Only One Right Person

Joshua Harris on a day we all look forward to: “Everybody else in heaven will be wrong in a million different ways about a million different things. The Bible tells us that only those who trusted in Jesus Christ, who turned from sin and believed in him, will be in God’s presence. But on a host of secondary matters, we’ll all discover how much we got wrong.”

 Read the full blog post:

Only One Right Person

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Date Night Photos!

The hubby and I had 3 minutes to get some photos in before we rushed off to our movie (we saw "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes"... it was actually really good!) I decided to get all dolled-up for our date - I usually don't wear this much makeup, but I was in the makeup mood this time! Here are a couple of shots we got (some cute and some crazy)!! {:{:{eNjoY}:}:}

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Will We Protect the Little Ones?

John Knight: “Prenatal tests are not the problem. The problem is the bias of our culture against the lives of little ones born with Down syndrome. Our culture does not think that these littles ones should be given the opportunity to live.”

Will We Protect the Little Ones?

(click to read)

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My Summertime Flower Crochet Earrings

My first pair of crochet earrings... free-handed with no pattern. I made these several months ago, but for some reason never had to chance to upload the pics. So here's the finished result!

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How Big Is the Universe?

The universe has always fascinated me. The sheer beauty and enormity of it has never ceased to leave me speechless. As a matter of fact, I've wanted to be an astrophysicist since my early years in elementary school. I remember asking my parents if they would buy me astronomy books (and not the ones for kids, but for adults!), posters of the galaxy and stars to hang up in my room, and even glow in the dark star stickers to place all over my bedroom ceiling. Whenever I'd watch television, I would search for anything space-related as my top choice of program. Most frequently, they appeared on PBS, NOVA, or the Discovery Channel (thank God for these TV channels)!  In college, I was privileged with the opportunity to take an astronomy course, and to this day, I have all the text books and notes from that class - it was by far my favorite course.  I was drawn in by the mystery and transcendence of it all. The only reason why I'm not an astrophysicist today is because I didn't want to have to take all of the higher levels of calculus and physics just to get to the really cool stuff. I felt like it would strip me of my passion for the limitless skies I so adored since childhood.

So, naturally, when I came across this blog post by Tim Challies, I got super excited. Take a minute to read it HERE, and let your mind be amazed by the vast power, absolute authority, and majesty of our Creator.

The Hubble Space Telescope peered deep into the universe and spotted a bunch of galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars!

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"Man's Great End"

Puritan prayer video:

Man's Great End

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Pulpit Approval (a quote from a friend)

"Pastors, if you wanna be approved by everyone, preach for only 30 minutes (35 max), take out all the offensive stuff in the gospel, only talk about the "loving" nature of God, be very vague in your doctrines, don't talk bluntly about sin (make it comical), ignore your church members' sinful lifestyle, don't discipline, and tickle their ears. If you wanna be approved by God, be a man and don't compromise His word."

-Jean-Pierre Eugene

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"God the Source of All Good"

Puritan prayer video:

God the Source of All Good

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*NEW* Resources Tab

I figured I'd create a Resources tab to list all the Puritan Prayer videos (for easy finding) as well as links to some of my favorite sermons and books. I've been meaning to organize "my favorites" in some sort of way for some time now, and this just seemed like a good way to keep them all in one central location with their attached links. These lists will, obviously, get longer over time, but hopefully it will be helpful for someone!

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What to Say and Not to Say...

Crossway shares a helpful little excerpt from Justin and Lindsey Holcomb’s book on sexual assault. It simply shares some wisdom on what to say and what not to say to someone who reveals to you that they’ve been a victim of sexual assault.

Don’t say:

• I know how you feel.
• I understand.
• You’re lucky that ___________.
• It’ll take some time, but you’ll get over it.
• Tell me more details about what happened.
• I can imagine how you feel.
• Don’t worry, it’s going to be all right.
• Try to be strong.
• Out of tragedies, good things happen.
• Time heals all wounds.
• It was God’s will.
• You need to forgive and move on.
• Calm down and try to relax.
• You should get on with your life.

Do Say:

• I believe you.
• Thank you for telling me.
• How can I help?
• I’m glad you’re talking with me.
• I’m glad you’re safe now.
• It wasn’t your fault.
• Your reaction is not an uncommon response.
• It’s understandable you feel that way.
• You’re not going crazy; these are normal reactions.
• Things may not ever be the same, but they can get better.
• It’s OK to cry.
• I can’t imagine how terrible your experience must have been.
• I’m sorry this happened to you.

From Rid of My Disgrace by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb.

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"Regeneration"

Puritan prayer video: 

Regeneration



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God Can Use Anything to Illustrate a Point

Have you ever felt constant, intense physical pain? I'm talking about the kind of pain that doesn't get any better whether you're sitting, standing, laying down or wriggling around on the floor? You know, the kind of pain that will cause you to grit your teeth and make you want to rip your hair out in chunks?

Last week, I was struck with a medical issue (long story, but I'm fine now) and consequently, intense physical pain was its unfortunate sidekick. And boy, did it have a mighty kick! The pain lasted for several hours, each hour more dreadful than the last. Pain killers didn't seem to take action fast enough, and I tried to sleep, but my mind was too frantic as my nerves and pain sensors were on some kind of "atomic bomb" mode. Nothing seemed to work. I could do absolutely nothing but sit there and cry out. I was utterly helpless and desperate.

Exactly where I needed to be.

As I lay on the bed crying out to God to take the pain, I was hit with a penetrating awareness of my powerlessness and my neediness. God graciously took me a step further by catapulting this thought into a spiritual context. I'm sure many of you can identify with what I'm going say next. You see, sometimes in my life when everything seems to be going well for me, I am tempted to feel that I am in control. A false sense of self-reliance and pride tries to break its way in and numb my "spiritual nerves." If not watchful, these false assurances can lead me to seek God less in prayer and in my communion with Him and ultimately hinder my walk. After all, who needs God when you're on the throne? I know that sounds harsh, but essentially, that's what we are saying: "I can do things on my own. I am in control. I can provide for myself. I can protect myself. I can muster up my own strength to accomplish this thing. I can follow God's commands and bear good fruit on my own. I can..." and on and on. In our pride and idolatry, however subtle this may appear externally, we make ourselves little "gods" and sprinkle our speech with Christianese to cover the sin. And if we happen to find ourselves in this state, sometimes it takes a disaster or misfortune to shake us up and bring us back to reality. But the unmovable truth is that apart from God you can do absolutely nothing (John 15:5). The very air that fills your lungs was given to you by God (and by the way, lest you think your lungs magically work on their own, God sustains their function, too). So, if you can't even breathe without God, then how can you take credit or claim self-sufficiency in anything? I think you get my point.

God certainly made this point clear to me on that painful day. When I began to think about my physical affliction as a spiritually illustrated reality, it was a wonderful reminder of who I am in relation to who God is.

• I am powerless, but God is all-powerful (Psalm 147:5, 89:13).
• I am weak, but God's grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12:9, Isaiah 40:29).
• I am poor and needy, but God delivers me and redeems me (Psalm 72:12-13, 113:7; Matt.5:3).
• I am helpless, but God is my very present help (Psalm 46:1, 121:1-2, 34:17-19).
• I am broken and wounded, but God is my Healer (Psalm 147:3; Job 5:18). 
• I am a wretched sinner, but God is my Righteous Savior (Isa. 43:11, Eph. 2:4-9, Acts 4:12).

It seems that God can use just about anything to illustrate a deeper truth about who He is and the truths found in His Word. Oftentimes, He uses the worst of situations as the juiciest opportunities for our sanctification and spiritual growth. (If you don't think so, just read the book of Job, one of the many biblical examples of this). I consider this experience to have been bittersweet. Bitter for the obvious physical suffering, but sweet for God's shepherd-like reminder of his power and grace. May He be glorified in all things.

"(Suffering) strips us of our pride, self-sufficiency, complacency, and our oblivion to the things to come. Eternity is more deeply engraved on the rough palms of God's suffering children"(Horton, In The Face Of God , 176).

"Ease and luxury, such as our affluence brings today, do not make for maturity; hardship and struggle however do" (Packer, A Quest For Godliness , 22).

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