in His pity He provided heaven.
Never has another loved us like the Savior loves.
How can any one suspend himself upon a cross, and die for me?
Die willingly, to set us free.

But He did love, He had pity on us,
He provided heaven at last.
Shall we not return the favor,
Live each day for our dear Savior,
And one day He will return for us.

How He suffered in the garden for your sin and mine.
See Him trudge up Calvary’s mountain, “Not my will, but Thine.”
Cursing mobs and angry soldiers spit upon that face.
Then the sky in winter darkness proved the depth to which our sin would go,
And Jesus died, He loved us so.

Yes, He did love, He had pity on us.
He provided heaven at last.
Shall we not return the favor,
Live each day for our dear Savior,
And one day He will return for us.

~ Kurt Kaiser

I wish I could find the whole song online somewhere, because the music really helps portray the message beautifully. There is a 90-second clip here. I had only ever heard it sung by Robert Hale of Hale and Wilder fame, but there is another clip with a different section of the song by George Beverly Shea here.