responsive reading from our wedding

Tomorrow is our second anniversary, and I’m finally getting around to something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  Actually, I’ve wanted to do it since about 1997, when I visited my New Testament professor’s home.   He and his wife had their vows hanging up in their kitchen for all to see and for them to remember daily.  I thought that was such a neat idea.

Plus, Lawrance and I are making our wedding vows a part of our anniversary.  Each year, on our anniversary we repeat them to each other again.  So, as I’m digging through my hard drive trying to find them, I also stumbled upon the responsive reading we used in our Taiwanese wedding.  Of course in the Taiwanese wedding, we used Chinese, but for my planning purposes, I used English.

I’m not sure where the idea came from–at this point it’s anyone’s guess.  We had a few goals with our weddings–one was to stress the idea of a covenant, one was to stress grace, and another was to make Scripture central to everything.  So, I compiled verses from the Bible into a responsive reading–I do remember it being too long and having a hard time cutting it down to a reasonable length.  Another couple that got married after us had a man and woman take turns reading aloud these verses at their wedding, and that worked beautifully too.

Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. (Gen 2:18)

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. (Gen 2:21)

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. (Gen 2:22)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen 2:24)

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. (Prov 18:22)

House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. (Prov 19:4)

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Eph 5:22)

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.(Eph 5:23)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Eph 5:25)

Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Eph 5:28)

You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Col 3:12)

You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Col 3:13)

And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Col 3:14)

And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Col 3:17)

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. (1 Thessalonians 3:12)

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Mat 19:6)

Perhaps I’ll ask Lawrance when he gets home whether or not we also want to make reading these scriptures together a part of either our Aug 31st or our March 7th celebrations.

heaven’s eight blessings 天國八福

Last night, someone shared a video of the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” on Facebook.

Lawrance watched it, and since it was really catchy I asked about it.  He simply said, “oh, it’s the eight Christian blessings.”

And then the cogs in my brain started turning.  First I thought: “That’s really cool.  Some Chinese person who knows that eight is an auspicious number meaning blessing and fullness created a neat way to share truth.”
Then I thought: “Hmmm, I wonder how they choose only eight.  I wonder what those eight blessings are.  I wonder if they’re truly biblical.”

Fast-forward to today.  Lawrance found another video with hundreds of people dancing in the street at an event called “Kaohsiung for Jesus.”

I wanted to watch it for myself, so he sent me the link.  It was only then that I realized that “Heaven’s Eight Blessings” were the “Beatitudes”!

So, um, yeah.  That’s pretty biblical.  I never before realized there were eight of them.  I have no idea if that number had significance to the immediate culture Christ was “opening his mouth and teaching” to, but it sure does have a lot of significance to the Taiwanese and Chinese!  How cool!!!

Watch and see for yourself, how Taiwanese have turned the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” into a dancing chant:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

(Matthew 5:3-10 ESV)

we all need friends

In life, we need friends.  But, we need different kinds of friends. 
From Paul's life, we can see some of the different kinds of friendships
we need.  I think we need in life:

1. a Barnabas,


2. a Paul,


3. a Timothy,*


4. and other companions too.

Paul and Barnabas were close friends.  Barnabas helped Paul get started in the ministry (Acts 11:19-26).  After that, their names are mentioned together as a pair twenty times
in just a few chapters of Acts: Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas and Paul. 
These two spent quite a bit of time together preaching the Good News;
they were co-workers in ministry.  Paul and Barnabas also had the
freedom to "disagree strongly" with each other (Acts 15:36-40). 
We all need friends who we can accomplish like-mind goals with, people
who will be there with us and have the same vision and heartbeat that
we do, but who are not afraid to challange us and hold us accountable
to truth.

In addition to needing friends to walk along side us, we need friends who can mentor us and friends who we can mentor.  In 1 Timothy 2:1,
Paul calls Timothy his "true child in the faith."  It is obvious in his
letters to Timothy that Paul is teaching and guiding Timothy, taking
him under his proverbial wing.  I have always treasured the "Pauls" in
my life, older women who have walked the path before me who can help me
to follow it.  Likewise, I am able to help others who are just now walking along parts of the path I've already tread.  It is important that we have mentors in our
life and that we mentor others as well. 

I often tend to picture Paul "out there" on his own trailblazing and
spreading the gospel alone.  But that is not an accurate picture.  Paul
had other companions, male--Titus, Silas, Luke, Mark, Apollos,
Epaphroditus, Aquila--and female--Pricillia, Phoebe, Lydia, Euodia, and
Syntyche--just to name a few of his brothers and sisters in the Lord. 
In Paul's letters to the various churches, he mentions some by name
sending greetings or thanking them for help sent.  Paul clearly had many
friends who he lived in close communion with and considered beloved.

Like Paul, we too need others.  We need to be supported and helped.  We need companionship and fellowship.  Friendships and friends in all shapes and
sizes are needed! 

We may be walking an unknown path, but we do not walk it alone--praise the Lord! 

*This idea is not originally mine.  I once heard a speaker in
college talk about finding in our lives a Paul, a Barnabas, and a
Timothy.  His idea of types of friends to seek out has never left me.

(Originally posted in 2006.)

isn't He good?

This Sovereign Grace Song has been playing on repeat in my head again:

Your goodness
Found us in the darkness
Rescued us and freed us
Cleansed us from within
You saved us
Freely You forgave us
Counted us as righteous
And heirs with Your own Son

Isn’t He good, isn’t He kind
Hasn’t He blessed us time after time
Isn’t He good, all of our days
With endless mercies
And ceaseless grace
Oh let us sing: He is good

Your mercies meet us
With the daybreak
And every breath that we take
Points us to Your grace
Your power
Keeps us till the hour
Every knee will bow and
Worship Christ alone

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV)

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to
accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, NLT)

reading scripture by genre

Usually I enjoy structure and much order.  I don't like it when someone changes the song in the middle--I need completion, please let the song finish and then change it. 

I don't like flipping the channel during commercials; mute is just fine, thank you.  All that jumping around annoys me. 

I can't start one novel without finishing another one first.  If the novel is bad, it hangs around for awhile unread and keeping me from reading other novels, till finally I get smart enough to just throw it away and move on. 

So, why am I telling you all about my completion-complex?  I'm trying something new this year--reading the Bible by genre, reading a different genre each day.  So far, I'm enjoying it despite my completion-complex.

Let me explain.  Each day of the week I read a different genre (literary type)--so on Sundays it's the Gospels, Monday it's law, Tuesday it's narrative/history, Wednesday it's the Psalms, Thursday it's poetry, Friday it's prophecy, and Saturday it's the epistles.  Kinda interesting, huh?

I don't recall at all how I surfed upon this plan, but I do know that the genre based Bible reading plan that I am using is from this site.

At first I thought it might get confusing or I might not like all the jumping around.  I thought I might lose focus or concentration.  Nope.  Not at all. 

One thing I have noticed different with this reading plan is that
since each genre is not equal in length, but they still divided each genre into fifty-two selections, some days the section is only
two chapters while other days it might be six. 

Nevertheless, I am actually quite enjoying having each day specialize on a certain type of writing.

Hmmm . . . wonder if I'd enjoy the Literary Study Bible.

Do you use a reading plan to guide your daily study of Scripture?  If so, what kind of plan are you using?  Are you enjoying it?

worship

Reading through the biblical account of the Creation and the Fall get me excited.  They are my second favorite part of the Bible "to story" to people who have never heard it before.  There is some really great stuff in there that as people who've grown up with the story just totally miss.  (Note to self: this is a post topic for another day.)

But, the other day, in the midst of being excited about reading the opening chapters of Genesis, I saw something I'd never noticed before: it was during Seth's lifetime that men began to worship (call upon the name of the Lord or be called by the name of the Lord). 

I read my Bible with colored pencils near by so I can mark themes (kinda my own version of Kay Arthur's inductive study).  One of the things I love marking is worship.  So, perhaps that is why this time I actually saw this verse.  This verse left me pondering much and asking lots of questions.  I did look it up in a commentary, so I could get some of my questions answered.

All this thinking about worship reminded me of a post I wrote last January  . . . I share it with you again:

Do you wanna know what verse my kid-brother (13 yo) counts as his favorite verse in the Bible?

I'll give you a hint: it comes from today's chronological Bible reading.

Sam's favorite Bible verse (if memory serves me right) is Job 1:21: "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"
(And this is coming from a kid who had all of his birthday presents and
all  of his Christmas presents from 2005 stolen during multiple break-ins in the
course of just a few months.)

I, however, tend to favor the verse right before Sam's favorite:
"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the
ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20).

In a matter of seconds--in the time it takes to utter a few
sentences--the greatest man of all the people in the east tragically
lost each and everyone of his ten children, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels,
500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and all but four of his very many
servants. 

And what does the grief-stricken guy do? He worships.

I love that word: w o r s h i p. 

It has become so much more meaningful to me living here in Taiwan.
I have seen people worshiping great, big, HUGE idols, people worshiping
tiny 12-inch tall idols, people worshiping old trees, people worshiping
even the stumps of old dead trees, people worshiping stones and
tablets, people worshiping ancestors (both those from generations long
ago and those recently deceased).

My idea of what is worship has changed so much since living here.
Before it was only something I did with others.  It was something I did
in Church--it was singing songs and listening to sermons.   What I did
alone was "quite time" or "devotions."  When I was a new believer, I
did not know I could or should bow before God of All and worship.

Don't get me wrong.  I knew and could teach others and wax eloquent
about the fact that our daily act of worship was how we lived our
lives. And, I knew that worship is a coperate act we do together when
we gather as believers.

Don't get me wrong.  I know that people in the western world
"worship idols"--TV, football, blogging, movie stars and so on. I know
that.

But that is not what I am talking about.  This is different.  It is markedly different. 

We, in the West, do not kneel before our TVs and computers clasping
our hands in front of us and make a choice to actually, physicaly bow
before a graven image of the "god of entertainment."  But, I have
friends, coworkers, students, neighbors who do make the choice to
kneel before an idol, clasp their hands around sticks of incense and
worship.

Watching them worship has changed the way I myself worship the
Almighty.  I cling to that word "worship" in the Bible more so now than
ever.

Job, upon hearing that all he owned was destroyed, did what?  He worshiped. 

The scholars from the East followed a star and traveled miles and miles, why?  They wanted to worship. 

What did one of my favorite characters in the Bible, Gideon, do
after hearing the interpretation of his dream?  That's right, he
worshiped. 

Moses, Joshua, David, Samuel . . . they all "worshiped." 

Often the Bible simply tells us "he worshiped."   Sometimes it says "they bowed their heads and worshiped," but, many, many times it is written as "and he fell down and worshiped."

When
was the last time you "fell down worshiped"?  When was the last time
you stopped activity, put aside the reading plan, the prayer request
list, and memorization cards, and worshiped? 

Don't
get me wrong.  I am not saying don't do those things.  I am not even
saying those can't be "acts of worship."  But, I am wondering, when was the last time you (and I) fell down, face to the earth, and worshiped the Most High God?

I wanna be like Job, and Gideon, and Moses, and David, and Samuel,
and . . . . .  I want my first response to the proclamation of good
news to be that I worship.  I want my first desire after hearing bad
news to be that I worship. 

And so, after she clicked save, she knelt before the Most High God and worshiped.

Originally posted on January 4, 2006.

spitting on the Bible

No intro needed . . . just watch.

HT: persecution blog

God's free mercy

"The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made" (Psalm 145:9).

It is God's free mercy which every day keeps hell and my soul asunder.

It is God's free mercy which daily pardons my sins.

It is God's free mercy which supplies all my inward and outward needs.

It is God's free mercy which preserves, and feeds, and clothes my outward man.

It is God's free mercy which renews, strengthens, and prospers my inward man.

It is God's free mercy which has kept me many times from committing such and such sins.

It is God's free mercy which has kept me many a time from falling before such and such temptations.

It is God's free mercy which has many a time preserved me from being swallowed up by such and such inward and outward afflictions.

(Thomas Brooks, 1669,
"A Cabinet of Choice Jewels. Public Domain as seen on Grace Gems.)

"Great is your mercy, O Lord" (Psalm 119:156).  Oh, let us rejoice that we have such a merciful God!!  "I will sing of the tender mercies of the Lord forever!" (Psalm 89:1).

The Beauty of Truth

The beauty of truth is that it sets us free.

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32).

I know . . . I've experienced this truth--that the truth sets us free--several times.

As a kid, lying was probably the sin I struggled with most.  I didn't lie straight out, I stretched the truth or made up my own "stretched facts."   I blurred the lines between reality and my imagination.  But, still it was lying.  I distinctly remember one day--maybe in third or fourth grade--sitting in the cafeteria and telling one of my stretched stories.  I remember being so convicted.  I realized that I couldn't keep all the details of all my stretched stories straight.  It was liberating to discover that if I told the truth and only the truth, I didn't have to worry about keeping anything straight.

In college, I sinned and then was convicted by the Holy Spirit; I struggled for an entire summer with the guilt of not confessing it.  The moment I went to the person I had sinned against and confessed, the moment I told her the truth, I was able to breathe freely again. 

A few years ago, I suffered from depression.  Part of it was hormonal, and while hormonally imbalanced, it was easy for me to believe "warpy thoughts."   So, part of getting out of the deep dark pit of depression was washing away the lies I had been believing with Scripture.  I remember one of my friends telling me: "no wonder your depressed, anyone who believes that would be depressed."   Her speaking truth to me and encouraging me to feed on Scripture again, helped set me free from the chains of depression.

Satan is the father of lies, and shoots flaming darts at us.  "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing
to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of
lies" (John 8:44).  He loves to keep us bound and imprisoned.

Oh, but our Heavenly Father delights in truth in his inward being (Psalm 51:6).  And it is Him who sets us free.  His truth sets us free.   What a glorious thing to delight in! 

Truth . . what a very beautiful thing indeed!

This post was submitted to the Carnival of Beauty sponsored by following an unknown path.  This week the theme is The Beauty of Truth and is hosted by Bethany at Picturesque Life. Join us next week for The Beauty of Babies--right here on my blog. 

wait, wait, wait

A Maranatha Music song from the late 1970's has been running through my head all weekend:

We must wait, wait, wait on the Lord

We must wait, wait, wait on the Lord . . .
In His timing He will tell us
What to do, where to go, what to say

You know there are times when the path might be unknown, but there is only one way to go--forward--so that is what you do.

But, what about when the path has a "y" or comes to a "t"?  Ahh, that is when life gets exciting.  That is when faith is tested. 

So, here I stand at a "y" in this unknown path waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.

It is, oh, so tempting to do things the Amanda-way.  It is, oh, so tempting to apply Amanda-logic.  It is, oh, so tempting to not be patient!

"Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long" (Psalm 25:5).

I found this sermon by James Smith (1869) to be of great comfort, encouragement, and exhortation.  If you find yourself in a place of waiting--please do click over and at least skim if not soak in what he is saying.

Here is a not-so-brief clip:

Believer, you may be independent of all creation by realizing your dependence upon your God, and waiting upon him continually.

You must believe:

the love he has to you,
his watchful care over you,

his delight in you,

the promises he has given you,

the provision he has made for you,

the glory he will get by you, and

the honor to which he intends to raise you.

In so doing,

the fear of man will die,
joy in God will spring up,
the peace of God will fill your heart and mind,
your dependence on creatures will cease, and
you will be happy in looking only to the Lord.

"My soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from him." "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you to inherit the land– when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it."

. . .

Before us are difficulties, seemingly as great as the Red Sea before Israel; behind us are obstacles, as fearful as the Egyptians behind them. Besides which, we have no Moses with the rod of God to make a way for us.

What can we do? Do as the prophet of old did, who said–-"I will wait upon the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look
for him." Yes, wait on the Lord, who has given you this precious promise–-"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go; I  will guide you with my eye." He will point out the way, he will teach you in the way, he will guide as a loving Father or a faithful friend.

There are no difficulties with him. He sees the end from the beginning. He has directed thousands, millions, who have been in as great or greater difficulties than you are. What he has done for others, he will do for you. Hear his own word–-"I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

Wait, therefore, on the Lord, and say–-"Behold, as the eyes of  servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden  unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us." (emphasis mine; the sermon is public domain)

The entire sermon is good.  Smith
covers in what circumstances we must wait, what we should wait for,
what we should do while we wait, and even why we should wait. 

I wanna keep cutting and pasting more, but I will refain from doing so and just once again say: go read it if you find yourself, like me, in a place a waiting. 

Oh, and when I am done waiting . . . I'll tell you which part of the "y" I was instructed to take.

Father, please help me to be patient as I wait upon you as I follow this unknown path.  There are times, like right now, when I wish the path wasn't quite so unknown.  But, I am ever so grateful that you are the one who is guiding my every step.  It is upon you that I depend.  And, so, I wait on you, trusting you, depending on you alone.

to die is gain

"For me to live is Christ, and to
die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).

Look upon your dying day as a gainful day.
There is  no gain compared to that which comes in by death.  A Christian gets more by death, than he does by life.  To be in Christ is very good--but to be with Christ is best of all, "I desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is better by far!" Phil. 1:23. It
was a mighty blessing for Christ to be with Paul on earth--but it

was the top of blessings for Paul to be with Christ in heaven! Seriously consider these things--

By death you shall gain incomparable crowns!

   A crown of life, Rev. 2:10; James 1:12;

   A crown of righteousness, 2 Tim. 4:8;

   An incorruptible crown, 1 Cor. 9:24-25;

   A crown of glory, 1 Pet. 5:4.

There are no crowns compared to these crowns!

By death you  shall gain a glorious kingdom! "It is your Father's pleasure to give you a kingdom!" We must put off their rags of mortality--that
we may put on our robes of glory. There is no entering into paradise--but under the flaming sword of this angel, death--who stands at the gate. Death is the
dirty lane through which the saint passes . . .

  to a kingdom,

  to a great kingdom,

  to a glorious kingdom,

  to a peaceful kingdom,

  to an unshaken kingdom,

  to a durable kingdom,

  to a lasting kingdom, yes,

  to an everlasting kingdom!

Death is the dark, short way, through which the saints pass to the marriage-supper of the Lamb!

(Thomas Brooks, 1675, from "Words of counsel
to a dear dying friend,"
Public Domain as seen on Grace Gems.

Grace Gems has Brooks' comforting seven page letter, "Words of counsel to a dear
dying friend in it's entirety.")

 

the splendor of flowers

 

The lens of my camera loves to focus on flowers.  Maybe that is because the amateur photographer behind the lens loves to gaze upon flowers. :)

Each flower is unique and special and beautiful.  How creative God is!!

And, if he takes time to dress the flowers in splendor, how much more does he care for us? 

“Therefore
I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or
what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not
life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look
at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But
if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  (Matthew 6:25-34, emphasis mine)

How great God is!!

This post was submitted to the Carnival of Beauty sponsored by following an unknown path.  This week the theme is The Beauty of Flowers and is hosted by Ellen at MzEllen & Co.  Join us next week for The Beauty of the Holy Spirit. 

P.S.  Can you tell that the bottom left-hand photo is the flower that is in the logo for the CoB?

the creativity of the Uncreated One

I recently heard God called the "Uncreated One" in a song.  How neat is that!?! . . . I had never thought of that before.   I'd always thought of him only as the "Creator-God" without acknowledging that means He is also the "Uncreated One."

The bibical creation account ends with our uncreated God saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26).

The beauty of being made in God's image is that mankind is different from all other creatures and in that it reveals our family resemblance to our
heavenly Father.

All over the world and throughout time humans have several characteristics which seperate us from all other creatures. For example: We are moral.  We are able to value beauty.  We long to know and be known; relaionships are central to who we are.  We are spiritual and are souls.  We have understanding and intellegence.  And, perhaps my favorite, we are creative. 

God's creativity never ceases to amaze me.  I am taken aback by how unique each of his creations are--how intricate and complex, how beautiful.  Travelling to other countries has given me the opportunity to see flowers I'd never seen before, eat crazy looking, great tasting fruits I'd never seen before, gaze upon colorful, unique tropical fish, and admire beautiful diverse landscapes that cannot be caputured on film or with an artist's paintbrush. I love watching the sun set and rise because each time is different from all the times before.  The Uncreated One's creativity streches beyond anything we can grasp with human minds. 

But, the Uncreated One has made us in His image, and He made each of us creative.  We each find different--unique--ways to express our creativity.  Some are excellent cooks.  Some are amazing architects.  Some are playwrites, authors, songwriters, coreographers, inventors, artists. 

We see humanity's creative charasteristic even in children.  They are perhaps some of the most creative among us.  I love talking to and playing with children because their imaginations are so active--they think of things I never would have.

Each one of the distinct characteristcs I mentioned above could be an entire blog post all on their own.  The depth with which this week's topic--the Beauty of Being Made in
God's Image--could go made me not want to post on it at all
since I don't have time to really dig into all that this means this
morning.

So, please go visit Keziah on Wednesday at A Woman who Fears the Lord to see how creatively other women discussed the beauty of being made in God's image!  And, next week, just in time for Easter our theme is The Beauty of the Resurrection and will be hosted by Lindsey at Just Enjoy the Journey.  Consider joining us!  We'd love to have you be a part!

active & effective sharing

If you are reading my blog . . . I have prayed this for you:

". . . that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ" (Philemon 6, ESV).

". . . that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" (Philemon 6, NIV).

a one-line autobiography

I have a guest blogger today who has been studying the book of Romans recently.  I'll let him take care of the introductions:

Let me introduce myself.  I am Amanda’s Dad.  That’s important to me: simple, short and concise.  I am proud of my three kids, and every time I get the opportunity I routinely assert, "My oldest daughter is a college professor in Taiwan, my baby girl is a victim’s assistance counselor with the Arlington Police Department, and my 13 year old son is a miracle birth."

I love the subtle simplicity of Paul’s masterful introduction of himself in Romans 1:1.  He identified himself as an instrument invited to be immersed in a mission with a message.  Or as the English Standard Version states it, "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God."  Actually, our English translations of Paul’s first sentence covers seven verses, but what we call verse one, I call "a one-line autobiography" or a "masterful introduction."

Think about it for a moment, how we usually introduce ourselves. We use our vocation or personal significance, what we do or who we are, as the central statement of "this is who I am."  I am a plumber, pastor, mommy, single, divorcee, etc.  Prior to most speeches by a guest speaker, some chosen individual recites a litany of the speaker’s accomplishments to set forth the identity of the speaker and the authority their message carries.

The beauty of Saul/Paul’s introduction to Romans is found in a closer look at the words he used.  Notice the name that Paul chose to go by. He was born "Saul, of Tarsus," but he chose to use his Gentile name, "Paul."  Paul was formerly a Hebrew religious zealot; his new identity is that of one who seeks to identify with the audience he wants to reach, Gentiles.  He chooses one simple word, a name of identity to say, "I, too, am like you."

Now notice the second phrase he uses, "a servant of Christ Jesus."  Actually the original word he used was doulos (slave).  Writing to an audience in an Empire that was highly populated with slaves; he classified himself as an instrument of the Redeemer.  Slaves came in all sizes, shapes and varying degrees of expertise.  Many slaves in the Roman Empire were of notable education and culture.  It was with great pride that some could say, "I am a slave of the Emperor."  With humble gratitude, Paul could say that his will was consumed in bound servitude to Messiah Savior, the Redeemer.

Kletos apostolos, that is the next identifier, “called to be an apostle.”  The Greek New Testament uses two different words for "called."  Kletos is about invitation rather than election.  "Would you like to come over for dinner,” now that is an invitation. ‘Called to be an apostle," that is an invitation to be a messenger.

Paul also says that he is "set apart" (separated) for the gospel of God.  Most of us are familiar with the word gospel (good news). But it is this word aphorizo (set apart) that is so captivating.  The verb aphorizo is a compound word composed of two words, "from" and "horizon."  Literally, the word means "off horizon."  Donald Grey Barnhouse tells the story of how this word came alive to him.  The short paraphrase is something like this: Sailing between England and the U.S., he had the opportunity to climb to the crow’s nest of the ship and observe the sunrise.  The horizon was awesome; the blending of hues and the majesty of creation reminded him of baking cookies with his mother when he was a child.  Mom would roll out the dough on a marble slab and he would "cut out" the cookies. Or should we say "off-horizon" the cookies.  The idea is that of being removed from one circumference of influence into another horizon. Or just to make it real simple, God had ripped Paul out of his former life and placed him in the circumference of Almighty God and His concerns.

Paul identified himself as an instrument invited to be immersed in a mission with a message. Such statements of profound simplicity are the product of lengthy thought and analysis. What we often quickly read over in order to get to "the good stuff" is actually quite good in and of itself.  Paul’s careful choice of words was actually the result of years of careful contemplation. Choice words of identity, crafted by an artisan word-smith.

I am still proud to be "Amanda’s dad," but I think I will work on another one liner. I need a new one liner that is carefully crafted as a humble recipient of grace and as beautiful as Paul’s. When I come up with it, I will let you know. Until then, it was nice to meet you; thank you for allowing me to introduce myself.

To read more of my dad's profound words of wisdom, check out his blog The Pratical Pulpit which is all about subtle simplicity.

unknown paths

. . . in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.

(Isaiah 42:16)

loss of all confidence in self

"Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself
is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion; so the
loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential
in the believer's growth in grace.

(Arthur Pink)

___

"Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

"I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

True Beauty

We declare it in song all the time:

“Come see the beauty of the Lord!”
"Oh Lord You're Beautiful!"
"Jesus, how can I tell you how beautiful you are to me?"
"Beatutiful one I love!  Beautiful one I adore!  Beautiful one I adore!"
"O Beautiful of Heaven, O Sovereign God transcendent"
"There is no other God but You; There is no other more beautiful."

We proclaim Christ to be the "lily of the valley," "the fairest of ten thousand," and "altogether lovely."

But, when I first think of the "beauty of Christ" the first verse that pops into my head is Isaiah 53:2:

"He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him."

According to this Jesus was not physically attractive--nothing striking or gorgeous about him as he dwelt on earth.  But, all of heaven is enamored with his beauty.  Isn't it a wonderful, sweet paradox!?! 

As I think about the Beauty of Christ, I find myself woefully incompent to write about it.  As my fingers search out the keys to hit, my heart swells with adoration that cannot be expressed in ten thousand words.

So, let me share some quotes I enjoy on this topic:

Words cannot depict the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to His people, nor can they fully tell how essential He is to their satisfaction and happiness!



As the river seeks the sea, so Lord Jesus, I seek You!

O let me find You and melt my life into Yours forever!
(Spurgeon)

~*~*~*~

There is a thing called 'beauty', which prevails upon the hearts of men. Mighty men, not a few, have bowed before it and paid it homage. But if you want true beauty, look into the face of Jesus,for there you have the concentration of all loveliness.



There is no beauty anywhere but in Christ.

O sun, you are not fair, when once compared with Him.

O fair world and grand creation of a glorious God, you are but a dim and dusky blot compared with the splendors of His face.

When we shall see Christ, we shall be compelled to say that we never knew what loveliness was before. When the clouds are swept away, when the curtains which hide Him from our view are drawn aside, we shall find that not anything we have seen or heard of, grand or graceful, in the wide universe, will bear a moment's comparison with Him, who was once seen as a root out

of a dry ground, but shall presently fill heaven and earth with luster and gladden all hearts with His glory.

(Spurgeon, emphasis mine)

~*~*~*~

The longer we look on 'created gaieties', the leaner and less lovely they
grow; so that, by
the time we have viewed them forty, fifty, or sixty years--we see nothing but vanity in the creature! But when ten thousand ages are employed in beholding the perfection and beauty of Jesus--He still appears more and more lovely--even altogether lovely!

(James Meikle, emphasis mine)

~*~*~*~

Not only is his teaching attractive, his doctrine persuasive, his life irreproachable, his character enchanting, and his work a self-denying labor for the common good of all his people, but he himself is altogether lovely.



Do not look for anything lovely outside of Jesus, for he has all the loveliness.



All perfections are in him making up one consummate perfection; and all the loveliness which is to be seen elsewhere is but a reflection of his own unrivalled charms.



Jesus is the monopolizer of all loveliness.



He is the engrosser of all that is admirable in the entire universe.

(Spurgeon, emphasis mine)

And, let me end with more of Meikle's words because they capture my sentiments exactly:

Alas! I can say nothing of His true excellencies! They overwhelm my laboring thought, and are too vast for my feeble conception to bring forth!

worship

Do you wanna know what verse my kid-brother (13 yo) counts as his favorite verse in the Bible?

I'll give you a hint: it comes from today's chronological Bible reading.

Sam's favorite Bible verse (if memory serves me right) is Job 1:21: "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"  (And this is coming from a kid who had all of his birthday presents and Christmas presents from 2005 stolen during multiple break-ins in the course of just a few months.)

I, however, tend to favor the verse right before Sam's favorite: "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20).

In a matter of seconds--in the times it takes to utter a few sentences--the greatest man of all the people in the east tragically lost each and everyone of his ten children, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and all but four of his very many servants. 

And what does the grief-stricken guy do? He worships.

I love that word: w o r s h i p. 

It has become so much more meaningful to me living here in Taiwan.  I have seen people worshiping great, big, HUGE idols, people worshiping tiny 12-inch tall idols, people worshiping old trees, people worshiping even the stumps of old dead trees, people worshiping stones and tablets, people worshiping ancestors (both those from generations long ago and those recently deceased).

My idea of what is worship has changed so much since living here.  Before it was only something I did with others.  It was something I did in Church--it was singing songs and listening to sermons.   What I did alone was "quite time" or "devotions."  When I was a new believer, I did not know I could or should bow before God of All and worship.

Don't get me wrong.  I knew and could teach others and wax eloquent about the fact that our daily act of worship was how we lived our lives. And, I knew that worship is a coperate act we do together when we gather as believers.

Don't get me wrong.  I know that people in the western world "worship idols"--TV, football, blogging, movie stars and so on. I know that.

But that is not what I am talking about.  This is different.  It is markedly different. 

We, in the West, do not kneel before our TVs and computers clasping our hands in front of us and make a choice to actually, physicaly bow before a graven image of the "god of entertainment."  But, I have friends, coworkers, students,  neighbors who do make the choice to kneel before an idol, clasp their hands around sticks of incense and worship.

Watching them worship has changed the way I myself worship the Almighty.  I cling to that word "worship" in the Bible more so now than ever.

Job, upon hearing that all he owned was destroyed, did what?  He worshiped. 

The scholars from the East followed a star and traveled miles and miles, why?  They wanted to worship. 

What did one of my favorite characters in the Bible, Gideon, do after hearing the interpretation of his dream?  That's right, he worshiped. 

Moses, Joshua, David, Samuel . . . they all "worshiped." 

Often the Bible simply tells us "he worshiped."   Sometimes it says "they bowed their heads and worshiped," but, many, many times it is written as "and he fell down and worshiped."

When was the last time you "fell down worshiped"?  When was the last time you stopped activity, put aside the reading plan, the prayer request list, and memorization cards, and worshiped? 

Don't get me wrong.  I am not saying don't do those things.  I am not even saying those can't be "acts of worship."  But, I am wondering, when was the last time you (and I) fell down, face to the earth, and worshiped the Most High God?

I wanna be like Job, and Gideon, and Moses, and David, and Samuel, and . . . . .  I want my first response to the proclamation of good news to be that I worship.  I want my first desire after hearing bad news to be that I worship. 

And so, after she clicked save, she knelt before the Most High God and worshiped.

more precious than fine gold

Various selctions from the sermon Spurgeon preached on March 18, 1855, entitled "The Bible":

Ah! you know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your day-books than what God has written; many of you will read a novel from beginning to end, and what have you got? A mouthful of froth when you have done.

But you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the cupboard of neglect; while anything that man writes, a catch of the day, is greedily devoured.

~*~*~*~

Most people treat the Bible very politely. They have a small pocket volume, neatly bound; they put a white pocket-handkerchief round it and carry it to their places of worship; when they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat, and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing. That is your style of entertaining this heavenly messenger.

There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write "damnation" with your fingers. There are some of you who have not turned over your Bibles for a long, long while, and what think you?

I tell you blunt words, but true words.

What will God say at last? When you shall come before him, he shall say, "Did you read my Bible?"

"No."

"I wrote you a letter of mercy; did you read it?"

"No."

"Rebel! I have sent thee a letter inviting thee to me; didst thou ever read it?"

"Lord, I never broke the seal; I kept it shut up."

"Wretch!" says God, "then, thou deservest hell, if I sent thee a loving epistle, and thou wouldst not even break the seal; what shall I do unto thee?"

Oh, let it not be so with you. Be Bible-readers; be Bible-searchers.

~*~*~

God may be seen in the stars; his name is written in gilt letters on the brow of night; you may discover his glory in the ocean waves, yea, in the trees of the field; but it is better to read it in two books than in one. You will find it here more clearly revealed; for he has written this book himself, and he has given you the key to understand it, if you have the Holy Spirit.

Ah, beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us love it; let us count it more precious than much fine gold.

(HT: TeamPyro)