I happened to see this on Hollie’s blog. As I decided to stay up and have some “me” time while everyone is in bed, my “me” time has turned into “Audrey” time. If you are familiar with the christian group “Selah”, you know who Todd Smith is. He and his wife have an amazing tory of faith and praise in the eye of death. Please, for the love of all that is good, set some time aside, and go to Angie’s site. Read from the beginning. You will feel hurt you have never felt for another person, as well as a respect and admiration for them beyond expectations. Here is a link to the very first post in the story of Audrey. After you read the post, go to the end of the page and click “newer post”.
Tonight, my heart was broken by my daughter. We were having the typical night of the kids going crazy and disobeying everything we say. Kaitlyn went a bit too far, and she was told she was getting a spanking. When I took her into our room, she continued to tell me she would be good. I told her not to try to make a deal with me. Anyway, as it neared to the spanking, I talked through with her what she had done. She understood that what she did was sin and needed to be punished. She knows about Jesus dying for her, and has trusted in him as her savior(which is something we will not question but nurture and search for fruit). As I talked about God punishing his son for our sin instead of us, I explained to her what mercy is. I told her that mercy is when we sin and should be punished, but God chooses not to punish us but chose instead to punish Jesus on the cross. The conversation then went like this:
ME: Daddy is going to give you mercy tonight.
Kaitlyn(Balling hysterically): But, I don’t want it! I don’t want it!
ME: Wait, wait, wait. Kaitlyn, that is a good thing. Kaitlyn, stop crying.
Kaitlyn: Please, no.
I then had to explain to her that mercy is not what God did to Jesus, but what he didn’t do to us. So, we sat and talked while she calmed down. We then prayed, and she asked Jesus to forgive her for sinning. It was sweet, but I couldn’t imagine what was going through her head when I said that to her.
Jesus was very clear that the world would reject us(at times, solely for our faith). Sometimes, however, we wonder why they won’t even listen to a word we say. It’s like they see through us, or atleast see through other “Christians” who have abused the grace God has given them. Want to know why the world rejects us sometimes? Most unbelievers don’t reject Christianity, rather they reject their view of it. Many times that view comes from people like this. If the task of reaching the lost wasn’t hard enough at times, this can’t help. Be in prayer for guys like this to see the result of their “bash-em-up” evangelism and change.
An email newsletter I sibscribe to had this as their latest article.
What I Wish Heath Ledger Would have Known
No, this isn’t a ‘let’s exploit any and all things Heath Ledger’ article. I really liked Mr. Ledger, and I’m incredibly saddened for his loved ones - and especially his two year old daughter. He was a very talented individual with an extremely promising future.
Yet despite all these facts, there is a cultural fascination and frenzy to find out what reeeeeallly happened - even if it means complete and absolute disrespect for his family and friends. There are leaked videos and speculative allegations about substance abuse and addictions. It seems as though everyone wants to get to the bottom of this apparent mystery.
Is it really such a mystery? It is truly headline and blogosphere news that despite apparently having it ‘all’, that ‘all’ is really quite nothing? And even further, are we shocked and awed that people in pain often turn to the way wrong places to temporarily soothe the seething ache and oftentimes agony of this thing called life?
Well, not to me. Not because I’m some super-genius-I-know-everything-about–life person, but because I believe the Person who wrote these facts down in black and white in the world’s #1 best seller of all time. These aren’t theories or debatable concepts, because what you are about to read are the simple truths from the Author of truth. They are the warning lights on the dashboard of existence…they are the warning labels on the bottle of reality. Read carefully, and you might find the real secret to a meaningful life:
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9)
“Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.” (Luke 12:15)
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (Ecclesiastes 1:2,
Don’t be misled-you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:7-
The Bible paints a not-so-subtle picture of life in real and raw terms. The true portrait of existence reveals the wickedness of human nature, the meaninglessness and emptiness of our day to day struggles, and the inevitable consequences when we choose the wrong path. This is what oftentimes drives even the best and the brightest to depression, drugs, and even death. The wicked heart tells the hopeless soul that life will always be meaningless, so why not just live to satisfy our sinful nature?
But there is another way. A way that I wish for Britney and Lindsay and Barry and Owen and Heath and millions of others who feel trapped in a speeding train headed down a dark tunnel.
This way is not a way, it is the only way. Jesus said it Himself:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
(Jesus asked) - Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Only Jesus can reveal our wicked and deceptive hearts, give true meaning to life, and keep us off a destructive path. He died to set us free, but to get out of the prison of life we have to look out of our dark pit to see His face, then lift our hands of faith to Him so he can rescue us.
Regrettably, it is too late for many people to find these truths, but if you’re reading this it is obviously not too late for you. Take your pain to Christ, put your trust in Him alone for salvation - and you’ll find the life you were meant to live!
Head: What you need to know about this truth
God’s word promises that the human heart is wicked and deceitful, that life is meaningless without Christ, and that we will reap the consequences of our evil actions. However, through a relationship with Jesus, we can be set free from all these conditions.
Heart: What you need to feel about this truth
Feel incredible joy that the prison door of life has been opened and you can be set free to live the life God intended.
Hands: What you need to do about this truth
People do not end up in a depressive state overnight. They are deceived and discouraged time and time again until they turn the wrong direction. Take some time this week to look where you might be allowing deceit in your life, and take some radical steps to run the other way. Examples of deadly deception might be:
Pornography is harmless.
I can quit anytime.
Pre-marital sex is OK if you’re in love.
I just have an addictive personality.
Hatred towards people is OK sometimes.
I don’t listen to the words.
Some of you have heard of Beth’s mom’s recent spat with possible Ovarian Cancer. They had found a huge mass on her ovary a few weeks ago. Beth’s grandma told her mom a few days before the exploratory surgery that she had Catholics, Methodists,and Baptists praying for her, so she was pretty much covered. We chuckled at it, but it was great to see how many people were praying for her. After the surgery this past week, I told Beth the Pentecostals must have been praying to(again as humor). When the doctors went in they were expecting to remove both ovaries and possibly a kidney, as there seemed to be something on one of them as well. Praise God, because he made it quite a bit easier and showed up with his power. The doctors found no trace of this mass on her ovary. There was no sign of tumors anywhere, and they dug around quite a bit to find it. We’re very excited at what God has done.
A friend of ours from church was in a pretty bad accident last night. He broke his hip socket and his pelvis so bad that they will have to do surgery on it. The recovery will be anywhere form 2-4 months if all goes well. Please pray for him. His name is Joe. Even more please pray for his family. He has a wife and 4 kids. This is going to be an extremely trying time as he won’t be able to work during this time. As a carpenter I know it will be exceptionally hard getting back into his job. Please be praying very intentionally for them. Thanks.
As I said in a recent post, Starfield is one of my new favorite Christian artists. Their song, “Unashamed”, pounds me when I hear it. The song pierces me the whole way through.
I have not much
To offer You
Not near what You deserve
But still I come
Because Your cross
Has placed in me my worthOh, Christ my King
Of sympathy
Whose wounds secure my peace
Your grace extends
To call me friend
Your mercy sets me freeAnd I know I’m weak
I know I’m unworthy
To call upon Your name
But because of grace
Because of Your mercy
I stand here unashamedI can’t explain
This kind of love
I’m humbled and amazed
That You’d come down
From heavens heights
And greet me face to face
Lately I’ve had plenty of time to listen to the CD player in my car on the way to and from work. I’ve been able to take advantage of this and listen to a bunch of podcasts during my commute. It’s really helped me focus on a lot of things and understand some books and their authors better. My next few posts will be about those podcasts and what I’ve learned from them.
One series I’ve been working through for the past few days is the audio from the 2004 Desiring God conference at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. John Piper is the teaching and writing pastor at the church. Some of his books include Desiring God, Don’t Waste Your Life, Life As a Vapor, What Jesus Demands of the World, and others. His books are hard to read, as he puts a lot of bigger words and illustrations in them.
The theme of the ‘04 conference was “Sex and the Supremacy of Christ”. You may recognize the title. He has a book out by the same title. The book is actually a summary of the messages preached at the conference. Speakers included Ben Patterson, Cj Mahaney, Piper, Mark Dever, and Al Mohler. At one point Piper used the illustration comparing God to the Sun. The sun is the center of the universe. It holds the planets in orbit. Every planet is placed perfectly in the universe in relstion to the sun. This is a picture of how we should view God in our lives. We need to make him the center of us. He has placed us with a perfect plan perfectly where we are. He orders all, and nothing is out his plan. What I learne i that I need to make him the center o my life, which I haven’t done.
