Not Smoke and Bones

Who Shall Deliver Me?

2012-02-12T14:25:00.000+11:00

God strengthen me to bear myself;
That heaviest weight of all to bear,
Inalienable weight of care.
All others are outside myself;
I lock my door and bar them out
The turmoil, tedium, gad-about.

I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?

If I could once lay down myself,
And start self-purged upon the race
That all must run ! Death runs apace.

If I could set aside myself,
And start with lightened heart upon
The road by all men overgone!

God harden me against myself,
This coward with pathetic voice
Who craves for ease and rest and joys

Myself, arch-traitor to mysel ;
My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe,
My clog whatever road I go.

Yet One there is can curb myself,
Can roll the strangling load from me
Break off the yoke and set me free.

By Christina Rossetti

Ephesians 2

2012-02-11T14:21:00.000+11:00

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (verses 8 and 9)

It is not our doing that we are saved. We like to think it is, even just a little. We like to think that somehow we are more loveable than the unsaved, or slightly nicer than the unsaved. This is so completely untrue. We are every bit as depraved as many others around us who are still estranged from Him. It is all His doing; we have no right to boast, not even to ourselves.

That is a great temptation – to think of ourselves as slightly better for having had the gospel revealed to us. Yet how far this is from the truth! We need to remember that we were dead – completely and utterly dead – in our trespasses when Christ saved us. We were as dead as any saved sinner is now. And if our behaviour has changed (as it should have) to reflect our alive-ness, then that is no merit to us, and no demerit to the dead. It is as it should be, and it is all Christ’s work.

LORD, make me grateful to You for my salvation. Help me to never boast, even to myself, as thought Your Work was mine. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

The Thread of Life

2012-02-10T14:20:00.000+11:00

I
The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me:--
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? what hand thy hand?--
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seemed not so far to seek
And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong and life itself not weak.
II
Thus am I mine own prison. Everything
Around me free and sunny and at ease:
Or if in shadow, in a shade of trees
Which the sun kisses, where the gay birds sing
And where all winds make various murmuring;
Where bees are found, with honey for the bees;
Where sounds are music, and where silences
Are music of an unlike fashioning.
Then gaze I at the merrymaking crew,
And smile a moment and a moment sigh
Thinking: Why can I not rejoice with you?
But soon I put the foolish fancy by:
I am not what I have nor what I do;
But what I was I am, I am even I.

III
Therefore myself is that one only thing
I hold to use or waste, to keep or give;
My sole possession every day I live,
And still mine own despite Time's winnowing.
Ever mine own, while moons and seasons bring
From crudeness ripeness mellow and sanitive;
Ever mine own, till Death shall ply his sieve;
And still mine own, when saints break grave and sing.
And this myself as king unto my King
I give, to Him Who gave Himself for me;
Who gives Himself to me, and bids me sing
A sweet new song of His redeemed set free;
he bids me sing: O death, where is thy sting?
And sing: O grave, where is thy victory?

By Christina Rossetti

Novus Homo

2012-02-09T14:10:00.001+11:00

I was recently reading about ancient Rome. Most people are aware that the majority of the ruling was done by the patrician (upper) class. However, this eliminated a lot of people (i.e. the majority of the population) from governing their own society. Some of these people, called plebeians, were obviously very talented, and more capable than some of the patricians were.

So in 368-367 BC, the constitution of Rome was altered to allow plebeians to be elected to public office. Any plebeian elected because a ‘Novus Homo” quite literally a New Man. Until they were declared a New Man, they were not fit to rule.

As Christians, we too have been declared New Men. We have been declared fit to govern – people who otherwise, by attribute of their birth were completely unable to rule. Yet because of Christ’s death, we are now elevated to a new station.

How wonderful our Lord is to us!

O Lord, when Thou didst call me

2012-02-08T14:09:00.000+11:00

O Lord, when Thou didst call me, didst Thou know
My heart disheartened through and through,
Still hankering after Egypt full in view
Where cucumbers and melons grow?
--'Yea, I knew,'--

But, Lord, when Thou didst choose me, didst Thou know
How marred I was and withered too,
Nor rose for sweetness nor for virtue rue,
Timid and rash, hasty and slow?
--'Yea, I knew.'--

My Lord, when Thou didst love me, didst Thou know
How weak my efforts were, how few,
Tepid to love and impotent to do,
Envious to reap while slack to sow?
--'Yea, I knew.'--

Good Lord, Who knowest what I cannot know
And dare not know, my false, my true,
My new, my old; Good Lord, arise and do
If loving Thou hast known me so.
--'Yea, I knew.'--
-Christina Rossetti

Memorial Box Monday

2012-02-07T13:48:00.000+11:00

Neither Kallie (my housemate) nor I drive. We get around to and from church events either via lifts or public transport. Sometimes this can be difficult, especially getting back from late night church events via public transport.

We have a regular church prayer meeting, and this particular Tuesday was wet and dark. Kallie had a cold, and I have really bad asthma, so getting there (which we always do via public transport) was not much fun. We entered the prayer meeting more than slightly wet, and had only slightly dried out by the end of it.

At first we thought that people were just late. But eventually we realised that in fact numbers were rather less than usual. Then we noticed that the numbers lacking included every one of our potential lifts. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

I prayed that we would be able to have a lift back at least to a station, and that someone would offer it to us rather than us asking (because I don’t like it and Kallie dislikes asking even more).

Immediately after prayer had finished, Paul came up to us and asked us if he could give us a lift back to a station. We got a lift to a station on our line (as opposed to the other lines that have stations nearby, meaning we didn’t have to go into the city and back out) and I got to thank them for bringing Samuel (their son) to prayer because I love to see children in prayer meetings with us.

And as a result, neither Kallie’s cold nor my asthma got worse!

Yippee Jesus!

International Voice of the Orphan

2012-02-06T10:51:00.001+11:00

Linny from A Place Called Simplicity is starting a ministry that will pray for, feed and support orphans in Africa! There are HEAPS of ways of getting involved - youc an donate craft items to sell, praying for a child, donating, or going as part of a mission team.

http://www.internationalvoiceoftheorphan.com/

Do check it out!

The Lowest Place

2012-02-05T17:02:00.000+11:00

Give me the lowest place: not that I dare
Ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast died
That I might live and share
Thy glory by Thy side.Give me the lowest place: or if for me
That lowest place too high, make one more low
Where I may sit and see
My God and love Thee so.

By Christina Rossetti

By His Stripes We Are Healed

2012-02-04T17:00:00.000+11:00

I attend a Pentecostal church. So everyone believes that miracles are still available for God’s people, most people speak in tongues (as in more than 95% of the congregation), and they all believe in diving healing.

Which makes me a little awkward. You see, I’m sick.

I’ve been sick all my life. Seriously, I sometimes joke that I had 7 near death experiences – and then I got born. Since being born, I’ve been hospitalised for asthma, had cancer, had chronic fatigue, every contagious childhood disease except mumps in spite of immunisation (whooping cough sucked), and a breast cancer scare. I’ve cut an artery. I apparently had 2 blood transfusions during my operation for cancer. When I had my wisdom teeth out, I had 3 allergic reactions, lost 10.5kg (going from 49kg to 38.5) in 3 days, and was hospitalised “dangerously dehydrated and malnourished”. (Joke: I’m never getting my wisdom teeth out again!)

Then I became a Christian.

Less than a year later I was hospitalised, initially with the doctors thinking that I had advanced meningitis, and that I was most likely going to die. Turns out it was “just” pneumonia. As can happen with pretty much anyone, and is more likely to happen with people who already have lung issues, I didn’t get properly better – my x-ray showed that I had lung damage, and that it was most likely to be permanent. So when I had asthma attacks all night I just chalked it up to pneumonia.

Eventually they got worse. They go so bad I was getting 3 hours of interrupted sleep a night – while working full time – for about 2 years. My iron levels plummeted, and I started having chest pains. After a barrage of medical tests I found out that dairy makes me stop breathing. I’ve probably always been mildly allergic to dairy, but having pneumonia really brought it out. Also turns out I’m coeliac, which is why my iron levels plummeted. I had to have an iron infusion after I collapsed and couldn’t walk for 3 hours. Try getting home by yourself when you can’t walk. Especially when there is a dead rat on the footpath. Not fun.

When I avoid all allergens, I am relatively healthy. But boy, does this cause issues.

Now, you see, I get the “Jesus died for our healing” every second week. He died so we could be fully healed of all of our diseases and live the victorious Christian life, without a day of sickness, etc, etc, etc.

Now, aside from the fact that I think that’s historically bogus, (St Paul appears to have had health issues, most likely with his eyes, and Timothy had stomach problems, and other great saints of the past have had a variety of health issues), quite frankly it annoys me.

Firstly, I AM HEALED. Jesus does not just heal people via miracles. Sometimes (often, these days) He uses doctors. It took several doctors to figure out what was wrong with me, and initially, I didn’t spend much time praying about it, because I just assumed that what I had would be easily figured out and fixed. As I said, it took about 2 years of doctors visits. But by the time of this specialist, I was spending a lot of time in prayer about this issue. Jesus healed me alright. He just used a doctor.

Secondly, my allergies do not bother me. They bother other people. I know them, I can cope with them just fine. But just because they bother you does not give you the right to tell me that I need to rely on the blood of Jesus to heal me of my diseases. And you definitely do not have to right to pray for me and then suggest that I go and drink a milkshake. Should you do so, I reserve the right to punch you repeatedly on the nose and then pray for your healing.

Thirdly, if you follow this argument theologically, you are going to run into trouble. What if I never get “healed” of my allergies? Does this mean I’m a bad Christian? Or a non-Christian? What about the people who prayed for me? Are they bad Christians, or non-Christians? What if they are leaders in our church?

And what happens when you get sick – really sick, not like a cold sick? What if you don’t get better in a few days, or weeks, or years, or ever? What if you are sick for the rest of your life? Will you still tell me that by His stripes we are healed, and that means that you aren’t really sick?

We are healed by Jesus. Sometimes that healing takes place physically in this life – sometimes even by miracle (and I have at least 2 miracle stories of my own, but I’m not sharing). But Jesus heals all who will come to Him of their greatest illness – the disease of sin, and that is the greatest miracle of all!

All Heaven is Blazing

2012-02-03T16:58:00.001+11:00

All heaven next hit is blazing yet
With the meridian sun:
Make haste, unshadowing sun, make haste to set;
O lifeless life, have done.
I choose what once I chose;
What once I willed, I will:
Only the heart its own bereavement knows;
O clamorous heart, lie still.
That which I chose, I choose;
That which I willed, I will;
That which I once refused, I still refuse:
O hope deferred, be still.
That which I chose and choose
And will is Jesus' Will:
He hath not lost his life who seems to lose:
O hope deferred, hope still.

By Christina Rossetti (yes - O'm reading a collection of her poetry at the moment!)

Galatians 6

2012-02-02T16:56:00.000+11:00

For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (verse 8)

Which am I sowing to – the flesh or the Spirit? It is easy to fool oneself and think one is sowing to the Spirit when we are only sowing to the flesh. We need to take a sober look at oneself in the light of God’s Word in order to know which we are sowing to.

Although I sow less to the flesh than in times past, I still sow abundantly to the flesh. I have several areas I need to work on: day-dreaming, lust, and use of my tongue. For me, each area relates to the others, so reducing the time I spend day-dreaming results in less impatient rebukes or gossiping.

My duty is to walk before the LORD now, this day. Not in some day in my imagination when all my dreams have come true, but today, this real day God has given me. Dreaming otherwise is but sowing to my flesh, and it is something I need to work on with the help of His Spirit.

A Better Resurrection

2012-02-01T11:08:00.000+11:00

I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numbed too much for hopes or fears.
Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
I lift mine eyes, but dimmed with grief
No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
O Jesus, quicken me.

My life is like a faded leaf,
My harvest dwindled to a husk:
Truly my life is void and brief
And tedious in the barren dusk;
My life is like a frozen thing,
No bud nor greenness can I see:
Yet rise it shall--the sap of spring;
O Jesus, rise in me.

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perished thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

By Christian Rossetti.

Reached the $400 mark

2012-01-31T10:50:00.002+11:00

For my fundraising as of Friday! Whoo-Hoo!

I still have a lot of paintings to sell - I've been spending a fair amount of my spare time painting (and not writing either blog posts or working on the book I want to write).

I won't post a picture of any of the paintings I have for sale, because I have a very high turnover rate - by the time the photos of my previous lot of paintings posted a few days later, all but one had sold. But ask me, and I can show you photos on my camera. All paintings are $20.

I'm also selling felties again, and sell for $5.

I am also going to be selling chocolates, holding a book sale, and a few other things. I am very much wanting to raise all of the costs for this trip as I am looking at moving to Uganda in either 2013 or 2014.

If you have any fundraising ideas, or want to help out, I would LOVE to hear from you!

I hope to travel in June.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock

2012-01-30T10:32:00.000+11:00

Who standeth at the gate? – A woman old,

A widow from the husband of her love;

‘O lady, stay, this wind is piercing cold,

Oh look at the keen frosty moon above;

I have no home, am hungry, feeble, poor.’ –

‘I’m really very sorry, but I can

Do nothing for you, there’s the clergyman,’ –

The lady said, and shivering closed the door.

Who standeth at the gate? – Way-worn and pale,

A grey-haired man asks charity again;

‘Kind lady, I have journeyed far, and fail

Through weariness; for I have begged in vain

Some shelter, and can find no lodging-place.’ –

She answered: ‘There’s the workhouse very near;

Go, for they’ll certainly receive you there’ –

Then shut the door against his face.

Who standeth at the gate? – A stunned child,

Her sunk eyes sharpened with precocious care.

‘O lady, save me from a home defiled,

From shamefule sights and sounds that taint the air;

Take pity on me, teach me something good.’ –

‘For shame, why don’t you work instead of cry?

I keep no young impostors here, not I.’ –

She slammed the door, indignant where she stood.

Who standeth at the gate, and will be heard? –

Arise, O woman, from they comforts now;

Go forth again to speak the careless word,

The cruel word unjust, with hardened brow.

But who is this, that standeth not to pray

As once, but terrible to judge thy sin?

This whom thou wouldst not succour, nor take in,

Nor teach, but leave to perish by the way.

‘Thou didst it not unto the least of these,

And in them hast thou done it unto Me.

Thou wast as a princess, rich and at ease –

Now sit in dust and howl for poverty.

Three times I stood beseeching at thy gate,

Three times I came to bless they soul and save;

But now I come to judge for what I gave,

And now at length thy sorrow is too late.’

By Christina Rossetti

Joshua 24:15

2012-01-29T10:47:00.000+11:00

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

I was working on memorising some verses, and this verse stood out to me. Now, this verse is usually not quoted in full, the last part of it seeming to suffice – “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” And indeed, us serving the LORD is the most important, and teaching those in our care to serve Him too runs close behind.

But this verse says more than that. It speaks of the unbeliever, and the “modern” unbeliever at that.

“Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.”

Choose what type of false gods you will serve, if you will not serve the true and living God. Choose between those of past and those of the new land. Choose between them. And though there is not much difference in actuality, you can choose your false deities.

Which brings me to the modern unbeliever. And just how much this verse applies to them.

Spirituality is on a high. Many young people today – and even older people – acknowledge the reality of there being more than just the material world. But because they do not want to serve Jesus, they turn away from Him, and choose to serve someone else. Either the false gods of their fathers, or the false gods of those who inhabit the land.

One of the major types of false spirituality is that of the past errors of the European world. Modern day witches (“white witches” or “green witches” mostly) abound. Druidism is a revived religion after having died out over 1500 years ago. Tales of the faerie are popular, believed in, and their guidance and protection is sought with rituals and offerings. And who can go past the popular interest in those cleaned up images of vampires and werewolves as epitomised in Twilight and a whole host of books, TV shows and movies designed to make the most of this craze.

But there is another choice. That of the new land. And a lot of people choose those gods. Westerners, those whose culture knew the true and living God, have turned to chase after not only their own failed “spirituality”, but the “spirituality” of the far East (of Buddhism and Hinduism), of the warm and fuzzy connections between the land and animals and people of native religions (such as following the Dreamtime stories of the Australian Aborigines or the shamanism of the Native Americans).

I know people who have gone both ways. I have friends and a family member who have become “white witches”. I have friends who have become Buddhists. I have other friends who have become devotees of a particular sect of Hinduism.

There will always be those to whom serving the LORD seems undesirable, even evil. Many of those people will still want a source of “spirituality” in their life. But that is not our primary concern. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. We will serve Him even though those around us walk away from Him. We will serve Him even when those around us think we are crazy, and throwing our lives away. We will serve Him, and we will bring up those after us to serve Him.

As for me and my house, we WILL serve the LORD.

My Gift, From A Christmas Carol

2012-01-28T10:21:00.001+11:00

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, –
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

By Christina Rossetti

Crossing the Threshold

2012-01-27T16:25:00.000+11:00

As a teen, I was fascinated with a lot of folk stories, especially Celtic ones. And while that definitely lead to some things that God has had to work on in my life, occasionally God will remind me of different aspects of them to illustrate a point that He is wanting to teach me.

One that He reminded me of recently was the concept of the threshold.

You see, in Celtic mythology, nothing could enter your house unless you let it. Your house was your domain. As such, everything needed to be INVITED in. If it wasn’t invited in, it could not enter. This gave people a measure of protection against spirits. But once you invited them in, they could enter, and enter whenever they wanted, and do whatever they wanted when in there.

God pointed out to me how sin is literally like this. Many sins are comparatively powerless until you invite them into yourself. But when you do, then they have power over you, a power that can only be broken by Jesus.

Sin, like the spirits of folk tales, have a variety of ways of tricking their way into you, of fooling those that are not fully aware. They make you think that they are not what they really are, so that you want them inside. But it is nothing but a lie.

The solution is to be completely filled with the Holy Spirit, so that we will not be fooled, and that we will not desire to invite sin inside. For when God is protecting the threshold of our souls, we will be safe from all principalities and powers that would harm us.

Want To Be A Trader?

2012-01-26T16:13:00.001+11:00

Sam's Uganda Diary

2012-01-25T16:32:00.001+11:00

For those that are interested, I made a diary of my trip in Uganda. It's pretty detailed, and I took a lot of photos. I am slowly uploading it over at my church's mission blog!

Hope Waverley Missions

Fundraising Efforts

2012-01-24T16:31:00.000+11:00

As most of you know, I'm planning on going back to Uganda at least once this year. I will be working with orphans and street children, which is something I am quite passionate about.

In order to raise funds for this trip, I've been busily making some beautiful paintings. Here are some that are available for sale.

I'll likely be posting more in the near future.
All paintings are $20, and go towards my plane fare and other expences. To put it in perspective, flights were a little less than $2000 last time, and staying cost another $650. Immunisations cost over $1000, but I don't need them again. I'm expecting my next trip to cost between $4000-$5000, as I will be going for longer and there will be other expenses.

As of writing this post (18.01.12) I have raised $280 in about 2 weeks! Praise God!

2 Corinthians 5

2012-01-23T17:18:00.000+11:00

For the love of Christ controls us / For Christ’s love compels us (from verse 14, EDV/NIV)

This is my verse chunk for the year of 2011, the verse I want to be living by. To live according to His love, and to have it controlling me every though, compelling my every action.

It amazes me the progress God has made in my life this year (for it definitely wasn’t me who made it!) I grew a lot in patience and holding my tongue last year, the kind of grit your teeth patience. This year, I have grown more in loving-kindness, the kind of patience that emphasizes with the one causing the need for patience that emphasizes with the one causing the need for patience. I have grown in my knowledge of the Scriptures, and I have grown closer to Him.

Truly, it is not my love that I expend on those who demand love whilst being ‘difficult’. It is His love, being poured out by the power of the Holy Spirit, though me and my life. And what a privilege to be so used by God.

I need more of His love in my life. I need it to completely control me, that I might truly be a bright light for Him. I need to be compelled by His love to go further, do more for those who so desperately need love and a touch from Christ.

The Mountains of Religion

2012-01-22T18:26:00.000+11:00

I love the analogy that so many people use about the different world religions – God is a mountain top, and each different religion is a pathway to God. Some people are just taking a different path from you. And as soon as this statement is mentioned, everyone nods sagely, as though it is a brilliant statement, destined to end all of the world’s ills, including world hunger. I love it, because it’s so untrue I find it funny.

But a few days ago I was thinking – what if religions were actually mountains? What would they be like?

Well, Buddhism is the mountain that states that there really is no mountain, it’s all an illusion.

Hinduism would state that after this mountain, there is another mountain, then another, then another, until eventually, you get to that amazing valley of nothingness.

Mormonism would be that if you climb THIS mountain well enough, you get to go to another planet were you become your OWN mountain.

Islam would believe that there is nothing outside the mountain, that girls aren’t allowed anywhere but at the bottom of it (and they are nothing but distractions to the real climbers, the men), and that you have no guarantee that at the top of the mountain, God is actually there or will speak to you.

Judaism would believe that there is only one way up the mountain, but that if you don’t take all the exact right equipment, even if you make it, you might as well have not made it. Even if that equipment means that you actually would have more difficulty than without it.

But Christianity would believe that while there is only one path up the mountain, the Guide came down and helps us climb it, giving us all we need and helping us – even carrying us – along the way.

Obviously there is a lot more to all of the different religions here than what I’ve stated. But the thing is, different religions are not the same; they are not all pointed to God. They all have mutually exclusive claims.

So what mountain path are you on?

Amy Carmichael

2012-01-21T18:09:00.000+11:00

"a confession of love"

My vow.
Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, by Thy grace I will do it.

My constraint.
Thy love, O Christ, my Lord.

My Confidence.
Thou art able to keep that which I have committed unto Thee.

My Joy.
To do Thy will, O God.

My Discipline.
That which I would not choose, but which Thy love appoints.

My Prayer.
Conform my will to Thine.

My Motto.
Love to live, live to love.

My Portion.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do Thy will, O Lord our God.

James 5:1-6

2012-01-20T17:20:00.001+11:00

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

This passage is a terrible one for me. I am so rich compared to so many in the world. I have so much. I have used the money I have for selfish things – not things that are “bad” in and of themselves, but things that are not always as caring for others as they should be. Little things, like ordering pizza rather than cooking myself, and using the money saved to make a difference. Things like buying new books when others don’t have food.

I am not alone. So many in the Western church use their money for their own selfish ends. Not bad, just selfish.

We have hoarded in the last days.

Our money is not our own. Nothing we “have” is. It all belongs to Christ. Yet we lay it up for ourselves, spending it on petty pleasures or just in keeping it in the bank “for a rainy day”. All the while, the food, the clothing, the products, we buy is made by people who are desperate for a small portion of the riches we have.

Jesus became poor that we might become rich. We need to aim to do the same, to use our money in ways that will make a difference in the lives of those around us, both in this life and in eternity.

Oswald Chambers

2012-01-19T17:19:00.000+11:00

When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, January 7th.

At the SAICFF

2012-01-18T15:03:00.002+11:00

Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans - Trailer from Rescued The Movie on Vimeo.

You can go to the film's website here.
More information on the different films can be found at Doug's Blog.

A Preacher’s Responsibility

2012-01-17T14:22:00.001+11:00

A preacher has a number of responsibilities and hopes for the congregation. Here are a few of them:

1. Represent the words of God to them accurately, so that they can compare everything in their lives with the truth of Scripture

2. Give them a vision of the majesty of God

3. Help them find their greatest delight and happiness in God

4. Instruct them in the flow of history and their place in history

5. Show them the world as it really is

6. Equip them for the work of the ministry

7. Explain and dissect their problems in the light of Scripture so they can see who they really are

8. Bring the whole congregation to live no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit

9. Question the ungodly traditions of the congregation

10. Oppose the sins that have taken root

11. Confront their prejudices

12. Contradict their philosophy

13. Expose the nature of paganism and how it is affecting them

14. Stop them from drinking from the poison well

15. Terrify them with the law and the consequences of breaking it

16. Kill their self love

17. Destroy their comforts in their good works and moralistically high view of themselves

18. Expose their self-congratulatory spirit

19. Incite them to repent

20. Show them their inner pharisee

21. Confront their lack of love

22. Counsel them to grow in love through mercy and forgiveness

23. Stand in the way of their current desires

24. Lower their opinions of themselves

25. Raise their opinions of Christ

26. Cast them hopeless on the gospel of Christ

27. Convert the lost

28. Console them with the gospel

29. Comfort the broken hearted

30. Give hope to those who have lost it

31. Bind up the weak, through Him who is strong

Only God by the power of His Holy Spirit can fall on a congregation for these things.

From this post at Scott Brown's blog.

2 Corinthians 2

2012-01-16T19:48:00.000+11:00

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere (verse 14)

Two aspects of this verse stood out to me. Firstly, that God leads us as in a Roman military triumph, showing His glory and might to all who would look upon us. We are a returning victorious army under a victorious general.

The second thing that struck me is how He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him through us, though such unrighteous sinners as us.

Am I ready and willing to be such a vehicle for my Lord? Am I a soldier, demonstrating my general’s victory? Do I show in my own self (for I am also the battlefield) that Christ has gained the victory? Am I demonstrating to those around me that the Holy Spirit is progressively taking control of my life, giving me through Christ an ever-growing victory over the sins of my life?

Am I also spreading the fragrance of the gospel everywhere I go, or am I hiding my bright light underneath a bush? Points to ponder and pray over.

Voddie Baucham

2012-01-15T19:47:00.000+11:00

Unfortunately, however, the similarities [between the early church and modern Christian culture] tend to cease when it comes to the apostles’ response. They challenged their culture; we tend to conform to ours. They embraced the sovereignty of God in the midst of their persecution; we question the sovereignty of God in ours. They considered it a privilege to suffer for the cause of Christ; we have been conditioned to view it as a punishment. Our response to the post-Christian culture in which we live leaves quite a bit to be desired.

From Ever-Loving Truth: Can Faith Survive in a Post-Christian Culture

2 Corinthians 1

2012-01-14T19:41:00.001+11:00

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (verse 3)

This passage, and this verse in particular just moved me so much to worship God. He is so GOOD to me in so many ways, pouring out blessing after blessing after blessing. He is my Comfort, my Rock, my Salvation.

Yet how little I truly worship Him! Worship should not be confined to a few house on a Sunday, or even adding in a weekly small group, occasional prayer meeting and personal Quiet Time. Worship needs to be arising continually from my heart.

I feel I have grown much as a worshipper while I have been in Uganda. I have had some wonderful times of intimacy with God, both individually and in the presence of others. But I cannot, I must not, let this greater degree, greater heart for worship stay in Uganda. It needs to be a continuous part of my life, ever growing.

And if my God, who is Faithful and True, He will continue building such a heart in me. He will continue the good work He has done throughout my time in Uganda. And how I praise Him for that!

Fishers Of Men

2012-01-13T19:40:00.000+11:00

1 Corinthians 14

2012-01-12T11:56:00.001+11:00

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church (verse 12)

Are the Spiritual Gifts we seek for the sake of building up the church, or for glorifying ourselves? Why do we seek after Gifts, such as being able to heal, prophesy, and speak in tongues? Who do we want to please – God or ourselves?

I tend to shy away from the Spiritual Gifts for this reason. I don’t want to end up glorifying myself, and I know how prone I am to such self-glorification. I tend to put in more time and effort seeking after the fruit of the Spirit, which has less potential to be misused by my fleshly self.

But this is not what we are commanded to do. We are commanded to seek after Spiritual Gifts, but to see them for the purpose of building up the church and not glorifying ourselves. So that needs to be something that I begin seeking with greater passion, that I may be able to go and help build up the church wherever I am, whatever church, whatever country. I need to be at work to build up the Bride of Christ.

Thabiti Anyabwile

2012-01-11T11:54:00.000+11:00

Christian, throw safety and security and ease and comfort and convenience to the dogs! Give yourself to something greater – the glory of God and the joy of God. Jesus is our reward. Lose your life for Jesus and the gospel so that you will find your life. Give that cup of water – in other words, do even small acts of mercy in the name of Jesus and the gospel – and you will have a reward you cannot lose. Count it all loss so that you might gain Christ. Stop fearing man – and go get your reward, which is loving fellowship with God in heaven. God is your portion, your inheritance. And to everyone who goes out with the gospel of the kingdom, God gives himself as the fulfilment of all their hopes and joys. Go get him.

From his chapter in Thinking. Loving. Doing. (Edited by John Piper & David Mathis)

1 Corinthians 13

2012-01-10T11:53:00.000+11:00

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (verse 2).

Love is what Christ most wants us to possess – it is the vital component in both part of the greatest commandment, love for God and love for our neighbour. Love is more important than speaking in tongues, than in knowing everything, than in giving away all we have, even by being martyred. Love is the greatest thing.

Yet how little love we possess! How rarely we are patient, kind, or free of envy and irritability. I know that I am not full with the sort of love that God wishes for me, even if those around me see someone patient and kind. I am still irritable, boasting, and insisting on my own way. Yet God would say that without love, I am nothing and I gain nothing.

Love, Biblical agape love, is not something we can earn. It is a gift, a precious gift from God. We need to value it, to desire it, to pray for a greater and greater measure of it. I cannot manufacture love – my heart is too wicked. But God can give it to me, and as I seek Him, He progressively gives me more and more love, even for those whom it is difficult – even humanly impossible – to love. And I thank and praise Him for that.

Charles Spurgeon

2012-01-09T11:52:00.000+11:00

Any Christian has a right to disseminate the gospel who has the ability to do so; and more, he not only has the right, but it is his duty so to do as long as he lives. (Revelation 22:17.) The propagation of the gospel is left, not to a few, but to all the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ: according to the measure of grace entrusted to him by the Holy Spirit, each man is bound to minister in his day and generation, both to the church and among unbelievers.

Lectures to My Students, Lecture 2.

1 Corinthians 12

2012-01-08T11:51:00.000+11:00

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (verse 27)

All of us together are the body of Christ. Yet how little we act like it – how little most members do to actually advance His kingdom. It is as though a hand wants to go forward, but the rest of the body can’t be bothered, so it just stays home… preventing even the willing hand from moving.

I cannot make the rest of the body move. But as a member, I can do the small parts I can, encouraging still other to move forwards.

I also need to spend more time in prayer for the church. God will convict others – even those I have no influence over, even those I will never meet this side of heaven – if I spend time labouring in prayer for them.

But am I perhaps holding others back from completing their work for Christ. Do I subtly discourage me friends from chasing after Him with all their hearts? How can I change to be more encouraging of the works that Christ wants to do in their lives? It is something to ponder.

I Can't Believe I'm Quoting this Guy

2012-01-07T20:48:00.000+11:00

I believe you can judge the health of a church not by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity. You don't judge the health of an army by how many soldiers sit in the mess hall and eat every week and listen to your Bible study. You judge the health of an army by how many are on the frontlines doing battle in the world.

Rick Warren, from his chapter in Thinking. Loving. Doing. (edited by John Piper)

1 Corinthians 10

2012-01-06T20:39:00.000+11:00

(We must not) grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the Destroyer (verse 10).

Grumbling is one of a variety of sins mentioned in this chapter, including idolatry, sexual immorality, and putting Christ to the test. To us, these all seem so much worse than grumbling. I mean seriously! Grumbling or idolatry – no brainer.

But the thing is, all these things are different manifestations of the same basic sin – rebellion against our creator. Grumbling is just as much rebellion as the other sins, for it expresses a desire that God would do differently by you than what He has done.

I grumble and complain a LOT, even though I am actually well done by. I have plenty of food, clean water, clothing, shelter, electricity, and a job so that I might continue to have all these things. I have God’s Word, I have the Holy Spirit, and I have eternal life. I have been incredibly blessed by God! Yet I grumble far too much even for someone lacking these things.

Grumbling is something that I need to work on. The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart need to be much more on positive things, rather than on negative lines. I have so much to be thankful for, that grumbling cannot be justified even in human terms, let alone in heavenly terms.

LORD, cleanse me from any grumbling spirit, that I might glorify Your name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Goals for 2012

2012-01-05T14:56:00.001+11:00

My 2011 goals were a bit nebulous, and so this years goals are very concrete goals, directly measurable things that I want to work towards

1. Learn Luganda
2. Go on two more mission trips to Uganda
3. Start the prayer missions group
4. Memorise to 35 psalms
5. Get down to 100 books (or less) on booklist
6. Make 2 CDs (Hymns & Christmas)
7. Write 3 books (1 Christian Living book, 2 Picture Story Books)

Please pray for me to achieve all these goals and more in 2012!

Top Books for 2011

2012-01-04T14:34:00.001+11:00

I couldn't limit to ten, so here are my favourite reads, by type - and not ranked within type:

Histories, Bios, etc
- The Letterbook of Eliza Lucus Pickney (Victoria Botkin - Audio book)
- Orphaned: One Woman's Mission to Save Africa's AIDS Children (Melissa Fay Greene)
- God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades (Rodney Stark)
- Honey, We're Going to Africa! (Harvey T Hoekstra)
- The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS in Africa (Helen Epstein)
- Mama Jude (Judy Steel and Michael Sexton)
- Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis and Beth Clark)
- Navigating the Worldviews of Egypt (Isaac Botkin and David Noor)

Fiction
- Mary Barton (Elizabeth Gaskell) (Audio book)
- Duncan's War (Douglas Bond)
- King's Arrow (Douglas Bond)
- Rebel's Keep (Douglas Bond)
- Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories (John Flanagan)
- Brotherband: The Outcasts (John Flanagan)
- Shirley (Charlotte Bronte)
- The Betrayal (Douglas Bond)

Christian Living
- Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers (Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove)
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald)
- Set Apart Femininity (Leslie Ludy)
- The Hole in our Gospel (Richard Stearns - Audio book)
- God's Missionary (Amy Carmichael)
- The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World (John Piper and Justin Taylor)
- Politics According to the Bible (Wayne Grudem)
- It's (Not That) Complicated (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- Jesus: the Only Way to God (John Piper)
- Desiring God (John Piper)
- The Living Church (John Stott)

Apologetics
- Reasoning From the Scriptures With Muslims (Ron Rhodes)
- I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek)
- How to Bring Men to Christ (RA Torrey)

Other
- Still Water (Art Garfunkel)
- Prayers of the Martyrs (Duane W.H. Arnold)

Books read in 2011

2012-01-03T14:32:00.000+11:00

January
- A Hard Day's Write
- God's Medicine Bottle (Derek Prince)
- Holiness (J.C. Ryle)
- The Fundamentals: Volume 3: Theology (Various)
- The Fundamentals: Volume 4: Modern Thought, "Isms", and Testimony to the Truth (Various)
- The Letterbook of Eliza Lucus Pickney (Victoria Botkin - Audio book)
- The Hour That Changes the World: A Practical Plan for Personal Prayer (Dick Eastman)
- An English Family in the American Wilderness (Victoria Botkin - Audio book)
- Galileo's Daughter (Dava Sobel)
- Abigail Adams: Her Letters (Victoria Botkin - Audio book)
- Orphaned: One Woman's Mission to Save Africa's AIDS Children (Melissa Fay Greene)
- Ordering Your Private World (Gordon MacDonald)
- A Bride Goes West (Victoria Botkin - Audio book)
- The Talent Code (Daniel Coyle)

February
- The Art of Creative Living: Making Every Day a Radiant Masterpiece (Thomas Kinkade)
- Still Water (Art Garfunkel)
- The Inner Game of Music (Barry Green with W Timothy Gallwey)
- A Son of the Middle Border (Hamlin Garland)
- Reasoning From the Scriptures With Muslims (Ron Rhodes)
- Playing the Keyboard in Worship (Stuart Townsend)
- Thunderhead (Mary O'Hara)
- Missionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours? (Roland Allen)
- God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades (Rodney Stark)
- The Christian Atheist (Craig Groeshel)
- Did You Think To Pray? (RT Kendall)
- Battlefield of the Mind (Joyce Meyer)

March
- Winning His Spurs (GA Henty)
- Under Wellington's Command (GA Henty)
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald)
- Passion and Purity (Elisabeth Elliot)
- Raising Maidens of Virtue (Stacy McDonald)
- Daddy-Long-Legs (Jean Webster)
- Adopting Overseas: A Guide to Adopting From Australia, Plus Personal Stories That Will Inspire You (Lucy Burns & Ailsa Burns)
- Crazy Love (Francis Chan)
- William Carey: Obliged to Go (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Loving Our Kids On Purpose (Danny Silk)
- Shakespeare: The Man and His Achievement (Robert Speaight)
- Future Impact: Connecting Child, Church and Mission (Dan Brewster)
- Mary Barton (Elizabeth Gaskell) (Audio book)
- Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (John Piper)
- Elisabeth Elliot: Joyful Surrender (Janet and Geoff Benge)

April
- Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World (C. Peter Wagner)
- Mathematics: Is God Silent? (James Nickel)
- God Is Enough (Ray Galea)
- Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints (John Piper and Justin Taylor)
- Love Has A Face (Michele Perry)
- Duncan's War (Douglas Bond)
- Count Zinzendorf: Firstfruit (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Too Small to Ignore (Dr Wess Stafford)
- Audrey Featherstone I Presume? The Amazing Story of a Congo Missionary (Tim Shenton)
- Light Force (Brother Andrew)
- More Than A Carpenter (Josh McDowell)
- True Spirituality (Francis Schaeffer)
- The Two Princesses of Barmarre (Gail Levine)
- Spurgeon Gold (Ray Comfort)
- Too Busy Not to Pray (Bill Hybels)

May
- Revival's Golden Key (Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron)
- Sacred Singleness (Leslie Ludy)
- Visions Beyond the Veil (H.A Baker)
- Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers (Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove)
- Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God (J.I. Packer)
- Family Driven Faith (Voddie Baucham)
- Church Planting is For: Wimps (Mike McKinley)
- Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Betty Greene: Wings to Serve (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Get More Done In Less Time (Donna Otto)
- With Wolfe in Canada (G.A. Henty)
- Keep A Quiet Heart (Elisabeth Elliot)
- Ballet for Laura (Linda Blake)
- If I Perish (Esther Ahn Kim)
- The Heavenly Footman (John Bunyan)
- The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence)
- The Love of Christ (Mother Teresa)
- Granny's Wonderful Chair (Frances Browne)
- The Irresistible Revolution (Shane Claiborne)

June
- So You Want to Change the World (A World Changers book)
- The Consequences of Ideas (R.C. Sproul)
- Set Apart Femininity (Leslie Ludy)
- Rowland Bingham: Into Africa's Interior (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- The Ordinary Hero (Tim Chester)
- Father's Arcane Daughter (E.L. Konigsburg)
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Kate Douglas Wiggin)
- Honey, We're Going to Africa! (Harvey T Hoekstra)
- Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) (Joshua Harris)
- Praying the Scriptures (Judson Cornwall)
- The History of Christianity and Western Civilization (Joshua Phillips)
- Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Kingdom of Love (Hannah Hurnard)
- King's Arrow (Douglas Bond)
- Praying the Saviour's Way (Derek Thomas)
- Rebel's Keep (Douglas Bond)
- The Hole in our Gospel (Richard Stearns - Audio book)

July
- With Kitchener in the Soudan (G.A. Henty)
- Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen of England (Faith Cook)
- Lillian Trasher: The Greatest Wonder in Egypt (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Jack and Jill (Louisa May Alcott)
- The Joshua Generation: Restoring the Heritage of Christian Leadership (Michael Farris)
- God's Missionary (Amy Carmichael)
- The Cloud of Unknowing (Anonymous)
- God is the Gospel (John Piper)
- A Vision for Missions (Tom Wells)
- Buried Alive (Jack Cuozzo)
- William Booth: Soup, Soap and Salvation (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Appointment in Jerusalem (Derek and Lydia Prince)
- Gogo Mama: A Journey into the Lives of Twelve African Women (Sally Sara)
- Resistance Fighter: God's Heart for the Broken (Susie Howe)
- Treasuring God in our Traditions (Noel Piper)
- The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World (John Piper and Justin Taylor)
- Stephen's Music (Sofie Laguna & Anna Pignataro)
- Rome & Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations (Martin Goodman)
- One Red Paperclip (Kyle MacDonald)
- The Hidden Smile of God:The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (John Piper)
- Mixed Blessings (Deborah Lee)
- Visions of Heaven and Hell (John Bunyan)
- History's Most Spectacular Sin (John Piper)
- With Calvin in the Theater of God (edited by John Piper & David Mathis)
- Prayer (John Bunyan)

August:
- The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (John Piper)
- Spiritual Warfare and Missions (Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer)
- Chasing the Dragon (Jackie Pullinger)
- Rediscovering Holiness (J.I. Packer)
- Anatomy of a Doll (Susanna Oroyan)
- Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (Maryanne Wolf)
- The Seven Basic Plots (Christopher Booker)
- The Acceptable Sacrifice (John Bunyan)
- The Family (J.R. Miller)
- Street Girls (Matt Roper)
- Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (Frank Viola, George Barna)
- When Heaven Invades Earth (Bill Johnson)
- The Supernatural Power of a Tranformed Mind (Bill Johnson)
- The Saint's Everlasting Rest (Richard Baxter)
- Raising Your Children For Christ (Andrew Murray)
- CT Studd: No Retreat (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem)
- Reformation & Revival: The Story of the English Puritans (John Brown)
- David Bussau: Facing the World Head-On (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- The Wise Woman (George MacDonald)
- The Bait of Satan (John Bevere)
- The Sovereignty of God (AW Pink)
- Large Family Logistics (Kim Brenneman)
- Rachel Saint: A Star in the Jungle (Janet and Geoff Benge)
- Sex and the Supremacy of Christ (edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor)

September:
- Fabulous Food From Every Small Garden (Mary Horsfall)
- The First Emperor: Caesar Augustus and the Triumph of Rome (Anthony Everitt)
- Prayers of the Martyrs (Duane W.H. Arnold)
- Contending for Our All (John Piper)
- Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ (John Piper)
- Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does (Ash Barker)
- Expecting Miracles (Heidi & Roland Baker)
- God's Transmitters (Hannah Hurnard)
- What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures (Malcolm Gladwell)
- How to Eat (Nigella Lawson)
- Shakespeare's Kings (John Julius Norwich)
- The Best Gluten-Free, Wheat-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes (Grace Cheetham)
- Something Beautiful for God (Malcolm Muggeridge)
- Every Thought Captive (Richard L Pratt Jr)
- History's Great Untold Stories (Joseph Cummins)
- The Bravehearted Gospel (Eric Ludy)
- Jumping Ship (Michael and Debi Pearl)
- Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity (edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor)
- The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS in Africa (Helen Epstein)

October
- Parables of the Cross (Lilias Trotter)
- To Train Up A Child (Michael and Debi Pearl)
- Queen Eleanor: Independent Spirit of the Medieval World (Polly Schoyer Brooks)
- Politics According to the Bible (Wayne Grudem)
- Conquer Your Fear, Share Your Faith (Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort)
- Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm Cladwell)
- How to Know God Exists (Ray Comfort)
- A God-Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards (edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor)
- Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)
- God's Call to the Single Adult (Michael Cavanaugh)
- Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood (Wayne Grudem)
- Created to be his Help Meet (Debi Pearl)
- Mama Jude (Judy Steel and Michael Sexton)
- I Kissed Dating Goodbye (Joshua Harris)
- For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper (edited by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor)
- The Lost Art of True Beauty (Leslie Ludy)
- Essential Songwriting (CJ Watson)
- Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis and Beth Clark)
- The Gospel for Real Life (Jerry Bridges)
- And Man Created God (Robert Banks)

November:
- Fistful of Heroes: Christians at the Forefront of Change (John Pollock)
- Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories (John Flanagan)
- Brotherband: The Outcasts (John Flanagan)
- John G Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides (John Paton)
- A Picture History of Uganda
- Jesus Culture (Banning Liebscher)
- Shirley (Charlotte Bronte)
- Uganda: Gifted by Nature
- Uganda: The Pearl
- The Power of a Praying Church (Stormie Omartian and Jack Hayford)
- I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek)
- A Tale of Three Kings: A Study of Brokenness (Gene Edwards)
- Just Like Jesus (Max Lucado)
- Jesus: the Only Way to God (John Piper)
- Desiring God (John Piper)
- A Lineage of Grace (Francine Rivers)
- Being God's Friend (Charles Spurgeon)
- Lady in Waiting (Jackie Kendal and Debby Jones)
- Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk)
- Stories of the Reformation in Germany and England (Rev B.G. Jones)
- A Child's Life of Martin Luther (Anonymous)

December
- Refuting Compromise (Jonathan Sarfati)
- Why We Love the Church (Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck)
- The Living Church (John Stott)
- Navigating the Worldviews of Egypt (Isaac Botkin and David Noor)
- Have a New Kid by Friday (Kevin Leman)
- How to Bring Men to Christ (RA Torrey)
- Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (John MacArthur)
- Does God Believe in Atheists (John Blanchard)
- Erasing Hell (Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle)
- It's (Not That) Complicated (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- The Betrayal (Douglas Bond)
- Thinking. Loving. Doing. (edited John Piper and David Mathis)

Top 10 Sermons for 2011

2012-01-02T14:18:00.001+11:00

1. Gossip: The Plague of the Church (Scott Brown)
2. Adventurous Femininity: When Being "Girly" Is Not Enough (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
3. A Battleground Not A Playground (Geoff Botkin & sons)
4. The Reformation of Foreign Missions (Doug Phillips)
5. Set Apart Femininity (Leslie Ludy)
6. Your Kingdom Mission (John Cairns)
7. Why we Must Be Ladies Against Feminism (Jennie Chancey)
8. The Centrality of the Home in Evangelism and Discipleship (Voddie Baucham)
9. Semper Reformanda (Geoff Botkin and family)
10. How to Involve the Whole Family in Hospitality (Doug and Beall Phillips)

Special Mention, because itisn't quite a sermon, but I loved it and listed it with my sermons:

The History of Christianity and Western Civilization Study Course (Doug Phillips, Joseph Morecraft, Bill Potter, Colin Gunn)

Sermons Listened to in 2011

2012-01-01T14:12:00.000+11:00

January
- The Reformation of Foreign Missions (Doug Phillips)
- Manly Friendships (Doug Phillips)
- Honorable Language, Peaceful Siblings, Gracious Wives (Doug Phillips)
- Children and the Dominion Mandate (William Einwechter)
- Hollywood's Most Despised Villain (Geoff Botkin)
- Symposium on Disney, Film and American Culture: A Theological Critique (Doug Phillips)

March
- Your Kingdom Mission (John Cairns)

April
- A Battleground Not A Playground (Geoff Botkin & sons)
- How to Develope Character in Your Children (S.M. Davies)
- Home is Where the Heart Is (Susan Bradrick)
- Victories! Moments, Large and Small, Which Define Christian Parenthood (Doug Phillips)
- The Centrality of the Home in Evangelism and Discipleship (Voddie Baucham)
- Holiness, Legalism, and the Sufficiency of Scripture (Jeff Pollard)
- The Big Picture (Doug Phillips)
- Simple, Separate, Deliberate (R.C. Sproul Jr)
- What to Expect When Establishing a Local Church (Doug Phillips)
- Listen: What the Bible Says About Being a Good Listener and Its Practical Applications for All of Life (Doug Phillips)
- The First National Conference for Uniting Church & Family CD Set (Produced by Vision Forum)
- How to Pass On Convictions to Your Children (S.M. Davies)
- Teaching our Children to Teach Themselves (Geoff Botkin and family)
- Why the Second Generation Drops the Ball (Geoff Botkin and family)

May
- Family Dynamics with Adult Children (Geoff Botkin and family)
- Raising the Bar for Higher Education (Geoff Botkin and family)
- Semper Reformanda (Geoff Botkin and family)
- What is the Church? (Geoff Botkin)
- The Father and Biblical Leadership (Geoff Botkin)
- Making Allies of Your Siblings (Geoff Botkin and family)
- What Is the Family (Geoff Botkin)
- Practical Courtship (Geoff Botkin)
- What It Means to Honour Our Parents (Geoff Botkin and family)
- Do Not Be Conformed to This World (John Piper)
- Assessing Ourselves With Our God-Given Measure of Faith (John Piper)

June
- The History of Christianity and Western Civilization Study Course (Doug Phillips, Joseph Morecraft, Bill Potter, Colin Gunn)

July
- What is Biblical Feminity (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- Is the Bible the Bible? (Michael Butler)
- Adventurous Femininity: When Being "Girly" Is Not Enough (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- History Gives Our Children Hope: Why the Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail (Doug Phillips)
- Defending the True Canon of Scripture (Michael Butler)
- Discussion on Biblical Translation (Doug Phillips, Michael Butler and Jeff Pollard)

August
- Seven Secrets of Successful Multigenerational Visionaries (Doug Phillips)
- God's Sovereign Grace I (Jeff Pollard)
- God's Sovereign Grace II (Jeff Pollard)
- God's Sovereign Grace III (Jeff Pollard)
- The Framework Hypothesis: Without Form and Void (Doug Phillips, Ken Gentry)
- Evolution in Pop Culture (Carl Kerby)
- Counterfeit Reality (Bill Jack)
- Answers to Difficult Issues (Carl Kerby)
- Simple Tools for Brain Surgery (Bill Jack)
- Special Forces for the Savior (Charles Ware)
- The Ultimate Proof of Creation (Jason Lisle)
- Biblical Creation: Strengthening Your Defenses (Terry Mortenson)
- Scripture Under Scrutiny (Brian Edwards)
- Why 66 (Brian Edwards)
- The Authentic Christ (Brian Edwards)
- Modern Medicine and Ancient Authority (Tommy Mitchell)
- The Code of Life (Georgia Purdom)
- Nuclear Strength Apologetics (Jason Lisle)
- The Legacy of Eve (Georgia Purdom)

Septmeber:
- Does It Matter What I Believe? (Mike Riddle)
- Astronomy and the Bible (Mike Riddle)
- The Origin of Humans (Mike Riddle)
- Do Not Learn the Way of the Gentiles (Scott Brown)
- Set Apart Femininity Part 1 (Leslie Ludy)
- Set Apart Femininity Part 2 (Leslie Ludy)
- Paganism in the Church (Scott Brown)
- Modesty (Scott Brown)
- The Basis of Biblical Ethics (Voddie Baucham)
- Spirituality and Your Mind (Voddie Baucham)
- Answering the Critics of the NCFIC (Doug Phillips)
- Is Age Segregation Biblical (Scott Brown)
- Gossip: The Plague of the Church (Scott Brown)
- Fulfilling the Law in Prayer (Scott Brown)
- Cultural Transformations (Scott Brown)

October:
- Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Voddie Baucham)
- A Wise and Understanding People (Scott Brown)
- To the Young People in the Church (Scott Brown)
- Holy Ambition (Scott Brown)
- Father to Son: Work (Geoff Botkin)
- Father to Son: Adventure (Geoff Botkin)
- Father to Son: How to Talk to Your Sons (Geoff Botkin)
- Recognize and Stop Gossip (Stacy A Johnson)
- Discovering Life Purpose (Doug Phillips)
- For the Sake of Your Traditions (Scott Brown)

November:
- Why we Must Be Ladies Against Feminism part 1 (Jennie Chancey)
- Why we Must Be Ladies Against Feminism part 2 (Jennie Chancey)
- The Reformation of Foreign Missions (Doug Phillips)
- Gossip: The Plague of the Church (Scott Brown)

December:
- Chief Justice Moore's Messege to America (Chief Justice Moore)
- It's Not that Complicated Interview (Kevin Swanston with Anna-Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- How to Organize Your Home to Promote Family Unity (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Cultivate a Love of Reading with Your Children (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Make Mealtime Meaningful (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Involve the Whole Family in Hospitality (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- The Origin of Life (Mike Riddle)
- Whose Daughter are You? (Anna-Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)
- Artificial Authority (Bill Jack)
- All Creatures Great and Small (Georgia Purdom)
- How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Handle a Social Worker Visit (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How To Involve the Whole Fmaily in Family Worship (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Encourage Masculinity in Sons (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Encourage Feminity in Daughters (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Use Household Decorations to Teach Character (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Take Children Safely Through an Airport (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Build an Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Children (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Talk to Your Children about Miscarriage (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Watch a Movie as a Family (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Prepare Your Children to Listen to a Symphony (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Address the Plague of "Jive Talk" in Your Home (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Cultivate a Love of Meaningful Poetry with Your Children, and Why Doing So Is Important (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Take a Road Trip With Your Family (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Wage War on Sibling Rivalry (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- How to Select the Best Locations for Family Vacations (Doug and Beall Phillips)
- Adventurous Femininity: When Being "Girly" Is Not Enough (Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin)

So What Did I Do in 2011?

2011-12-31T21:10:00.003+11:00

I didn't achieve all that many of my goals for 2011. Part of that was that several of them were neublous goals that are part of an ungoing work that God is doing in my life. Part of it was me being just plain lazy. But part of it was me doing other things. So what DID I do in 2011?

- I rejoined our church's kid's ministry
- I made a CD and donated the proceeds to charity
- I started a mission blog for my local church
- Did a ton of reading (wait for an uncoming booklist for 2011)
- Listened to a ton of sermons (wait for an uncoming list of sermons listened to in 2011)
- Taught in the Youth Group once (on apologetics)
- Worked!
- Started writing a book (I haven't done much non-blogging writing since uni, back when I had lots of free time)
- Went gluten free (to add to my dairy free, vegetarian food requirements)
- Started wearing a headcovering

So while I may not have done everything that I would have liked to, I have managed to do a few things in 2011!

Reflection On 2011 Goals

2011-12-30T20:58:00.000+11:00

1. Go on an overseas mission trip, preferably to Uganda
I did this! I'm so excited that I was able to begin serving God overseas! For those who are interested, I'm slowly posting my diary of my time in Uganda at the Hope Waverley Mission Blog.

2. Memorise 20 more psalms.
(I'm at 23 now, so I want to be at 43 by the end of next year!)
I'm nowhere near 43 psalms! I'm at 25 - which means only 2 psalms were memorised this year. And while I did some work on other passages, memorisation of the Bible just plain did not happen this year. It's something that I'm going to be working on next year.

3. Read Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible.
Still in Genesis

4. Develop my prayer life
Specifically, I want to see LOTS of answers to prayers, and to become closer and closer to God. Praying continually would be great too!
I've made progress in this area. While there are seasons of greater initmacy and of lesser intimacy with God, on the whole this is improving. And yes, I got answers to prayer!

5. To speak words of encouragement and not mean words, impure words, or gossip.
6. To be joyful always, in all circumstances.
Both of these are ungoing works that God is doing in my heart. I'm still a grumpy cow far too often, but I'm so much better than what I used to be! To God alone goes the glory - believe me, I'm not working the change myself!

7. To instruct and admonish children using Scripture and not the philosophy of men.
I've improved with instructing using Biblical principles, but actual words of Scripture is not so much what is coming from my mouth.

8. To consistently practice both the harp and the piano.
Just plain didn't happen.

Why Missions, Even To "Reached" Countries, Are Vital

2011-12-29T11:33:00.000+11:00

The other day I met with someone who will be working in a chaplain/ pastor role at theHopeSchoolnext year. We talked about supporting young people through challenges. I wanted to establish protocols for when child safety incidents arose and the referral process (to the social worker). I asked:’ What is a minor problem that could come up regularly here’. InBrisbanea minor problem would probably mean: ‘Having challenges with my friends at school’ or ‘My parents don’t understand me…’. When I asked this question here I got the response: ‘A student sharing that their parent is withholding food from them (e.g. refusing to feed them).’ I was a bit taken aback (that this was a ‘minor’ problem) and I asked what would be a major problem that you could come across here. I got this response: ‘A student told me that his parents wanted to sacrifice him to the demons of their village’. I am pretty sure I would leave these problems to the amazing local social worker. I am a little out of my depth…

From Britt & Andrew's blog, Into Lugala. Britt and Andrew are the two missionaries who were at COME Uganda with me, and who are still serving there.

1 Corinthians 8

2011-12-28T19:09:00.000+11:00

This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (from verse 1)

Knowledge is important. It is vital that we know out Bibles in order that we will not be deceived by the enemy, and in order that we will know what God has planned for us. But knowledge of any type, separated from love, only serves to make us proud about our accomplishments. Nowadays, when it is not so fashionable to possess biblical knowledge, other types of knowledge (such as scientific, academic, sports or even pop-culture) are just as likely to puff someone up with pride.

The antidote for the puffed-up-ness that knowledge can bring is not a lack of knowledge, but an addition of love. Lack of knowledge can destroy you, and a lack of love and castroy our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Am I filled with love? It is a difficult question to answer honestly. After all, our hearts will deceive us. We will often think that we have love, when really we don’t, and think that we lack love when we often have it. The sign of love is clear from this verse: love builds up. Am I building up the people around me? Am I helping them grow up into Him? Or am I stumbling them? For me, I think it is a little of both. Thankfully, Christ is changing me, and I am becoming more and more filled with love day by day.

More From Katie Davis

2011-12-27T19:07:00.000+11:00

The first 2:55 minutes are the same as the previous video posted, but after that there is an interview with her, which is really interesting.

Catalyst Atlanta 2011 | Katie Davis from Catalyst on Vimeo.

1 Corinthians 7

2011-12-26T19:08:00.000+11:00

And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit (from verse 34)

Singleness is a gift from God so that we can, whether temporarily or permanently, serve God as the only passion in our lives. Marrieds have to care for each other, and parents for their children, but singles are freer to do things, sometimes crazy-seeming things, for the Lord.

I know I have not always valued this gift. I would rather have a husband and children than almost anything else. But for now at least, that is not what God has called me to. He has called me to be single (for now at least) and to serve Him in that.

Valuing this gift of God means making the most of my time. It means going out of my way to bless others, especially those who otherwise would be ignored or despised, like the very poor and their children, those who are sick, those who are ugly or even deformed. It means sacrificing myself for the image of Christ in those who, humanly speaking, I do not care about. It means focussing on Jesus, and giving my all for Him, every single day, even when I would prefer not to. Then I will be using this gift of God to the level that Christ wants me to.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T11:14:00.001+11:00

For a child will be born to us,
a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice
and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7)

1 Corinthians 2

2011-12-24T11:12:00.000+11:00

And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (verses 4 & 5).

It sometimes amazes me how content the church at large is to not see the power of God. We talk of miracles (but don’t see them). We speak of transformed lives (but live just like everyone else). We do not see the power of God; and if we cannot see it in our own lives, or the lives of those around us, how can we expect those who do not know God to see it?

This is something I am guilty of too. I do not live a self-sacrificing life. Many aspects of my life are exactly the same as a non-believer. I do not go the extra mile with others if it will inconvenience me. I mean, when Amaya was upset in the middle of the night it took 5 minutes to make myself get up with my torch and check on her – and she’s only two bedrooms away! Afterwards I was really struck by my complete lack of love for those around me when it is inconvenient for me.

(Amaya is the daughter of two missionaries, who were staying with me in the missionary house. She woke up a few times in the night and would be very scared due to the power having gone out and her night light being off. I was NOT as loving as I should have been.)

This is something that I and much of the church need to repent of. We rest in the wisdom of me, and so we miss the power of God. And I know that I don’t want to miss that.

Katie Davis

2011-12-23T11:11:00.000+11:00

God was showing me His heart and His Word in new ways right there in the life I was living through the children I was serving. Armed with this new sense of who He is and who I was as His servant, I continued trying to give myself away in every circumstance. I wanted to do God’s work, let Him display Himself through my life, and change my world as much as possible every single day. Most days, that didn’t include anything other people would find impressive. It simply meant being faithful to the people and the responsibilities God had given me.

From her book, Kisses From Katie

1 Corinthians 1

2011-12-22T11:09:00.000+11:00

So that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (verse 31)

Paul’s aim is to boast solely in the work that Christ has done, not in his own accomplishments. And let’s face it, Paul has more to boast about than almost anyone. He was born both Jewish and a Roman citizen, educated by the best minds. He was the ultimate missionary apostle, who went virtually all over the known world, and suffered immensely for Christ along the way. He wrote many of the books of the New Testament! He had a lot he could boast about.

Boasting is something I do far too much of. Compared to most of the people around me, I do quite well at lots of things. I do my work better than all but a few people; I read faster than anyone I know; I have a very good memory for facts; and I’m rarely willing to leave things the way they are if they need changing – so I do things that many people know they should be doing, like write letters to politicians, going on the Baby March, giving of my money, and going on a mission trip to Uganda.

But none of these things are worth anything in the day of judgement. The only thing worthwhile is clinging to the Lord Jesus. And it is in Him that I need to do all of my boasting.

Mother Teresa

2011-12-21T11:08:00.000+11:00

The life of a missionary is not strewn with roses, in fact more with thorns; but with it all, it is a life full of happiness and joy when she thinks that she is doing the same work which Jesus was doing when He was on earth, and that she is fulfilling Jesus’ commandment: “Go and teach all nations!”

From the book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk.

Romans 13

2011-12-20T11:07:00.000+11:00

Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. (verse 11)

The time has come to do the deeds of the light, wherever we go. To show to all those around us, especially those who are difficult and even in the human sense, unlovable.

The end of days is fast approaching. We are so much nearer the return of Christ than once we were. Yet when He returns, will He find faith on the earth? Will He find a living faith, characterized by action and not pretty words, in me?

I pray that He will do so! That He will look at me and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I pray that He will say that to many.

But I know that that is not what He will say to all. Many are asleep, as though it were still night, and they have more interest in the deeds of the night than in the deed of the day, love.

May I always seek to live according to the day, according to the light He has given me. May I seek to love those around me, to do them good, even when it is very, very difficult on a human level.

Katie Davis

2011-12-19T14:13:00.000+11:00

The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 BILLION people on this earth proclaim to be Christians.
The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.

From her book, Kisses From Katie

Romans 12 (written 06.11.11 – on the plane to Uganda)

2011-12-18T13:00:00.000+11:00

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. (verse 1)

We have been bought with a price. Yet how rarely we want to deliver the goods to our God – how much more we prefer to stay in our own little comfort zones, keeping ‘our’ things, and about all ‘our’ selves for our own use. We are not ready to sacrifice even a little for the One who gave it all for us.

O LORD, please do not let me be in that number! Rather have me be one of those who joyfully gives my all for Your sake, and considers it to be not merely a good exchange, but a delight, an honour beyond compare!

I sit on the plane, ready to go to the place God has called me to my first ever trip to Uganda. I do not know much about what waits for me there. What I do know is that it is God’s will for my life, and that it will involve both sacrifice and joy, joy in the sacrifice, joy leading to sacrifice, until Christ calls me to His side. Wherever I go, that is what God has prepared for me. For the most part, I would not have it any other way.

LORD, make me be a willing, joyful sacrifice for Your everlasting glory. Help me to never attempt, never even dream, or crawling off the altar. May my life be a sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You, an act of worship to Your name, and the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus.

Mother Teresa

2011-12-17T12:59:00.000+11:00

Why must we give ourselves fully to God? Because God has given Himself to us. If God who owes nothing to us is ready to impart to us no less than Himself, shall we answer with just a fraction of ourselves? To give ourselves fully to God is a means of receiving God Himself. I for God and God for me. I live for God and give up my own self, and in this way induce God to live for me. Therefore to possess God we must allow Him to possess our soul.

From the book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk.

Romans 11

2011-12-16T12:57:00.000+11:00

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor (verse 34).

It amazes me how often we think that God has the same opinions as we do. We are so focused on our own happiness, on what we think we want, and on our ‘rights’. We think we have the liberty to be free. To choose what to do with ‘our’ bodies. To spend ‘our’ money as we wish. This is bad enough, but when you consider how many people assume that their point of view on a subject is therefore God’s point of view, that is a massive problem.

There is only one way we can truly know the mind of God, which is by studying the Scriptures and crying out for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to help you understand them. Then we will know the mind of God, in a limited way, but a true way.

I know I do not even begin to study the Scriptures enough to have a full-orbed view. But I am beginning. And God has so blessed each small step that I have taken in understanding His Word. His Holy Spirit has shown me treasures I never would have imagined in the Bible, and has transformed my Christianity from a part of my life to being something that informs everything I do.

Slave to Something

2011-12-15T19:07:00.000+11:00

If God is not the center of your life, if he does not hold your ultimate allegiance, then you have been enslaved by something or someone less satisfying and loving than God. Every slave master except God will fail you. Slave masters never work to satisfy their slave. And when you fail, that master can offer no forgiveness, only misery and shame.

But not so with God! He alone can satisfy. He alone has paid the ultimate price in his Son in order to forgive you of all your failings. The dominion of God is the dominion of rest, grace, mercy, and joy. Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28).

Paul uses the lowest of all people in the eyes of this world---the slave---to show that you are more free as a slave to Christ than when you are enslaved to the idea of human autonomy.

From the article Everyone Enslaved by John Starke

Romans 10

2011-12-14T12:56:00.000+11:00

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News.” (from verse 15)

The ancient church had beautiful feet. They went all over the world preaching the gospel. Those who were not literally able to go sacrificed much in order that those who were going could be most effective.

The modern church is not so. The amount spent by the modern church on missions of any type is small, on foreign missions smaller still, and the amount spent on reaching the unreached is appallingly tiny. We are not willing to give that others might go.

But we are also not too willing to go ourselves. I’ve been told how brave I am to go on a 3 week trip to Africa. That is not particularly brave. It is three weeks. It is nothing to compare to those who gave their lives to open up huge areas to the gospel, whether by living and serving til old age, or in dying the death of a martyr.

I need to beautiful me feet by being willing, ever more willing, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. I need to sacrifice self in order to go and to send others.

LORD, give me beautiful feet. Make me more and more willing to speak forth Words of life into those I meet, at home and abroad, that they might love You!

Christina Rosetti

2011-12-13T13:46:00.001+11:00

How beautiful are the arms which have embraced Christ, the hands which have touched Christ, the eyes which have gazed upon Christ, the lips which have spoken with Christ, the feet which have followed Christ. How beautiful are the hands which have worked the works of Christ, the feet which treading in His footsteps have gone about doing good, the lips which have spread abroad His name, the lives which have been counted loss for Him.

Are You Craving?

2011-12-12T12:25:00.000+11:00

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (1 Pet 2:2)

We are to be like newborn infants, craving the pure spiritual milk. Have you been around a hungry baby? Believe me, they let you know that they want to be fed. They’ll scream if they need to, all to get the milk they need to grow.

Yet how little we are like them. It amazes me when I learn how little some Christians do. I always see how far short I personally am falling, and sometimes I seem like I am boasting, when really I am doing the opposite, telling people how far short I am falling – and all because they are falling even further short. Like recently when I discovered that all but 4 people in my small group at church (and I was one of the four) were praying for less than 10 minutes a day at the end of the day, often falling asleep. The two leaders’ quiet times were usually about half an hour long in total. Only my housemate and myself went above half an hour a day. And I look at myself and I can hardly believe the small amount of time I spend in prayer, in the Word.

Babies get hungry every few hours. They feed for quite a while. They even wake throughout the night because they want more milk. They don’t eat for 5 or 10 minutes before bed. They spend most of their waking time consuming what will make them grow, and then, as they get bigger, they spend the rest of their waking time using their growing muscles, building their strength and agility.

We need to be craving the pure spiritual milk of the Word multiple times throughout the day, not just for a few minutes. We need to be praying often. We need to be more like babies.

Our lack of spiritual nourishment is the cause of our lack of spiritual strength.

We cannot give out when we have taken nothing in. And so few of us take nothing, or next to nothing, in.

Make a plan to read the Bible. You can read the whole Bible in a year by reading only 3 chapters a day! I read the Bible in 40 days once, and it was one of the best things I ever did. You don’t have to do that, but you can read a little more, and read throughout the day. Memorise one verse a day – even one verse a week will mean that you will have over 50 verses memorised by the end of a year! Several chapters of the Bible are far shorter than that! Memorise just 50 verses, and you could have 10 psalms memorised, verses, and you could have 10 psalms memorised, yours forever, even if you don’t have access to a Bible.

CRAVE the Word. Long for it. And consume it, day in, day out, that we might grow to be mighty warriors of the faith.

Katie Davis

2011-12-11T12:36:00.000+11:00

Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world. And every single day, it is worth it, because adoption is God’s Heart. His Word says, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:5). He sets the lonely in families (see Psalm 68:6). The first world that appears when I look up adoption in the dictionary is “acceptance”. God accepts me, adores me even, just as I am. And He wants me to accept those without families into my own. Adoption is the reason I can come before God’s throne and beg Him for mercy, because He predestined me to be adopted as His child through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace.

From her book, Kisses From Katie

Pursue Righteousness

2011-12-10T12:32:00.001+11:00

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)

One of the things that strikes me about modern Christianity, is how known we are as avoiders. Christians are known as those who don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, don’t have pre-marital sex, don’t swear, etc. And while statistically, “Christians” are no different from the world in many of these areas, that is what we are known for. As people who “don’t” do things.

We are ready to flee impurity (or at least be known for fleeing impurity). But we are so rarely ready to pursue, to chase after, righteousness, or faith, or love. We’d rather just avoid the bad stuff.

What a terrible witness this is! We become known as those who “don’t” do things – those who don’t have fun. When that should be the opposite. We are the ones who “do” things – those who seek to follow after God with our whole hearts, our whole souls, our whole strength!

Are you pursuing righteousness? Are you truly chasing after it, seeking after it, doing all that is in your power for it? Are you truly looking at submitting your whole being to the Lordship of Christ? Are you? Am I?

Katie Davis

2011-12-09T12:27:00.000+11:00

Everywhere I looked in the Bible, from the beginning of the Old Testament to the end of Revelation, people who believe in God are supposed to share with the poor. Helping the poor is not something God asks His people to do; it is something that, throughout all generations, He instructs us to do.

From her book, Kisses From Katie

Support Bushikori Over Christmas

2011-12-08T16:08:00.000+11:00

If you are looking for Christmas cards that support the spread of the gospel and helping those in difficult circumstances (especially widows and orphans) then look no further! Bushikori Christian Centre in Uganda are selling Christmas cards.

Card 4

Card 2

To see the full range, visit this page of the Bushikori website.

If you want to order some, either leave a comment, email Sam, or speak to her. Alternatively you can order directly from Bushikori (details on the website). For those who want more information on Bushikori, the work it does, or how to further support Bushikori, again, get in contact with Sam.

Jerry Bridges

2011-12-07T12:20:00.000+11:00

I am dismayed at how little we Christians pray for the success of among the nations. If we honestly examine our prayers, we find that we give the greatest priority to our own earthly needs. We pray about health needs, financial needs, weather needs, and all other kinds of needs of this life. Perhaps we even pray about our own or our loved ones’ spiritual needs. But how many are praying about the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth? How many are pleading the promises of God?

The Gospel for Real Life

Memorial Box Monday

2011-12-06T12:43:00.002+11:00

In June I went to Portarlington for the National Celtic festival. When I was there, my dad, who lives in the area, mentioned that there was a book “100 Ways of for Your Child to read” at the local op shop, which he had thought about getting me, but hadn’t because he wasn’t sure if I had it.

Now, I’m strictly a phonics girl. So a book about 100 ways to teach your child to read seems more to me like 100 ways to teach your child not to read.

“It’s by Unwin, or something,” my dad added helpfully.

Wheels turned in my brain. “Englemenn?” I said hopefully.

“No, I think it was Unwin.”

I prayed then that the book would be Englemann’s Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I’ve been wanting for years and have heard only good things about. As there are four op shops in Portarlington alone (let alone the surrounding area) I also prayed that the book would be in the op shop that supports Bushikori, which I support financially. (All of the money from my CD goes to Bushikori in Uganda!)

And…

Well, this IS a Memorial Box Monday! Of course God answered my prayers! I now have one of the most popular phonics reading books (for a very reasonable price), but the money is helping children (and adults too) in Uganda!

For more Memorial Box Monday posts, hop over to this post at Linny's blog, A Place Called Simplicity.

Romans 8

2011-12-06T12:18:00.001+11:00

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (verse 6)

What we think on has eternal consequences. We like to think of our thoughts as being private, as being confidential, and as being consequence-free. What is in our mind stays in our mind, we like to think. But this is quite simply not true.

The mind set on the flesh is full of death. That is where each fleshly thought leads to. Death. We think it will go otherwise, that we will escape this fact somehow, but we won’t.

But the mind set on the Spirit not only HAS life and peace, but IS life and peace.

It takes us down the path of righteousness. It is mindful of God, and mindless of ourselves.

Where are my thoughts? On the flesh or on the Spirit? They are so much on the flesh? I think on the food I eat, the time I have, the ways I can spend my money, angry thoughts about those who annoy me. These thoughts lead to death.

Fortunately, as God cleanses me and sanctifies me, my thoughts become more and more set on the path of light, of life. I pray more, and for less selfish things. I think more on the ways of God, and on His great love, even for me. I have a long way to go, but God is good, and He will continue His good work in me.

Katie Davis

2011-12-05T14:56:00.000+11:00

People often ask if I think my life is dangerous, if I am afraid. I am much more afraid of remaining comfortable. Matthew 10:28 tells us not to fear things that destroy the body. I interact almost daily with people who have deadly diseases, and many times I am the only person who can help them. I live in a country with one of the world’s longest-running wars taking place just a few hours away. Uncertainty is everywhere. But I am living in the midst of the uncertainty and risk, amid things that can and do bring physical destruction, because I am running from things that can destroy my soul: complacency, comfort, and ignorance. I am much more terrified of living a comfortable life in a self-serving society and failing to follow Jesus than I am of any illness or tragedy.

From her book, Kisses From Katie

Book review: Kisses From Katie

2011-12-04T14:54:00.000+11:00

You have had the opportunity to read a few quotes from this book. So far, it’s probably my favourite book for the year, and definitely my favourite missionary biography. When you consider that I read 15-20 books a month, you can be assured that this book is really, REALLY good.

Short breakdown: girl goes to Uganda to teach kindergarten for 1 year, planning to go back to her “normal” life in America after that year. Instead she ends up taking in 14 girls (she’s currently in the process of formally adopting 13 of them) , starting an international ministry that provides food, school fees and school supplies to over 200 needy children in her area (the current number is more than 300), and providing basic medical care for people around her.

One of the things that isreally great about this book is her reflections on God’s heart, and how that affects her ministry, and most of these reflections are relevant not only to her ministry, but everyday life anywhere.

The other thing that I really enjoyed was that she stressed how normal she was, how she lived the fairly normal teenage life back in America, how she doesn’t always have a great attitude, and things like that.

I found this book to be really interesting and encouraging, and as I said, one of the best, if not the best, books I’ve read this year.

You can purchase the book here at 147 Million Orphans, and 50% of the proceeds will go to Katie's ministry.

You can purchase the from Amazon book here.

You can visit Katie’s blog here.

You can visit Amazina Ministries (the website for Katie’s ministry) here.

Beth Clark

2011-12-03T16:43:00.000+11:00

People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it, in one way or another. And I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakeable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that EVERY LIFE MATTERS. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educated one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up. Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.

From her foreword in Kisses From Katie.

Are You Prepared For Persecution?

2011-12-02T12:16:00.000+11:00

This has been on my mind lately. How prepared are we in the Western church for persecution? Real, serious persecution?

Not very, really.

Think about it. Christians get upset when nativity scenes are not allowed in public places, calling it “the war against Christmas”. We write letters about the removal of the 10 commandments from court rooms. We complain about the removal of prayer from schools, from politics, from public life. And we call these things persecution.

Brothers and sisters, these things are NOT persecution. They aren’t great, but they are not persecution, and calling them such makes a mockery of those who are persecuted, and allows us to be unequipped to deal with real persecution when it comes.

Are we prepared to go to jail for Christ and His Kingdom? That’s real persecution.

Are we prepared to have family and friends refuse to have anything to do with us, kicking us out of our homes, our lives? That’s real persecution.

Are we prepared to be tortured for speaking to the lost? That’s real persecution.

Are we prepared to lose all our earthly possessions, counting their loss a gain so that we may more completely follow Christ? That’s real persecution.

We do not know the meaning of the term persecution. And we are not prepared for it. We do not have the deep seated relationship with God that is needed to get us through such times. We do not know any bits of the Bible well enough to encourage our hearts in times of persecution, when Bibles are not available. We cannot do without all the bells and whistles of a modern church service, complete with multi-media to get and keep our attention… when what we really need is all too often lacking… the Word of God. We cannot spend time in prayer for more than a few minutes without falling asleep.

We are NOT prepared for persecution!

You cannot prepare others. You can prepare yourself. Read the Word. Memorise it. Meditate on it. Pray. Build your relationship with God. These are what are truly necessary to get us through times of trial. God and His Word.

Katie Davis

2011-12-01T11:09:00.000+11:00

Originally, my quitting was to be temporary, lasting just one year before I went to college and returned to normal, American teenager life. But after that year, which I spent in Uganda, returning to “normal” wasn’t possible. I had seen what life was about and I could not pretend I didn’t know. So I quit my life again, and for good this time. I quit college; I quit designer clothes and my little yellow convertible; I quit my boyfriend. I no longer have all the things the world says are important. I do not have a retirement fund; I do not even have electricity some days. But I have everything I know is important. I have a joy and a peace that are unimaginable and can come only from a place better than this earth. I cannot fathom being happier. Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully.

From her book, Kisses From Katie (Review coming - but seriously, this is the best book I've read this year!)

Romans 7

2011-11-30T12:14:00.000+11:00

For I delight in the Law of God, in my inner being (verse 22)

Like all people, the Apostle Paul struggled with sin. He found himself doing things he didn’t want to, and ignoring the things he did want to do. His victory over sin was not complete until his death.

What made Paul so great was not, therefore, his victory over sin. It was not his relative perfection. It was his delight in the Law and the things of God.

How much do I delight in the Law of God, in my inner being? How much do I meditate upon Scripture, memorise Scripture, read Scripture? How much time do I spend in worship, in prayer?

It is not enough to compare myself to my failing peers, those who pray for five minutes before sleep. I need to be comparing myself to the great Saints of the past, to people like the Apostle Paul and Hudson Taylor and Amy Carmichael. I need to see where I need to improve.

The fact is, my delight is not sufficiently on God. I am still too easily distracted from Him and turn my own way. I follow after the ways of the world.

This needs to change, and God alone can (and will, and is) change(ing) me.

John Piper

2011-11-29T12:18:00.000+11:00

Christians who spend time in prayer do it because they see that God is a great Giver and that Christ is wise and merciful and powerful beyond measure. And therefore their prayer glorifies Christ and honors His Father. The chief end of man is to glorify God. Therefore, when we become what God created us to be we become people of prayer… Prayer is the very heart of Christian Hedonism. God gets the glory; we get the delight. He gets the glory precisely because He shows Himself full and strong to deliver us into joy. And we attain fullness of joy precisely because He is the all-glorious source and goal of life. Here is a great discovery. We do not glorify God by providing His needs, but by praying that He would provide ours – and trusting Him to answer.
From Desiring God.

Romans 6

2011-11-28T13:50:00.001+11:00

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its natural end, eternal life (verse 22).

We are no longer slaves to sin, but have become slaves to God. Yet how little we seek to follow Him, to obey His every word. We spend valuable time chasing after our old master – maybe not in the same way as before, but we chase after sin nonetheless. How little we spend our time truly chasing after God and His kingdom! Think on how much time has been wasted on trivial pursuits this past week, and compare it to the time spent in His Word, or in prayer, or in service to the Saints or the needy of this world. I know that I am spending far too much time on matters that will have no eternal significance.

Yet the more I chase after the things of God the more fruit I see in my life. I want ot see the fruit of the Spirit in my life; to see a growing degree of piety, of love for God, of selflessness. In order to grow this fruit as well as possible, I need to be nourishing it with Godly things, and above all, by offering my life as a sacrifice to His glory.

I am no longer a slave to sin. I am a slave to righteousness, to my Lord Jesus Christ. I am to obey Him, and no other master.

GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-27T06:51:00.005+11:00

There is a massive giveaway happening over at Generation Cedar! She is giving away $600 of Vision Forum gift certificates. In case you don't realise, Vision Forum sells some pretty cool Christian books, DVDs, and audio books.

Hop on over to this post at Generation Cedar and find out how to enter!

Romans 5

2011-11-26T13:43:00.000+11:00

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (verse 8)

Christ died for us, and He died for us while we were still sinners. He did not wait for us to “clean up our act” enough for us to love Him – we could never clean up our act enough for that. Instead, He came and died for us while we were filthy, diseased, wretched sinners, rebels against His rule, and He rescued us, reconciling us to God the Father by His death.

It is so tempting to attempt to get to God by our own works – after all, that is what the religions of the world are based on: do enough good works, make enough sacrifices at the altar, and maybe, just maybe, God will accept us.

But Christianity is different. Christianity is not us reaching up to God, it is Him reaching down to us. It is us being saved to do good works for God’s glory, not being saved by our works for our glory. God is first and foremost in the world, and one of the ways that He shows this is by dying for us, showing that only His perfect death can turn away His wrath from us unrighteous sinners, and make us pure and blameless in His sight.

Oh LORD, thank You that You died on the cross for me, while I was a sinner, that You did not expect me to fix my life first, but that You came down and rescued me. I thank and praise You in Jesus’ name.

Nate Saint

2011-11-25T15:52:00.001+11:00

And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.

Review: Don't Waste Your Life

2011-11-24T15:49:00.000+11:00

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper is such a fundamental book that I think everyone should read it at least once. As the title states, it is about not wasting your life, but instead pouring it out for the glory of God.

Beginning with an analysis of what a wasted life is, and how so many people both inside and outside the church waste large proportions of their lives, this book is a wake up call to test us to see if we are truly using our lives for the advancement of God's kingdom.

Here is a quote from inside:
The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it. If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full… Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life about Christ is a tragedy.

Missions is obviously one of the most important ways that we can lose our lives for Christ's sake. Reaching all the world is the last command that Christ gave before He ascended to heaven. How many hear the call to the mission field, either for the short term or the long term, but refuse to follow God's call in order to have more of the dross that the world has to offer?

This book is available for FREE at Desiring God.

Randy Alcorn

2011-11-23T13:44:00.000+11:00

As thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace. We give because he first gave to us. If your life doesn’t resound with the thunder of giving, doesn’t that suggest that you’ve not been struck by the lightning of God’s grace.

From his chapter in For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper

Are We Commanded to Be Good Stewards?

2011-11-22T13:43:00.000+11:00

I have been reading a lot of criticism of different expressions of Christianity, and it’s interesting how often one comment comes up about any type of Christianity that really seeks after God’s will in a counter-cultural way… they all get told how God really couldn’t have meant xyz, because He wants us to be “good stewards”.

It seems so right. It seems so reasonable. You shouldn’t have more children than you can afford. You shouldn’t have to tithe. You shouldn’t give to missions. You shouldn’t dedicate your life to staying home with your family, or helping others when you can have a well-paying job. You shouldn’t use your spare time in a way that helps others without making sure you receive adequate remuneration. Because those things are not being a “good steward” of the gifts that God has given to you.

The thing is, God actually doesn’t ask us to be good stewards. That command is nowhere in Scripture. The command to give up all we have and follow Him – that makes it in there… several times. We need to give all that we have in order to follow Christ more closely.

In many cases, this is going to look like “wasting” things to the world. It is going to look like the opposite of good stewardship. It’s going to be having more children than you can afford to give soccer and ballet classes to. It’s going to be giving more than you think you can afford to missions. It means turning down a job that pays better so that you have more time to invest in God’s kingdom. It means going yourself when it would be cheaper to get someone else to.

It means giving our all to God.

I don’t want to be a good steward. I want to live recklessly for Christ. He is my treasure, not anything in this world. And when that makes me look foolish in the eyes of the world, then I will remind myself that the wisdom of God is beyond that of man. And I will continue to follow Him with all I am.

Gladys Aylward

2011-11-21T11:32:00.000+11:00

I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China…I don't know who it was…It must have been a man…a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing…and God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward…And God said - "Well, she's willing."

Book Review: Mama Jude

2011-11-20T11:28:00.000+11:00

This (Mama Jude by Judy Steel) is probably the most secular missions book that will be reviewed – indeed, I didn’t even realise that it had a Christian perspective until I started reading it. It’s marketed as a general “person helps third world people” kind of book. I started it because it’s on the country that I’m about to go to… Uganda! Hence the review.

I actually really enjoyed this book. It is very honest about the different difficulties facing those who go into missions work (specifically in medical fields), both culturally, in terms of lack of finances, and the just plain obstacles that most people in these countries face, such as diseases, weather, etc.

It was especially interesting to me because she mentions the people I am going to stay with several times – Judy Steel even stayed with them twice. Which had me praying half-way through the book when she mentioned that they were temporarily living in pretty bad conditions with one of the most terrifying creatures known to man… rats. (Mice also rate). They have indeed moved (I did know this – but rats have been known to cause apprehension on my part).

One of the things I really liked about this book was that it made everything seem possible – Judy Steel is of retirement age (and was even the first time she went to Uganda), and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and continued to go back.

Another aspect that was really great was how she mentioned that her previous experiences on a farm in Australia came in useful when starting a mirco-loan scheme and helping the women involved start piggeries. It’s important as Christians to realise that God uses things in our background that we never thought would have a use.

The downside to this book is it is pretty secular. God is her reason for going to Uganda, and she mentions how He sustains her while there a few times, but He doesn’t appear much throughout.

Aside from this point, it was a great read (one of the best written missionary autobiographies I’ve read), and would be a wonderful book to interest seekers or baby Christians in missions, or to gather more information on what it can be like in the mission field.

William Booth

2011-11-19T11:30:00.000+11:00

"Not called!" did you say? "Not heard the call," I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world.
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army

What Does the Romance Novel Say About the Failure of Feminism?

2011-11-18T18:20:00.000+11:00

Disclaimer: Please don’t take this as a statement that you should read romance novels. It’s not. They’re badly written, and can stir up desires that aren’t positive or godly. But it is interesting to see what the continued success of the romance novel says about the ultimate failure of feminism.

Apparently, in the early days of feminism, feminists claimed that the romance novel would die out, as women had their horizons broadened, and no longer had their lives “constrained” to that of finding a husband and raising children.

It hasn’t happened. Romance novels sell just as well as ever, making large sums of money for their writers. Yet to a large degree, the world the feminists wanted has come about, in the sense that no women (in the west at least) are forced into marriage as their only career option in life. We’re all told we can be lawyers, doctors, anything we want. Yet women keep buying and reading romance novels.

What does this say about women? I mean, men don’t read romance novels. So what do they say about being a woman that feminism just didn’t take into account? How does the romance novel demonstrate the failure of feminism?

1. Sex is better with someone you love. Feminists, especially in the 60’s, wanted women to be as “free” with their body as they perceived males had been in the past. To a large degree, this has worked. The number of sexual partners most people have had is larger than the past. Yet romance novels hold this notion up to the ridicule it deserves. Even in novels where the female has had previous partners, none of them compare to the one she is in love with. Sex is best (especially for females, but for males too) when within a committed relationship (such as marriage). This is one of the ideals the romance novel holds to.

2. Women want a husband and children. Even without the first or third point, this alone demonstrates the failure of feminism to truly capture the heart of women. Women, as a general rule, WANT to be married. They WANT children. I’ve never seen a boy cry because he wants a baby, and it “just isn’t the right time” – but I’ve seen lots of girls in that position. I’m not saying males don’t want children, but for women, children are an urge that God has placed within us, and it is an urge that feminism has not been able to truly squash out of us. The romance novel demonstrates this

3. Women want the man to be the provider. I’ve never read, seen adapted, or heard of a romance novel where the male had less money than the female. I suppose there would be a few “struggling artist” ones out there, but I rather expect by the end of the novel, he has become famous and is making the millions he always should have. We all know in real life that most men are not as “successful” as these men – there is a limit to the billionaire and millionaire class. But the dream – an articulated in most women – is to have a man who will provide for her, allowing her to be able to care for him and to raise their children as well as she can.

The romance novel demonstrates to me that even in the secular world, feminism hasn’t won. It may have the bodies of women going off to work every day, providing for themselves and living lives that are far from God’s ideal for them. But they know this. They know they have been cheated of something, and they turn to the place they think they can find it – the pages of a novel.

Thankfully we know where we can truly turn – to the arms of the living God. But pray for those who do not know Him; that they may see the darkness they are seeking in a small way to escape, and turn to Jesus in all His glorious light.

Sometime, by May Riley Smith

2011-11-17T10:30:00.000+11:00

Sometime, when all life’s lessons have been learned,
And sun and stars forevermore have set,
The things which our weak judgements here have spurned,
The things so’er which we grieved with lashes wet,
Will flash before us out of life’s dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
And we shall see how all God’s plans are right,
And how what seemed reproof was love most true.

And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh,
God’s plans go on as best for you and me;
How, when we called, He heeded not our cry,
Because His wisdom to the end could see.
And e’en as prudent parents disallow,
Too much of sweet to craving babyhood,
So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now
Life’s sweetest things, because it seemeth good.

And if, sometimes, commingled with life’s wine,
We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrink,
Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine,
Pours out the potion for our lips to drink;
And if some friend you love is lying low,
Where human kisses cannot reach his face,
Oh, do not blame the loving Father so,
But wear your sorrow with obedient grace!

And you shall shortly know that lengthened breath
Is not the sweetest gift God sends His friends,
And that, sometimes, the sable pull of death
Conceals the fairest boon His love can send;
If we could push ajar the gates of life,
And stand within, and all God’s workings see,
We could interpret all this doubt and strife,
And for each mystery could find a key.

But not today. Then be content, poor heart;
God’s plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,—
Time will reveal the chalices of gold.
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest,
When we shall clearly see and understand,
I think we will say, God knew the best.”

Praying as the Church

2011-11-16T18:56:00.000+11:00

It struck me recently just how little praying we do as the church. I’m not just talking about how the prayer meeting is small, with mostly the same people showing each week. I’m talking about praying AS the church, and not just FOR the church.

Prayer meetings, whether for small groups, for the local church, or even for more than one local church, tend to be self-focused. We pray for the person giving the sermon, for the people to have attentive ears, for the worship to touch our hearts. These are not bad things. But the prayer seems to stop there so often. When we pray for those outside the service/group it is usually for those who are sick within our church/group, or for the salvation of those who are attending but aren’t saved. Even prayer for the loved ones of those who are members of the church or small group is rare. One friend has referred to this as the church having “her eyes rolled back into her head”, always looking inwards.

We were not created for this! We were created to be able to change earth through our prayer! In order to do this we need to pray for those outside ourselves – for the success of missions to unreached people groups, for the strengthening of the persecuted church in countries like China and the Middle East, and for the ending of social ills such as abortion and slavery (which has more people in its grip than ever before in history).

We need to be praying AS the church, as salt and light, and not just for the church.

John Piper

2011-11-15T18:49:00.000+11:00

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?

From God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

Romans 1

2011-11-14T18:33:00.000+11:00

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world (verse 8).

The Roman Christians made great sacrifices for their faith. Many suffered persecution. They gave what they could (and often more than they could afford) to aid the spread of the gospel. They took such food care of those around them that the pagans commented. Their faith was proclaimed throughout all the world.

Is my faith? Do people who know Christians now days as those who are prepared to give their all to honour Christ? Do they even know me (those who know me) as someone prepared to give my all in order to follow Him? I can honestly say no to both, and while this concerns me greatly about the whole church, it concerns me more about myself. How little is the love I have for Christ if I am not willing to sacrifice all for His sake. Some say that He hasn’t directly said to them (or me) to, but we have His Word, wherein He has said that those who will not abandon all they have for His sake cannot be His disciples. And here I am, clinging to the rubbish I have collected along the way. Lord, forgive my terrible witness!

I want to be known by those around me as being someone who happily gives her all for Christ, who sacrifices joyfully to make Him known throughout the nations.

Lord, help me to be such a follower of You!

Mother Teresa

2011-11-13T18:23:00.000+11:00

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Acts 28

2011-11-12T18:22:00.000+11:00

…for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against. (From verse 22)

The Roman Jews did not know much about the Way, and all they had hear was bad. That was fine with them – the Jews, especially in places like Rome, were used to having their way of life, their families, and their God maligned. They knew a bad report could be the slandering of God’s true work, just as it had been in the times of the Prophets, and more recently, the Maccabees.

Today, that is still the case with true Christianity. People laugh at those who “waste” their Sunday mornings at church or their time in prayer. They mock those who attempt to do good (I never realised until recently how hated Mother Teresa is/was, and precisely for the reasons she is so known, not her dodgy theology or her long-time hidden doubts). Christians are made fun of in a way that just isn’t acceptable for in regards to any other religion.

Yet these things are not bad things in God’s plan. People are interested in the ‘weirdness’ of true Christianity, and for some of them, their interest will develop into faith. We must never be ashamed of the gospel, in spite of those who appear to be arrayed against us, for the gospel is the power of God to save the souls of those who are yet to believe.

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T11:00:00.002+11:00

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

The Church and Proverbs 31 (Part 8)

2011-11-10T16:12:00.001+11:00

Her husband is known in the gates… (Proverbs 31:23)

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)

How much of what we do really demonstrates that Christ is our supreme treasure? Even when we are being the kind of bride that Christ wants us to be, how often is that reflecting back to Christ?

Are we making our Heavenly Husband known throughout the land?

It is important to teach the next generation the ways of God. It is important to care for the needy. It is vital that we use every opportunity to bless others. But if we aren’t doing these things to extend God’s kingdom, then ultimately, they will come to nought.

As that old saying goes: Tis one life, that’ll soon be past, and only what’s done for Christ will last.

Are we making our Husband known?

I know I don’t as much as I should. It’s easier to talk about caring for the poor than to talk about how Jesus wants us to use our money. It’s easier to talk about bringing up our children to be “good kids” rather than to make it known – to them and the world – that we are nurturing them in the faith. It’s easier to pretend to trust in God for the salvation of our loved ones than it is to open up our mouths and actually talk to them about Him.

But if we are not doing everything in faith, doing everything to make Him known, then we are sinning. Even if we are doing all the right things, even with unselfish motives. If we are not giving the glory to God, and to God alone, then we are sinning.

Church, join me with making our Jesus known, at home, abroad, everywhere we go. Let us bring to our Husband a small portion of the acclaim He deserves, that He might be known throughout all the earth.

From Erik Weir

2011-11-09T16:02:00.002+11:00

• Fight slothfulness. Work as unto the Lord.
• Set your own deadlines, many people do not appreciate the significance of timeliness.
• Allow your sons to fail. Failure is necessary to succeed. It’s hard to watch, but failure definitely shapes a person, as long as failure is viewed as a lesson and not a destination.
• Get up early. Leaders should be the first out of bed and spend time with God, reading the Bible and in prayer before anyone else in the house is up. Early AM hours set the tempo for the day.
• Create a mandate for the day. Start each day thoughtfully attacking your biggest problems after spending time in prayer.
• At the end of each day, evaluate the day. Make corrections, and move ahead boldly. Dominion is not gained from a recliner. It’s gained from a broken and contrite spirit crying out to God for help and direction.
• Fall on your face as a broken man, and cry out to God, “I need you.” Fulfilling Deuteronomy 6 as a dad (in the flesh) is impossible. With God, He can take our mistakes and make them blessings.
• If you take the easy way out or listen to the radio to check out, you can create a multi-generational mess. There are no idle thoughts, words, or deeds.
• There is no effort without error.
• Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Everything counts. Choose not to settle.
• Define reality by God’s Word.
From this post Scott Brown Online. So many of these are relevant for me (even as a single female!)

The Church and Proverbs 31 (Part 7)

2011-11-08T16:01:00.000+11:00

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her (Proverbs 31:28)

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)

Part 6 was focused on the child’s voice. This part is focused on the husband’s voice.

There are few things that we as Christians want to hear more when we see God face to face than, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” We want to hear the praises of our heavenly husband. Yet how little we do is focused on actually going about and completing what He wants us to do. How little effort we dedicate to the Great Commission, or to the Dominion Mandate, or even to helping those around us. We are too busy entertaining ourselves, in some cases, literally to death, as we grow more and more obese, and get diseases that were virtually unknown even a short time ago.

If we want to have the praise, we need to be doing something for it. God doesn’t hold to the self-esteem movement, where He tells you how wonderful you are, even when there is nothing right about you or your behaviour. His praise when we see Him is not based on nothing; it’s based on the fruit we produced.

I shudder to think how much we will realise we missed the mark when we reach heaven. How much I missed the mark! My goodness, I fail so often to put God first, and to care for others as myself. But I long to hear that sought after phrase when I see Him face to face for the first time. I long to have Him praise me for the way I have lived my life. I long to have Him show me the difference I made on earth.

His praise is better than anything, better than life itself.

Clement of Rome

2011-11-07T15:59:00.000+11:00

Lord, we beseech you to help and defend us. Deliver the oppressed, pity the poor, uplift those who have fallen, be the portion of those in need, return to your care those who have gone astray, feed the hungry, strengthen the weak, and break the chains of the prisoners. May all people come to know that you only are God, that Jesus Christ is your child, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
From Prayers of the Martyrs, collected by Duane W.H. Arnold

The Church and Proverbs 31 (Part 6)

2011-11-06T15:57:00.001+11:00

Her children rise up and call her blessed; (Proverbs 31:28)

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)

How many children brought up in the church really give thanks for it? Not that many really. Not even those who remain in the church rarely do. Are we really doing all we can to help the next generation, especially the next generation of believers?

To put it bluntly, we aren’t. For those who have read Already Gone by Ken Ham, you will know that a staggering number of children leave the church. The statistics vary depending on what organisation asks the questions, but it’s around ¾. Three quarters of young people brought up in the church leave it, and most never return. Those who return are typically not “believers”, they are people who want good moral values taught to their own children.

There are a variety of responses to the problem of young people walking away from the faith. But we need to change this. If you are a parent, then you need to look at your own children and ask if they are going to continue. Will you see them in heaven? And what are you doing to make sure that they have every possible opportunity to see the light of the gospel?

Will your children rise up and call you blessed on the day of judgement? Will the children in your care, those in your church, or school, or community, rise up and call you blessed? Or will their response be somewhat other, on that last day?