Crossway Life

With Father’s Day fast approaching, the next several Fridays will be dedicated to honoring the men that we love and are privileged to call our husbands.

It is truly an honor to take this opportunity to highlight God’s amazing grace in my husband. Pete is a man who I have the distinct privilege of calling husband, father of my girls, and my very best friend. I have known Pete for more than half of my life. I remember meeting him in youth group and knowing that there was something special about him; he was pretty cute, too. He was a leader, he had a passion for God’s word, and a desire to see the Gospel spread. I am amazed that the teenager I observed for several years is now my husband of over 13 years. God had been so amazingly kind to me.

Pete, you are my dearest friend. I have more fun with you than anyone! You are faithful to point me to the Lord and redirect my gaze. You take time to invest in the lives of our daughters. I admire and respect your desire for the Lord that only continues to grow. I love you more now than I could have ever anticipated many years ago. I love that our girls have you as their model for a Godly husband. You are setting the bar high. Happy Father’s Day.

Here’s what our girlies have to say about you:

Hannah (age 11): ” I appreciate that you take time with me and talk with me about God and Jesus. I love going out to breakfast with you. I love you, Daddy.”

Hope (age 9): ” I like to work with you at your office. It’s fun, because we are together. I like riding my bike with you. Thank you for being such a great Dad.”

Faith (age 5): ” Thank you for the kite. I love you, Daddy. ” To Daddy. From Faith.

Felicity (age 4): ” Happy Father’s Day. Thanks for taking me to breakfast. I love you because you are very sweet and kind. Thank you Daddy for bringing me to your office. ( I want to be done. Can I go now?)

Baby Girl ( soon to be born): “I love you, too Daddy. Mommy’s trying to convince me to come on Father’s day. I’ll see what I can do.”

Pete, we all love and appreciate you so much. May you sense God’s great pleasure on this Father’s Day.

Last week was the annual Shape and Race derby that is the final event of our Father/Son ministry called Brigades. This year the pastor’s car did better as you can see in the video below. We actually made it all the way down the track and across the finish line in 3rd place!

The winners of the race were:

1st place – Nicholas Shoff, 2nd place – Mason Miller, 3rd place – Cameron Odell, 4th place – Dhariyon Harvon

The best of show winners were:

1st place – Nathan King, 2nd place – Nicholas Shoff, 3rd place – Kiernan Smith, 4th place – Nicholas Haughery

Pastor’s cars. On the left from 2007, the “Decaffeinator” and on the right from this year “Second Chance.”

Gal. 3:13 says,

“… cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.”

It is sobering to realize that when God the Father made that law, which is based on Deut. 21:22-23, he already knew what kind of death that Jesus was going to die. To be hanged publicly on a cross was a curse and one of the most shameful ways for a man to die.

The amazing thing about this is that Jesus, who redeemed us from the curse of the law, became that curse for us. He wasn’t accursed because he was on the tree. He was on the tree because he was accursed.

- Picture is of a cross placed on Ob Hill, South Pole in 1913 in honor of the members of the Robert F. Scott expedition.

Our young adults are waking up to their last day at New Attitude. From the sounds and looks of it, they have been blessed with a wonderful weekend of teaching, worship and fellowship. You can check out what they have been up to by visiting the liveblog where you can listen to all the messages and view a bunch of cool photos.

Why do some people believe in Jesus Christ as Savior while others do not? How do we account for this? It’s not a purely academic question, is it? Most of us have family or close friends who are resistant to God, who struggle with the idea of having Jesus as Lord. They might be atheists—or maybe they call themselves Christian but don’t understand the gospel and give little-to-no evidence of regeneration and conversion.

Dealing with a loved one’s unbelief can be tough. We are tempted to impatience (“Why don’t you just believe already?”), to arrogance (“I can’t believe you are being so selfish!”), to unbelief (“God, are you really at work here?”). I’m reminded of an article I read some years back which addressed this very issue:

… I remember how I once won an argument with a heathen friend of mine who, after I had whacked away his last scrap of defense, after I had successfully cut off every possible escape route that he could use, after I had backed him into an inescapable comer and hit him with a great unarguable truth, he blew me away by simply saying, “I do not want to be a Christian. I don’t want your Jesus Christ.” There was no argument left to be had or won. Faith is a matter of the will as much as it is of the intellect. I wanted to believe in Jesus. My friend wanted to believe in himself. In spite of how convincing my reason was, my reason was not compelling.

This hits us where we’re at, doesn’t it? The natural state of man is in rebellion against God, and unless our hearts are transformed, it doesn’t matter how compellingly the truth is presented to us. We must remember that our hope is in God and his gospel, not in our slick presentations or superior education. Ultimately, we must remind ourselves of this truth—the salvation of our loved ones, just like our own, depends on the gracious working of God. Ephesians 2:4-5 reminds us:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

That is our great hope! God, who is rich in mercy, makes us alive. God can make your loved one alive, in Christ. Do not despair. Hope in God. Continue to cry out to him. If he can overcome our hard hearts, he is surely able to save even the most wicked sinner.

Since our time here at the Pastor’s College is coming to an end, I thought I would share some thoughts and
highlights from our year.

It has been a little over 5 years since Steve and I first set foot in Crossway Church. When we first came through the doors at New Danville, we had never even heard of Sovereign Grace, and we could never have anticipated all that has since unfolded in our lives. These years have been full of amazing growth and discovery for us. Our theology is deeper, our worship richer, and our lives are truly changed from the faithful teaching and the humble people who have modeled these things to us. We are so incredibly grateful for you, our church, for Sovereign Grace at large, and for the impact that both have had on our lives.

One of the great joys of this past year has been meeting the 20 other couples/families who are also here for the Pastors College. We have made new friends from around the globe. Some are “neighbors” from Reading or Philly, while others are halfway around the world from Germany and Burma. There is a unique camaraderie here from sharing this year together. Having those relationships also knits our hearts to the churches in which they will be serving.

Another tremendous highlight has been to sit under the teaching and direction of CJ and Carolyn Mahaney, Gary and Betsy Ricucci, and Jeff and Julie Pursewell. They have all laid down their lives in unique ways that have contributed to the growth and success of our movement of churches. Their lives are all marked by an extreme humility which makes them very endearing, real and attractive. For example, the first Saturday of every month was a ladies meeting that met at the Ricucci’s home. All 20 of us ladies would cram into their living room and have the privilege of spending the morning under Betsy’s direction. We covered topics like spiritual disciplines, fellowship, and my personal favorite, lessons that she had learned from 30 years of being a pastor’s wife. I know if I walk away from this year embracing only one truth from those times I will be a changed woman.

One thing that has been surprising to me about this year is how Covenant Life Church loves and embraces
the Pastors College. They have overwhelmed us by the way they do “little things” to the extreme. Any
planned event (Sweetheart Banquet, Ladies Day Out, etc.) is done with such thorough care and creativity.
I also have had numerous members (a few with tears in their eyes) thank me for being here this year and
for the sacrifices that our family is making. I’m always a little stunned and not sure how to respond to
that! Their affection for us and for the church is truly remarkable. I honestly feel that this year has
been much more of a privilege than a sacrifice.

Having said all that, we are greatly anticipating our return to Lancaster. We love our home church and are
so thankful for you all. Often on return visits, you tell us how you and your families are praying for us. That means so much to us! Thank you for all your love, support, and help in this transition time.

I just finished the new book from Stephen Nichols, Jesus, Made in America. Dr. Nichols was my favorite prof during my time at Lancaster Bible College, so I was excited to see this book come out. Most importantly, he is tackling a very important topic–the American view of Jesus. He gives the reader a guided tour of how Jesus has been popularly understood in America from the time of the Puritans right up to today, and along the way are many interesting stops, including: Precious Moments, Jonathan Edwards, WWJD, the Jesus Action Figure, Billy Graham, Monty Python and more.

So what’s so important about this? Our culture profoundly influences our view of Jesus, and accordingly, our understanding of who he is as our Savior and Lord. Most of American culture does not outright deny Jesus, but subtly manipulates him: in The Passion of the Christ he’s the great Sufferer who endures the most horrific violence. In Precious Moments he’s the cuddly and adorable figurine who will always be your Bestest Buddy. In WWJD? paraphernalia he’s a moral inspiration, ready to inspire you with a glance. There are elements of truth to all of these depictions, but also significant and telling weaknesses. Nichols does a brilliant job at exposing the deviations and pointing us back to the real Jesus, not our Americanized version.