Dogs and Rabbits and Cats…oh my!

I like animals.  I really do.  I once stunned Brent Detweiler when we pulled into the church property and I spotted an owl.  With obvious excitement I pointed and cried out, “An owl!”  Brent was bemused, “Haven’t seen too many owls, Pete?”

But with our allergies and the thought of the added work and expense, Grace and I can’t imagine getting a dog or a cat.  At least I can’t imagine it in my saner moments.  There are times, however, when my sweet, harmless daughters form the most powerful kind of force.  They want a dog.  A dog, a dog, a dog.  Can I never escape it?

The thing that amazes me is that they are tireless in their request.  No matter how vehemently I deny the possibility, no matter how bluntly I shoot down the petition, no matter how often or how quickly I defeat the notion…they continue to ask.  I think it’s because their desire is so strong that they dare to dream, and a bit of faith begins to rise in them that just maybe this time…until they face the stark, cold reality.  Dad says “no.”

And dad will continue to say “no.”  Yes, these children are adorable and difficult to deny but I have the fortitude.

Nonetheless, they give us (as I’m sure all the children in our church do) a wonderful example.  There are some things so very excellent in their requests.  They acknowledge their dependence on me.  They acknowledge my provision.  They affirm my authority.  They even believe that I am good; that I may give ear to their request and might even possibly grant it.

No wonder Jesus tells his disciples to let the children come and that “to such belongs” his kingdom.  We are wise to emulate the faith of children when it comes to the only, truly good Father.

 

The Valley of Vision

The Valley of Vision is a theologically rich collection of Puritan prayers.  Each entry is full of Biblical truth that penetrates the heart and provokes the soul to Godliness.  It is hard to read these devotions and not be affected.  One such devotion I read this morning.  As I was reading, it seemed as though the author had been listening to the quiet prayer of my heart.

Truth in Jesus

Life-Giving God,

Quicken me to call upon thy name,

for my mind is ignorant,

my thoughts vagrant, my affections earthly,

my heart unbelieving, and only the Spirit can help my infirmities.

I approach thee as Father and Friend,

my portion forever,

my exceeding joy,

my strength of heart.

I believe in thee as the God of nature,

the ordainer of providence,

the sender of Jesus my Savior.

My guilty fears discourage an approach to thee,

but I praise thee for the blessed news that Jesus reconciles thee to me.

May the truth that is in Him illuminate in me all that is dark,

establish in me all that is wavering,

comfort in me all that is wretched,

accomplish in me all that is of thy goodness,

and glorify in me the name of Jesus.

Teach me that Christ cannot be the way if I am the end,

that he cannot be Redeemer if I am my own saviour,

that there can be no true union with him while the creature has my heart,

that faith accepts him as Redeemer and Lord or not at all.”

How I can identify with each of these lines.  God’s truth is timeless.  The contemplative heart cries of the Puritan are not much different than the prayers of my heart today.  The state of man and his need for a Savior is unchanging.  I am so grateful for this book that so eloquently depicts man’s sin nature and so articulately exalts the Savior.  The Valley of Vision is a wonderful source of encouragement for the Christian soul.  This is a great devotional book.

 

CJ on drums

Some may have seen this already but here is a video of CJ playing the drums at the Resolved Conference this summer with Enfield. (CJ appears about 3 minutes into the clip)

 

Whiter Than Snow

Paul Tripp has just published a new book entitled Whiter Than Snow. It is a book of 52 meditations on Psalm 51 designed to encourage all of us who have ever “blown it” to look to our only hope for help in those moments - the mercy of God. Psalm 51 is David’s story, it’s my story, it’s everyone’s story. And when we blow it, the only thing we can do is to throw ourselves on the mercy of God. The problem is, few of us do that, myself included. So often my first response when I make a mistake is to appeal to my own righteousness. I seek to locate the problem outside of myself in my circumstances or in someone else. What I need in that moment is mercy that I don’t deserve as Tripp explains so clearly,

Before you can ever make a clean and unamended
confession of your sin, you have to first begin by confessing
your righteousness. It’s not just your sin that separates you from God;
your righteousness does as well. Because, when you are convinced
you are righteous, you don’t seek the forgiving, rescuing, and restoring
mercy that can be found only in Jesus Christ.

I have been moved to conviction on a number of occasions as I have begun to read this book slowly (it’s one of those books you have to read slowly). I have also been surprised to discover a deeper joy in my faith as I have contemplated God’s mercy in a fresh way. Check out the first few chapters and see what you think Preface, The Story, and Meditations 1-4

 

Worship Conference Part 2 (or, “The metal pole, my head, and 800 people watching”)

Heading down to the WorshipGod conference I was aware that 2 songs that I had written for Sovereign Grace’s just released “Psalms” CD were going to be introduced during the conference’s worship times.

Knowing how my heart operates and can be tempted in those circumstances to pride, I confessed to Brenda and to the other pastors before leaving, and asked for their prayers.  I remember praying the morning before leaving for the conference for God to deliver me from pride and to draw me to boast only in the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24).  He answered this prayer two fold:

First: I woke up the day of the conference with a major kink in my neck.  The pain was bad, and at every movement of my head a quick reminder came to me of Christ’s words in 2Cor. 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you.”  By God’s wise and wonderful design, pride was pounded during the conference by pain in my neck.

Second: during the sermon in the final session on Saturday morning, I needed a bathroom break, so I walked down the bleachers, and headed to the nearest exit.  As I walked, I noticed that Mark Altrogge was seated in the front row of the bleachers right near the exit, and after leaning in for a brief exchange, I turned around &

SMACK!!!!!!!!

My head konked on the steel railing, in front of 800 watching spectators on bleachers, sending a resounding

GONG!!!!!!!!!

through the entire auditorium.   The preacher had, by God’s wise design, paused in contemplation at the moment of my gong.  It really hurt.  Ouch, my pride, my head!

As clear as the note that my head sounded, God spoke to me as I recovered from the injury in the bathroom.  He reminded me of His fatherly care, of His faithfulness to deliver His children from their enemies.

Isn’t He good?

 

Worship Conference Part I

Along with 13 other Crossway members, I returned Saturday afternoon from the Sovereign Grace WorshipGod Conference that took place at Covenant Life Church.  We had plenty to feast on, so much so that it will require 2 posts to attempt to unpack what was crammed into 4 days of worship, teaching and fellowship.

First off - I love our worship team.  We have such a humble, talented group of folks.  Going to these conferences causes me to thank God for this group He has assembled and equipped for ministering through music.  We are a deeply blessed local church.  Special props go out to those who made the trek down to Gaithersburg for the conference… it was a delight to be together!

I would highly recommend everyone in the universe to head to the Sovereign Grace website in a few days to download and listen to the main session messages from the conference (when they are made available).

Here’s a quick rundown of the conference -

• Topic: the Psalms
• 6 Main sessions, totalling approx. 14 hours of worship & teaching, plus 8 hours of seminars
• Average sleep time: 4 hours (at least for me and John Teeter)
• New Sovereign Grace “Psalms” CD unveiled, their best yet (in my opinion). It will be made available at our resource center soon!  You can download a free song from the CD HERE.

In Part 2 I will share some specific things the Lord brought my way at the conference… stay tuned.

 

The Gospel for Dummies

Okay, folks.  I am not your typical book recommender.  That department is usually well covered by my husband.  So, knowing that this recommendation comes from someone who has to make herself read books that are good for her mind… take heed all you non-readers.

Last fall, I was given a copy of A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent.  It’s a small book, almost looks like a little journal.  The book very simply but very thoroughly walks through what the gospel is, and what it means for my everyday life.  Think Gospel 101.  I just started my 4th read through it.  It has been so incredibly helpful to me in so many ways.  First off, it is written in small paragraph form so I can read a tremendously rich paragraph that will be food for my soul all day.  That is very helpful to me as a busy mom!  But more than that, the truth that I am reading and re-reading has been actually affecting me.  I find myself chewing on his words throughout my day.  I think it is because Vincent presents the gospel in such an easily understandable & applicable way.  That is what my mind needs.  And the last thing that I really appreciate is that he puts the gospel into his own words but then has footnotes all throughout referencing the scriptures he’s using.  He even has the scriptures typed out on the bottom of the page so I don’t have to look them up!

Here is a quote from a section I read this morning under the heading “Resting in Christ’s righteousness”:

“On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace towards me.  On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis on Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.”

These are the biblical truths that I need to remind myself of over and over.

I wanted to share my newest “treasure” with you all in hopes that some of you will pick up a copy at the church’s resource center and find as much richness and help as I have.