We Don't Worship Santa Revisited

On Monday, an older lady waiting in line with us at the post office, asked my kids what Santa's bringing them for Christmas. My babies looked at me cluelessly. They know who Santa Claus is. What confused them was that a grown woman thought someone who is not real would bring presents to them. They looked to me to answer. I told her, "We don't do Santa. We..." She cut me off with a curt, "I'm sorry" and scurried away from me in utter fear, like I was some cult leader. Seriously, I didn't even get a chance to finish by explaining, "...focus more on Jesus' birth and less on Santa at Christmastime."

I do not want to kill Santa; I do want the freedom to focus on Christmas without his huge distraction for my children (and Justin and me, too). The Christmas season already doesn't go perfectly in our house. We fight materialism with our kids on a daily basis this time of year, Santa or not. Our kids don't care who is bringing the presents to them; they just want them and a lot of them. As a result, I want to spend our time focusing on the real reason we look forward to Christmas, to the God who humbled himself to be born as a baby to an unmarried nobody virgin girl in a stable of all places. Our kids understand the presents under the tree part all by themselves. No explaining, encouraging, or prompting needed. Ha ha!

I challenge you to pay attention this Christmas season to how much more Christians talk about Santa, his elves, and his gifts than they do the birth of our Savior this time of the year. See how many sweet saints ask your children about presents, being naughty or nice (which is only a gift-wrapped version of works salvation), or Santa and his reindeer. Then, and only then, will your eyes be opened to our culture's worship of Santa, even the Christian culture's worship. It makes me sad that Santa trumps Jesus so often in so many Christian homes. That's ultimately why we don't worship Santa.

Justin posted this blog post on our Facebook earlier this week. This man explained how I feel much better than I did last year here on R&R. Now, I will stop talking about Santa. Talking about him too much negatively still draws attention away from Jesus, and I don't want to do so. What I desire is for you to celebrate Christmas how God convicts and leads you. All I ask is that you pay attention to the Santa worship happening around you, and pray for the truth of Jesus to shine through the distractions. 

Have a merry Christmas!

The Perfect Marriage

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."
1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)

Who doesn't want the perfect marriage? There aren't many who shun the idea. We all want to be loved. We also want the world to think we're loved, so we become good at disguising the truth even when we are married, especially while at church and through social media; however, how many of us really have perfect marriages?

I have to admit that I get intimidated and, sometimes, discouraged by other Christians' marriages. When I hear of the couple who waited until they got married to have any type of physical connection, I feel inadequate. When I hear of the couple who has sold everything to move to a foreign country to serve God, I feel like Justin and I are not doing enough for the Lord here with what we have. All of the comparisons make me feel guilty at times.

However, those comparisons are not from God. He gives us forgiveness, hope, and restoration. And, most of all,  He gives us THE perfect marriage. When we meet Christ, we marry the perfect bridegroom. No matter how many times we fail Him, He will stay with us. No matter how many times we are unfaithful, He will continue to be faithful and never leave our side. Knowing this truth helps us have beautiful marriages here on earth as well. When a couple acknowledges their sins (past and present), God's healing hand makes what was once imperfect perfect. He can do this over and again throughout the course of a lifetime.

Last night, my beautiful, godly niece got engaged. My joy overflowed as I saw her face when she walked through the door to her surprise engagement party. The happiness was contagious. It reminded me that even though they are both sinners, they will soon swear to love each other no matter what. It's the most beautiful picture of God's love for His church this side of heaven. It's a redeeming love, like His. It's a faithful love. Most importantly, it's a selfless love.

My prayer is that God would bless all married Christians with the desire to love our spouses like He loves us. That way, we can show the world how His perfect love covers a multitude of sins, making the imperfect perfect no matter the circumstances.

Remembering Narnia

Recently, my kids and I watched the first Chronicles of Narnia movie for their first time. I was hesitant to show it to them because of the violence, but I decided that the good message far outweighed the bad. I'm so glad I did. My almost five year old daughter glued herself to the television. She fell in love with Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy along with Aslan, the lion king. She asked a million questions throughout the movie, and it sparked some teachable moments. I didn't expect, however, for the experience to convict me of my own sin--my sin of forgetting the impact of the cross and resurrection.

When my precious daughter broke down watching Aslan being killed by the White Witch, she looked at me with alligator tears streaming down her face, pleading with me to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She exclaimed, "He is good! He did nothing wrong! Why is he dying for Edmund?" Then, when Aslan was resurrected, the pure joy she had seeing that he had defeated death brought tears to my eyes. No matter how many times I told her that everything was going to be okay and that this was a happy movie, she didn't believe me until Aslan came back to life. God hit me where it hurt during these moments. How many times do I take the cross for granted? How many times do I overlook that it was for me, the one who turned (and still turns) my back on Him? How many times do I forget how innocent His blood was? How many times do I flippantly think or talk about the resurrection without rejoicing in my soul? Too many to count, I'm afraid. 

Forgive me, Lord. Forgive us all for forgetting. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

The Best Plans

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

My husband, Justin, is a planner. Every night, we discuss our schedule for the following day. Every. Single. Night. This used to perturb me. I used to be more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. Then, I married the planner.

His ways have influenced our children. They want to know what we are doing "in the morning" which simply means all day tomorrow. After they are given the plans, they usually respond with "That's our day!" as if the plans will go simply and smoothly. Yeah, right!

We try to stick to our plans because we know our kids love routine, but the unexpected happens more than my family likes. I often find that my relationship with God follows suite. There are times I have what I believe are the best laid plans for my life, and then He changes them in, oh, about a minute, sometimes less. Even though God's new purpose for me might ruffle my feathers a bit (now that I have the planning disease Justin gave me), I usually discover in time that God's purposes make my plans look juvenile. He always has a better way even if it's the most painful way at times. 

I'm so thankful for my two planners--my earthly planner, Justin, who keeps me on task from day to day and my heavenly planner who guides my family in the direction He chooses.  

Why We Homeschool

"What are you doing for your kids' social skills?"
"What about extracurricular activities?"
"You don't need to make your kids too weird. You already don't do Santa!"
"If you move to a better school district, you'll put your kids in public school, right?"
"Are you trying to turn your house into a version of Little House on the Prairie?

The above are just a few of the comments and criticisms Justin and I have heard since we started to homeschool our oldest child this year. It's frustrating at times because it seems like the world is against us. I feel awkward for my daughter when a well-meaning stranger asks her where she goes to school, and she looks to me for an answer. Then, when she or I say, "We homeschool," we brace ourselves for the comments or strange looks.

I could cite study after study of the benefits of homeschooling. I could recommend book after book to persuade you to homeschool, but maybe another day. Justin and I discussed homeschooling long before our children were children and long before I knew of those studies and read those books. Even though he and I are fine products of the public school system, we did everything everybody else did, and we turned out well academically, we were still intrigued by homeschooling. So why would we mess with what worked for us? (At least, that's what people ask me.) We choose to homeschool; it's not because the public or private schools aren't good enough where we live. They are great, actually.

We homeschool because we want to love our children by showing them servant leadership.
We homeschool because we want our children to learn before our eyes, not someone else's.
We homeschool because we want to know our children's strengths and weaknesses.
We homeschool because we want to be the primary influences in their lives.
We homeschool because we don't have to be like everyone else, no matter what the world may say.
We homeschool. You don't have to.

This year, we homeschool. I don't know what will happen in the future, but right now, Justin and I are making the best decision for our family. I pray you won't find me saying anything negative about other parents' children and where they attend school. Ultimately, we all homeschool in some capacity if we are being godly parents no matter where we choose to educate our children.

This & That

How true is this? I long for real community. It's hard to find.

My husband posted that on our Facebook page. It's definitely a good read, and it convicts our self-righteous, prideful selves when we realize we are all the lesbian caller.

Letting Go

I want to let go and believe God. 

I want to let go and trust God. 

For what am I waiting?

I want to stop caring what others think.

I want to start caring what God thinks.

For whom am I pleasing?

I want to let go and serve God. 

I want to let go and worship God. 

(Then, let go. Love God.)

Praying for Rain

This morning as I watered my outdoor plants, I prayed for rain. It's so hot and dry here that my grass is either dead or dying, and keeping my flower beds perky hasn't been easy. When I checked the weather, I found, to my disappointment, there is no rain in the forecast at this time. I immediately thought of something a woman said to me this summer during a play date, "Sometimes, I wish for storms to come in my life because I miss the closeness I have with God during those trials." I thought, "How sad! How true!" I know exactly what she means.

The Christian life is full of storms and droughts. When the droughts come, we have to keep watering ourselves with His Word while we wait for Him to pour His truth on us while we suffer. Also, we must keep seeking His presence even when, in our sinful natures, we feel we don't need it as much. If we don't seek to know Him in the droughts, how will we know Him in the storms?

I'm still praying for rain. Just a drop or two will do. I need my thirst quenched so that I can hang on until the storm whips through my life again leaving a garden flourishing with truth and wisdom.

Build Your Kingdom Here

Great great song. Super cool band.

Rend Collective Experiment

Build Your Kingdom Here

Come set Your rule and reign
In our hearts again
Increase in us we pray
Unveil why we're made
Come set our hearts ablaze with hope
Like wildfire in our very souls
Holy Spirit come invade us now
We are Your Church
We need Your Power
In us

We seek Your Kingdom first
We hunger and we thirst
Refuse to waste our lives
For You're our joy and prize
To see the captive hearts released
The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace
We lay down our lives for Heaven's Cause
We are Your Church
We pray Revive
This Earth

Build Your kingdom here
Let the darkness fear
Show Your mighty hand
Heal our streets and land
Set Your Church on fire
Win this nation back
Change the atmosphere
Build Your kingdom here
We pray

Unleash Your kingdom's power
Reaching the near and far
No force of hell can stop
Your Beauty changes hearts
You made us for much more than this
Awake the kingdom seed in us
Fill us with the strength and love of Christ
We are Your Church
We are the hope
On Earth

How Beautiful

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Isaiah 52:7

Going to Argentina changed my life. Seeing my dear friends, both IMB missionaries, was a blessing, but seeing how they minister in Salta and surrounding areas for the Kingdom was a blessing times ten. The Andrews have beautiful feet. That is certain!

Here is a summary of our trip:

We flew from Dallas into Buenos Aires (10+ hour flight) and took a taxi across town to another airport that took us to Salta. When we arrived, the Andrews took us to a futbol (soccer) game that night. It rivaled a Mississippi State University football game with all the excitement and good food, etc. Everyone, including us, was dressed in team colors, too. Throughout the week, we did a lot of shopping at local artisan markets and the good food never ended. The steak and ice cream were my favorites. But wait! I forgot about the empanadas. I think I ate my weight in those.

The town is surrounded by the Andes mountains, and it's breathtaking, even in the dead of winter when things are no longer green. (We missed the snow though!) Even though we weren't technically on a mission trip with a church group, we were excited to do some ministry while there. We visited a lady's home outside of Salta. She made us empanadas (they were the bomb.com), and I shared a little with her and her daughters about how following Christ is not easy because he calls us to suffer from time to time. There's a belief there (much like here) that following Jesus should make all your problems go away, and if the problems don't, then you must be doing something wrong. Well, my dear friend Leann translated my story to the ladies. It was really exciting to talk to them through her. We also visited a mountain village where the people there are sort of catholic with lots of idol worship of random "gods." They set up shrines in various places and bring offerings these gods expecting some type of blessing in return. It saddened us to see the false hope these people have in these handmade gods. Two or three of the sixty or so in the village are followers of Christ after meeting Joe and Leann. Joe disciples them weekly, so there is hope for the gospel to spread in the village. 

There are lots of awesome stories of how God is using the Andrews family in the mountain village and in the city and surrounding suburbs. I'll let them tell you those at www.plantinginargentina.com. Towards the end of the trip, we visited their church. It's at a man's home who saved his tithe for ten years to build the church onto his house. Joe preached in Spanish. It blessed me. No really, I understood about five percent of what he was saying, but it was awesome to sing songs I recognized in Spanish with believers 5000+ miles south of my home. God changed my daughter, my niece, and me through the trip. Being around the Andrews family was encouraging for us and, I pray, for them as well. I want to go back. Like now. I cried most of the 10+ hour flight from Buenos Aires back to Dallas. I cried for the people of Argentina, and I cried for the hardships the missionaries there face. Mostly, I cried for selfish reasons because I want to see my friends more than I do. 

Please continue to pray for my super cool missionary friends, Joe and Leann Andrews. What they do for Christ is hard. They sacrifice so much for the gospel to be spread in Argentina. 

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Please pray for my niece, my daughter, and me as we board a plane tomorrow headed to Salta, Argentina. We will be visiting our dear missionary friends who serve there through the International Mission Board. I'll be back in a little over a week with much to report, I'm sure. God bless you, and thanks for reading!

Duck Abbey

Downton Abbey

Duck Dynasty

I used to watch a lot of television. From high school until after my daughter was born, I'd often become addicted to the next big show and find myself planning my life around it. To my shame, I wanted Wednesday night church to be over quickly to make it home in time to catch some of American Idol or whatever had me hooked me that night. It was enslaving. When the twins were born, I didn't have time for television. Around their sixth month mark, I read John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. It made me thankful my life had changed so much since the boys were born because Piper made a great case for not owning a television. I went from being a television addict to shunning it for a while. Now, I've let a little back into my life. I have found two seemingly different hit shows Duck Dynasty and Downton Abbey, the former a reality comedy and the latter a period drama, capture my attention probably because they are alike fundamentally despite first impressions.

First of all, Duck Dynasty and Downton Abbey focus on character development. The bearded men may be silly most of the time, but each show teaches a lesson. It is always reiterated at the end in Willie's voice so that we can get the point if we didn't get it because of the unending humor in the show. We see Willie learn to be a better father as his children become young adults along with countless episodes where the older generation teaches the younger generation lessons about things like obedience, love, sex, and finances. In the same manner, Downton Abbey's characters learn hard lessons from their own mistakes. Lord Grantham faces the difficult truth that his dynasty was built solely on his wife Cora's fortune and not on his own wise decisions. Show after show reveals the Grantham girls learning about life from their own stupid mistakes (Mary and the handsome Turkish guy in season one is just one example) and seeking help and wisdom from their grandmother, their parents, and even their wise and beloved butler. After watching both shows, I can't help but think how life's events change us for the better, and occasionally, for the worse.

Even though one is based on reality and the other is based on fiction, I find myself relating to both shows because of the emphasis in each on marriage and family. Every Duck Dynasty episode ends with the family around the table, enjoying each other's company and Mrs. Kay's cooking. Usually, Willie and his brother Jase are still arguing jokingly about something amidst the harmonious family setting. Not one episode airs without this emphasis on the importance of family time. Also, Phil and Mrs. Kay's marriage speaks volumes to viewers about the importance of marriage and loving each other despite the other's flaws. Phil genuinely loves his wife and finds her attractive after many years of marriage. They paint a beautiful picture of that sacred union on the world's stage. Similarly, the onscreen Grantham family finds family time a must as they enjoy Ms. Patmore and Daisy's cooking. The viewer sees this through the dinner table scenes in every episode. The plot moves forward at the family gathering in many cases. The sibling rivalries are highlighted here as in Duck Dynasty as well, just not always in a joking manner. Nevertheless, one thing remains even when the youngest daughter elopes with the chauffeur, the Grantham family welcomes family members to their table despite what the rest of England might think. Like Phil and Mrs. Kay, the love between Lord and Lady Grantham surpasses the trials the family faces and gets them through many tough times in between. Their marriage, so far, has endured self-inflicted disasters along with World Wars. Seeing these two families in action makes my heart smile as I think of my own family in the years to come.

Finally, the two most popular characters, Uncle Si and the Dowager Countess (Lady Violet), are a lot alike. (I had to save the best of the best for last!) Uncle Si, known for his Siisms, really makes the show a hit. He's tied to Southern culture with his jug of sweet tea, but he's also pretty hip for an old guy. In the one where Willie takes Sadie dress shopping, Si puts Willie's overbearing fatherly tendencies in their place making Willie see that he needed to face the fact (JACK!) that Sadie had become a young lady. Si often brings tons of humor to serious situations and makes for great comic relief. Similarly, Lady Violet makes Downton Abbey worth watching season after season. (She is the show if you ask me.) If it weren't for her strong beliefs in the role of English aristocracy along with her willingness to sit in the room and take tea from a former prostitute, the show would be a bust. She, like Si, delivers relief to sticky situations with her famous one liners. She always voices her opinions even if they are the least popular in the ever changing twentieth century world. These two ole cats are the entertainment--no doubt. 

I learned a thing or two by letting television in moderation back into my life. Number 1: Not all television shows are bad. Some teach great lessons as well as entertain. Number 2: There is nothing wrong with having a show for entertainment time and again. Some people are excited about these shows more than they are about going to church or spending time alone with God in prayer. If we find ourselves being consumed by things of this world, we need to step away from them for a time. If we use them to unwind from our busy lives and view them from the lens of our Christian worldview, we use them wisely. Number 3: A group of duck hunting rednecks from Louisiana and an English aristocratic family from the early 20th century have more in common than one would think as crazy as that sounds. If Uncle Si and Lady Violet met, one can only imagine who'd win the debate! No matter, the things they would say about each other would be priceless.

Slaves

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

From Romans 6 (ESV)

The "land of the free" is a misnomer in one sense. Americans are all slaves of something--power, race, wealth, materialism, poverty, alcohol, drugs, sex, entertainment, friends, and even family to name a few. Being enslaved to anything other than Christ is not the way to go. My prayer is that all Christians (including myself) would take Paul's words seriously and share boldly the paradoxical good news that being enslaved to Christ is the only true freedom. Those enslaved to something else need us to proclaim it.

This & That

This and That are two articles discussing things all dads can do to be great dads. I'm a little late for Father's Day on these, but most of these are simple things any man can add to his routine with his kids. I'm thankful that my husband leads us in family worship, disciplines our children with godly wisdom and love, and has just plain ole fun with them. I couldn't respect a man more than I do him.

Life is Strife

Justin and I recently read a marriage devotion that whined about how marriage is difficult. I have loved all the devotions in the book until we read that one. I didn't comment while he read it to me even though I disagreed with many of the things the author said and quoted. As soon as Justin finished, he said, "That was my least favorite in this book." As we talked, I realized we were thinking the same thing throughout the reading: "Of course marriage is hard, life is hard."

People complain that being married is hard, being single is hard, being unemployed is hard, working is hard, going to school is hard, parenting is hard, trying to get pregnant is hard, being pregnant is hard, finding friends is hard, keeping friends is hard, and so forth. Believers know that being a Christian brings its own set of difficulties, too. In fact, I can't think of one single part of life worth having that isn't difficult at times, yet so many of those things bring its own set of rewards. For example, even though marriage is difficult, people still do it. Some people do it much more than once! Our jobs might be hard, but receiving that paycheck is not. As Christians, we will suffer for Christ and face difficulties in this life because of the choices we make to honor and glorify Him. Conversely, we will not suffer in the life to come and will be rewarded for our efforts on this earth. 

The Bible tells us to strive to enter the narrow door (Luke 13:24). If we accepted Christ just to make our lives strife-less, then we really didn't accept Christ. Repentance is hard. Leaving everything at the feet of Jesus and daily dying to self require much discipline, sacrifice, and STRIFE.

Why am I writing about such a seemingly pessimistic topic? To encourage you. Whatever difficulty you are facing, it's normal. It's part of this hard life. Most of all, the challenge you face will be worth the tough days because He's teaching, molding, and making you into the person He wants you to be through those difficulties. And don't forget that whatever temporary reward you receive here for striving pales compared to the reward waiting for you in the life to come. Therefore, we must keep heart through our struggles and avoid needless pity parties or isolating thoughts. Striving through life just makes us like every other human, yet as children of God, we have hope, joy, peace, and love along with rewards to great to imagine waiting in Heaven; therefore, life in Christ was, is, and will be worth the strife.

If Momma Ain't Happy...

"The wisest of women builds her house,
    but folly with her own hands tears it down." Proverbs 14:1

"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 21:9

"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 25:24

Yes, the second verse above is in Proverbs twice. Not once. Twice. As for the first verse, the point comes across pretty plainly the first time. How do we wisely build our house? How do we stop being quarrelsome? The Sunday School answer is "by the grace of God." What does that look like in every day life? How can we practically "build" our house rather than "tear" it to the ground? Here are five applications to help us live out these truths:

1. Believe the old saying, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." It's so true! If we want our family to be happy, then we need to be happy, ladies. We have a huge influence on the climate in our homes. We must use it for good! Choose joy not strife! (And ladies, it's very likely that our "ain't happy" is based on our own pride. We must repent to God and our family when we are angry for no good reason. We must ask forgiveness when we take that anger out on our husband and children, too. They need to hear us say we are wrong sometimes.)

2. Choose your battles with your children wisely. For example, if we want our kids to help us with daily chores, then we mustn't complain or get angry when they don't do it our way. That's wasted anger if you ask me. Save anger for big things like disobedience and destruction of property or brother's face (Ha!), and even then we must be slow to get angry and be quick to forgive.

3. Choose your battles with your husband wisely as well. Let's be honest: we are critical of our men. We can find the smallest things they do annoying, and we can nag them until we are blue in the face. We can hold those things over their heads for years. That's not good. We must remember our husbands are not children, so we must not treat them that way. They aren't perfect either. We must respect them even if they are in the wrong. Why? Well, for one reason, I don't want my husband to long for a corner of a rooftop. I'm sure you don't either. 

4. Pray. When we don't know what to do, we need to pray. When we lose our tempers, we need to pray. When we are tired beyond belief, we need to pray. We must not neglect going to God for help consistently throughout the day. It's not just for "quiet time." What is "quiet time" anyway? I know there's no quiet time at my house! 

5. Build your house on the Word of God. We must make studying the Bible part of our routine. We must dust off the cobwebs and open that gem of a book up. How can we expect to make it through life without His strength? How can we expect to avoid folly without His wisdom? How can we expect our family climate to change for the better if our own climate is so far from God? We can't. It won't. We must read it even when things are crazy busy, especially when things are crazy busy. We must read it more than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and the like. (I've put an awesome Bible app on my phone so that it's more convenient for me to read it anywhere and everywhere. It's the You Version Bible app, and it's free!)

Finally, I challenge you to test your influence. Choose joy today to see how it affects those who are most important to you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see that if Momma's happy, everybody's happy!

This & That

THIS lists 8 resolutions for husbands, but wives need to make the same ones if you ask me!
THAT is a great article by Tim Keller. (Check out his sermons on iTunes if you haven't already.)

Never Forget

And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 
from Exodus 18 (ESV)

If you read Exodus, you will see how God sent plagues upon Egypt, parted the Red Sea, delivered the Israelites from Amalek, sent manna from heaven and water from a rock to nourish them, and performed numerous other miracles in their presence. Did they remember what God had done for them? Nope. They complained, whined, and forgot what they had seen.

Jethro, on the other hand, was not there to experience these miracles and blessings from God. Moses tells him the stories, and Jethro rejoices. He believes immediately.

Are you more like the Israelites or Jethro? I often find myself behaving like the Israelites. I've seen God do countless wonders in my life. He's rescued me from the pit over and again, but as soon as I face another trial, I begin to doubt His goodness and His provision. How stupid am I?

I must never forget what He has done. You must not either. We must rejoice like Jethro rather than doubt like the Israelites. I surely don't want to be stuck in the wilderness for forty years because of my disbelief. Do you?

Pray for VBS

Please pray for Vacation Bible Schools happening all across the nation this summer. Pray that seeds would be planted and watered. Pray for souls to come to Christ.

This & That

Read THIS first.
Then, read THAT for more of God's amazing grace unfolding in this young woman's life.

Proud Versus Broken People

My pastor posted an article recently containing Nancy Leigh DeMoss's chart on characteristics of proud and broken people. Here it is for your self-examination. It convicts me every time I read it.

Proud, Unbroken People	Broken People
1. Focus on the failure of others	1. Are overwhelmed with their own spiritual need (Matthew 5:3, 7:3-5, Luke 18:9-14)
2. Are self righteous; have a critical, fault finding spirit; look at own life/faults with a telescope but others with a microscope	2. Are compassionate; have a forgiving spirit; look for the best in others (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12)
3. Look down, in a condescending spirit, at others	3. Esteem all others as better than self (Phil. 2:3, Rom. 12:10)
4. Are independent; have desires for everyone else to meet own personal needs	4. Are dependent on God and His grace; recognize others’ needs and seek to meet them (2 Cor. 3:4-6, Phil. 2:4)
5. Always manipulating circumstances to maintain control; must have everyone do it their way	5. Surrenders control by giving freedom for others to do or see things differently (Rom. 12:1-2)
6. Have to prove they are always right	6. Are willing to yield to the possibility that they could be wrong, and thus, yield the need to always prove they are right(Rom. 15:2)
7. Claiming personal rights	7. Yielding personal rights (Eph. 5:21)
8. Display a demanding spirit	8. Have a giving spirit (Rom. 12:13)
9. Self-protective of time, rights, reputation	9. Are self-denying (Luke 9:23)
10. Desire to be served	10. Are motivated to serve others (Matt. 20:26-28, Phil. 2:20-21)
11. Desire to be a success	11. Desire to be faithful to make others a success (John 3:30)
12. Desire for self-advancement	12 Desire to promote others (John 3:3).
13. Are driven to be recognized and appreciated	Have a sense of unworthiness; are thrilled to be used at all; eager for others to get credit, honors and awards (I Tim. 1:12-16)
14. Cringe when others in the same field are praised, wishing it was them	14. Rejoice when others are lifted up (Rom. 12:15)
15. Think ‘the ministry is privileged to have me!’	15. Think ‘I don’t deserve to serve in this ministry (2 Cor. 4:7)
16. Think of what they can do for God	16. Know they can offer nothing to God, and seek for God to work through them in His power (Phil. 3:8-9, Titus 3:5)
17. Feel confident in how much they know	17. Are humbled by how much they have not learned and wish to learn (Phil. 3:12, Prov. 1:7)
18. Are self conscious	18. Have little concern with how others view them (Gal. 1:10)
19. Keep people at arm’s length	19. Risk getting close to others; are willing to take those risks for the sake of love for others (2 Cor. 6:11-12)
20. Are quick to blame others	20. Accept personal responsibility; can see and acknowledge personal failure (Matthew 7)
21. Are concerned with being ‘respectable’	21. Are concerned with being real (2 Cor. 4:3-5).
22. Are concerned about what others think	22. Know all that matters is God and what He knows (I Cor. 4:3-5)
23. Work hard to maintain image and protect reputation	23. Die to own reputation (Phil. 3:7, Rom. 14:7)
24. Find it difficult to share their spiritual needs with others	24. Are willing to be transparent with others (2 Cor. 1:12)
25. Want to be sure no one finds aout about their sin	Are willing to acknowledge and confess one’s sin; brokenness is the ultimate sign of personal success (Ps. 51:17)
26. Have a hard time saying, ‘I was wrong. Will you forgive me’	Are quick to admit fault and seek forgiveness (I John 1:9, James 5:1)
27. Deal in generalities when confession sin	27. Deal in specifics (Ps. 51:17)
28. Are concerned about the consequences of their sin	28. Are grived over the root of their sin (Ps. 51:5)
29. Wait for other party to come and ask forgiveness in a conflict	29. Take the initiative to be reconciled; gets there first (Matthew 5:23-24)
30. Compare themselves with others and feel deserving of honor	30. Compare themselves with God and feel desparate for mercy (Luke 18:9-14)
31. Are blind to their true heart condition	31. Walk in the light of true knowledge concerning their own hearts (I John 1:6-7).
32. Do not display any spirit of repentance, because they don’t need it	32. Continually display a spirit of repentance, sensing their need for fresh encounters with God and the filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5;18), Gal 5:16)
33. Spent time reading these words and wondering if (_____) was reading it.	33. Thanked the Lord for using words on the internet to bring brokenness to their lives.

A Cultural Cult

Recently, a co-worker, who is a Methodist, asked me, "What's the biggest cult in the South?" I quipped, "Southern Baptists!" "Close! It's cultural Christianity," he responded.

If you don't live in the South, you may not understand what he meant by cultural Christianity. These are the people who have "I love Jesus" on their Facebook accounts but are the first people we hide from our newsfeeds because of all the f-bombs they drop in status updates or half-naked pics they post. These people use the sinner's prayer, baptism, and church membership as fire insurance. These people are our neighbors, co-workers, close friends, and family members.

What do Christians need to do about this cult? We need to love the lost people who have fallen prey to our religious culture in the Bible Belt (whatever that is!). We do not need to treat them in a condescending manner, which only makes the problem worse by sending these people far away from church yet still "believing" in Jesus. We need to help them see a true relationship with Jesus is more than feeling guilty, praying a prayer, getting dunked or sprinkled with H20, and halfway attending the local church. A true relationship with Jesus is just that--a relationship. Any relationship has it ups and downs, but one with Jesus is constant, meaningful, and life-altering.

This might not be just a Southern thang (one could argue that even Benjamin Franklin was a cultural Christian), but living my whole life here makes me partial to our issues. An article on David Platt's views about about the dangers of cultural Christianity can be found here. Peruse it at your leisure, and become aware of the cult that's living in your very own church, your very own family, and maybe your very own heart.

This & That

Two good reads are this and that.

The former reminds us to read, not just read, the Bible and why it's important to be familiar with His word. It's not focused on having to read the Bible simply to follow a rule or because a "good" Christian reads his Bible.

The latter reminds us that all of our families are messed up because they are made of sinful people. It traces the dysfunctional families in the Bible starting with Adam and Eve's. It's very encouraging and gives us the admonition to love our family members as Jesus does and be grateful for his mercy in our family members' lives as well as our own.