Tortured for Christ
I am a huge fan of Voice of the Martyrs, but am sorry to admit that I have never read the book written by its founder, Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ. That is about to change. As I began to read the book, I have to go ahead and share a quote from the books foreword, written by the USA director of VOM, Tom White. It is a quote from a play Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot. Eliot describes a martyr as one “who has become an instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom.”
Not that is incredible.
Roane State Baseball
Melvin is beginning a new adventure. He is the chaplain through FCA for the Roane State baseball team. This is such an awesome opportunity for him to connect with college athletes here in Roane County. Please pray for him in this. It will be every Monday at 1:30. What a privilege.
Josiah’s Salvation
February 4, 2010
Filed under Josiah, book reviews, children, family milestones, homeschool, parenting
What a day! What an indescribable day! There are no words to describe the feelings that Melvin and I had today as salvation came to the remaining member of our household, Josiah. I am going to try to recount the events of the past 4 or so months so that I can adequately describe the journey that he, and we, have been.
Around 4 months ago, at Bible time during our school day, we were reading from Genesis 15 about God’s covenant with Abraham which launched a discussion of God’s covenant with us through Jesus. Josiah began to converse with Callie Grace and I about his need for salvation. It was VERY clear that the Holy Spirit was speaking to him and revealing his sin and desperate need of salvation. Callie Grace and I reminded him of the simplicity of the gospel, yet warning him of the cost of being a disciple. He said that he felt he understood and was ready.
Melvin was down in the basement working, which is his office. I asked Josiah if it would be ok if I went and got Daddy so that he could be a part of the experience. He said “yes”, but when I returned with Melvin, he began to cry and say that he was not ready and he did not know “how” to be saved. Melvin and I have always said that we would in no way ever pressure our children into salvation, so we didn’t press the subject but just prayed together as a family that God would continue to speak to him and that he would continue to understand more and more of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Callie Grace was beside herself after this. She wanted him to be saved so bad that day. All that to say, we have been very aware that salvation was so close for him. The Holy Spirit has been after him! We have just been faithful to pray for him, just as we have been since his conception.
That brings everything to today. I haven’t mentioned yet that God has provided for us as a family in a new way. He opened a door for me to teach this semester at Roane State Community College. I teach two classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so the kids do their independent homeschool work while I am away and Melvin is working at home. I love the experience. The students are amazing. But, unfortunately, I was not home to get to experience Josiah’s moment. I was actually between classes and at Roane County High School, doing my FCA chaplain thing, when Josiah’s salvation occurred. I thought it so interesting that I was teaching about 15 teenage girls from 1 John 1:9 at the exact time of his salvation. Awesome.
There is one thing that I do ask Melvin to do while I am away on those days. He does Bible time with them. Bible time, for school, consists of reading a passage out of the Bible, for we are reading through the Bible together during school, reviewing our Scripture memory verse for the week, and reading from a book called Leading Little Ones to God. This book has been really great for us. It uses simple conversational language to discuss such things as God, sin, salvation, prayer, the Christian life, and the Second Coming.
It has a Bible reading for you to do, a prayer for you to pray (we usually use our own words), and an accompanying hymn to sing (we do this sometimes if we know the hymn). So, Melvin was doing Bible time with the kids. He was reading from the second part of Genesis 43 when the sons of Israel returned to Egypt and how Benjamin’s portion was 5 times the amount of the other brothers. The children ask Melvin why Benjamin’s portion was 5 times greater which lead him to remind them about the messed up family of Israel and how he loved those born of Rachel more. He illustrated the family situation by using his own family. He has two half sisters from his father’s first marriage, a half-sister and brother from his mother’s first marriage, and then one “full blood” sister from his mother and father’s marriage. It isn’t exactly like the situation presented in Genesis, well, nothing like it, but it helped the kids understand the half brothers situation. All of that lead to the kids asking about Melvin’s father and if he would be in Heaven and then questions about his mother as well. Josiah responded, “Well, I will not be going to Heaven when I die because I am not saved.” Melvin began to remind him of what we have told him since that day about 4 months ago. “This is your decision buddy. You know that ‘whosoever will call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.’ You know that you can do this anytime. You know that YOU have to do this. Mommy, Daddy, or Callie Grace cannot do this for you.” Callie Grace added, “Just like our memory verse this week, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’ Melvin added, “That is so terrific Callie Grace. That reminds me of Revelation 3:20. ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’”
We always end our Bible time with a time of prayer on our knees, each of us praying. Melvin said that he prayed, Callie Grace prayed, and then Josiah began to pray. “Jesus, thank you for salvation. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I need to be saved. I need to be saved NOW.” And at that, he burst into tears and then after a few moments of tears, laughter. Josiah said, “Mom, they were not sad tears. They were happy tears. Tears that I finally said ‘yes’ to Jesus.” Melvin said that it was such an awesome experience to get to witness the release it was for Josiah to finally surrender, surrender his will. They then had a praise celebration together, dancing and praising the Lord for His work of salvation in our WHOLE household.
There are no adequate words to describe the deep sense of rest that I feel now that each of our positions in Christ is secure. It just doesn’t get any better than this. This is a prayer answered. A prayer that we have prayed for 6 years now. Praise the Name of our Saviour!
Bag Balm
Several years ago, well, almost 8 to be exact, I had a situation that arose that I could not resolve. Diaper rash. Callie Grace has the most sensitive skin as we began to learn shortly after she was born. Our student ministry in Cleveland gave us a “diaper shower” which was such an awesome thing. One Wednesday night, A LOT of the students brought in packages of diapers for us and put them all on the stage. I kid you not, I had a huge closet full of diapers.
As new parents, we had no idea that there were differences in diapers. Just thought there were some people dumb enough to buy expensive ones over cheap ones! How clueless we were. We quickly began to realize as we began to go through those packs of diapers like crazy, that there were some that worked for Callie Grace and others that DID NOT. Thankfully, Wal-Mart was very good about taking diapers back because in the end, Callie Grace could only wear LUVS. Anything else, and I do mean anything, gave her unspeakable diaper rash. As a little side note here, we bought all LUVS for Josiah when he was born, and LUVS did not work for him. He could only wear Pampers. Thankfully, my mom liked to buy diapers. Oh. I love you mom!
Anyway, we also discovered that not only were the diapers a problem but the wipes were a problem as well. Diaper rash does not describe the problem that we had with Callie Grace and her diaper area. It looked like a severe burn. Until she was about 6 months old, we had to use wash clothes instead of wipes. Then, at six months, we were able to sometimes use the “un un” types of wipes, unscented, no alcohol, no aloe, basically, soft paper towels with water.
All that to say, we also tried every diaper rash cream on the market including a “miracle” concoction that Dr. Barry told us about using Desitin, baby powder, hydrocortizone cream, and an over the counter anti-fungal. The miracle cream was pretty good but it was NOTHING like something that my mom’s husband, Russell, introduced our family to. Bag balm. It is the end-all-be-all to all of your problems! HEHEHE. Well, it has been for us at least. It is an ointment that’s intended purpose is for cow udders. If you want to read more about Bag Balm, and I really urge you to, Yahoo recently had an article about it. The article, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100131/ap_on_re_us/us_bag_balm, is terrific. No medicine cabinet should be without it! You can order it on the internet and buy it at most farm supply stores.
By the way, we ended up potty training Callie Grace way before we intended to because of a severe diaper rash because someone in the church nursery used the nursery wipes instead of those that we provided. We had everything well-marked and wipes listed as an allergy, but mistakes happen. She trained so easily. I had her running around without a diaper trying to let the fresh air heal her.
Reading the Word
I was recently having some precious time with a former student from our very first church out of seminary. We were talking about our spiritual walk. She was asking me some in-depth questions about my daily time alone with the Lord. I thought that I would share some of my “secrets” about my daily time with the Lord. There are no radical things about it. It just happens to be the MOST important thing that I do everyday.
Melvin said something the other Sunday that hit the nail on the head. “It is not just about reading. It is about meeting with God.” I do not want to miss it! I want ALL the Lord has to offer me for this day. I will answer the questions as I remember my sweet friend asking me.
“What does your quiet time look like April?”
My time alone with God is just that, a time alone with just me and God. My goal is to hear from Him and get His perspective on my life and for His Kingdom. It is like breathing to me and is just a part of who I am. It will most likely include but is not limited to reading the Word, listening to the Holy Spirit, praying (both listening and speaking), Scripture memory, and journaling.
“Do you read a chapter of the Bible, a few verses, or do you follow a certain persons ideas on how to study the Bible, or do a Bible study? What do you do?”
I have lived in a perpetual state of reading through the Bible since I was 15 years old. There have been times when I have followed a “read through the Bible” guide, but for the most part, I just go back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. Once, I have read through the Bible by daily reading from a section out of the Old Testament, a section out of the New Testament, and a Psalm. This is not MY preferred method. I like to stick with one book, focusing on its Christology as I read.
Most years, I have had a time during the year that I do an in-depth study of some sort, but for the most part, it is God’s Word alone. I do not use a study Bible, but I do have a Comparative Study Bible that has 4 translations side by side that I have used since 1999. One word of wisdom that I received a few years after I had been perpetually reading through the Word is to stick with a Bible that doesn’t have devotions or commentary type writings in it. Our minds tend to go to that and take it as “WORD”. Mans thoughts and comments on God’s Word is not God’s Word. Reflecting on what Melvin’s teaching was about two weeks ago, we are hearing about God and not hearing from God. Don’t get me wrong, there are many times when someone’s commentary about the Word has proved beneficial and God has spoken to me through it, but we should not make it a habit and adopt someone else’s ideas and thoughts as the Truth. We must read the Truth for ourselves and allow God to speak to us about it so that we will have His Truth.
While I am speaking about this, I must take a little moment and get on a small soap box that I have about our culture and generations. We have been so saturated with resources, both people and printed, that we have relied upon the resources to develop our theology. We have sat under the teaching of well-respected people and held out our bucket for them to fill. Our buckets are filled with a person’s perspective and not with God’s.
Let me illustrate with a very hot topic. Reformed theology. So many have listened to great teacher’s philosophy and ideas and read books on this subject. They have never approached God’s Word for themselves free from the opinion and ideas of man and allowed God to speak. They have gone with their buckets and asked a human to fill them up. Ok. I’m done with that. My whole point is, read the Word for yourself. Search its pages for the answers to all of your questions. Seek out help from people who will teach you how to read it for yourself so that you will better understand it for yourself.
As I close this post, I read an article recently (Ha! Did I just not talk about this?) by John Ortberg that made me say, “Yes and amen!”. I thought it would be so helpful to my friend as well as all of those others out there whose lives are driven by guilt. It is entitled ”Your Spiritual Growth Plan”, and the entirity of the article can be found in Leadership Journal.
You hear about someone who gets up at four o’clock in the morning to pray, and you feel guilty because you think you don’t pray enough. So you resolve to do that too, even though you’re not a morning person, even though at four in the morning you’re dazed and confused and groggy and grumpy, and no one wants to be around you at four in the morning. Even Jesus doesn’t want to be around you at four in the morning!
But you think, Well, this is exhausting and miserable-I certainly don’t like doing it-so it must be God’s will for my life. It must be spiritual. You keep it up for several days or weeks, but not forever. Eventually you stop. Then you feel guilty. After enough guilt, you start doing something else.
It leads to a cycle: I feel guilty, so I try harder to do some devotional practice, but eventually I get fatigued, and eventually quit, and after a while I feel guilty about quitting, and the whole cycle starts again.
We teach people how to be saved by grace.
But we often do not teach people how to live by grace.
Self-improvement is no more God’s plan than is self-salvation. God’s plan is not just for us to be saved by grace – it is for us to live by grace. God’s plan is for my daily life to be given, guarded, and energized by the grace of God. To live in grace is to flow in the Spirit.
Whew. Now that is what I’m talking about.
Parent Speak
I read an intriguing article recently in a homeschool publication. The focus of the article was what they called ”parent speak”. “Parent speak” is communication to our children that is directive in nature. It is when we are giving instruction or direction to our children. The writer of the article was warning parents to make sure to have more intimate communication with your children than “parent speak”. I decided to measure my words on the following day to see how I was doing on this. It wasn’t very good. It is not that I am always on my kids. It is just that they majority of the communication that I have with my kids is either instructing them or directing them. What a terrific reminder to me to be making deposits in the bank for future communication. I need to be interacting with them on personal levels, talking about their dreams, fears, just life in general. I think it is a really good thought.
A Snowy Weekend
This weekend was filled with snow, snow, ice, and more snow. I feel like I got nothing productive done except putting on and taking off the kid’s snow clothes. They have been in and out more than I can even count and have maximized every moment, both in and out. Saturday morning began early. Our power went out around 6 a.m. due to ice on the lines. As soon as the power went out, we had two kids in our room. We all sleep with a fan running in our rooms year-round, so all of us know immediately when the power goes off when we are trying to sleep. My fan addiction began long ago, when I was a very young child. My sister had very bad allergies. Her allergist suggested using a clean air machine. This began my need for a fan. Unfortunately, white noise annoys me. It must be a nice, not too loud but not too quiet, fan. I always travel with one, not that I ever sleep when I travel? I am not a good sleeper. Never have been. How did this post get to this? Oh well.
Back to Saturday morning, 6 a.m……..Melvin tried to get the kids to go back to bed, but it was like trying to get them to go back to sleep on Christmas morning. They were so ridiculously fired up. I had taken some cold medicine on Friday evening, so I easily fell back to sleep and remember nothing until 9 a.m.! I don’t remember the last time that I slept until 9 a.m.??? Melvin got up, started a fire in the fireplace, and feed the kids a nutritious breakfast of Pop-Tarts and sugary cereal without milk. Wouldn’t you believe it! We were almost out of milk and bread on Friday when the impending snow was forecasted, but neither of us would swallow our pride and go to the store with all the other crazy people getting milk and bread like a blizzard was coming where we couldn’t get out of our house for the next 5 days. So, we didn’t have milk or bread on Saturday, but we made it!
I made myself get up out of bed to get the kids dressed and get myself dressed to play. They had waited so sweetly. The power was still out. I wasn’t very excited about going out and getting froze to the bone to come back in a house without heat and not be able to make a cup of hot chocolate. Thankfully, Melvin got out the trusty “buddy burner” and warmed up some water for us when we came back in and surprisingly, the fireplace warmed us up nicely. We do have a Coleman stove that we use camping, but Melvin thought the kids would think this was neat. It did take forever to heat up some water.
The kids made their very first snowman and had a blast sledding.
Church ended up being canceled. Melvin struggled so much in having to cancel the service. There is just so much to being portable as a church without throwing in the extra variable of inclement weather and the liability that exists for the organization that so graciously allows us to use their building. The kids were more than bummed and had in their hearts that we would have our very own church service at home. They woke up pumped about being able to play in the snow another day but also to get “church” started. It was “share your favorite Bible story day” at church. Melvin took the opportunity to teach us what he had been studying all week. Callie Grace read to us the story of Mary, Martha, and Jesus. I didn’t know this was her favorite story? Josiah chose the story of King Josiah and read it for the first time by himself. He is reading so well. I read from the last two chapters of Revelation. I am so ready for Heaven! Worship was led by Callie Grace and Josiah. We rocked out!
As soon as “church” was over, they were ready to head out the door. We found some new terrific sledding paths on our street. As the day wore on, I began to get a little weary of the snow. The kids were in and out and seemed to keep finding more and more creative ways to try something new and dangerous. I finally had to go out and practically drag them back in as the sun was setting. They have now decided that they want to definitely try snowboarding. Josiah has had his sights on this since he was able to talk, but now Callie Grace is on the bandwagon. The “snowboards” that they used were their sleds.
Haiti
I have taken a small blog break because my words fail me in trying to describe what I feel inside my heart toward the earthquake in Haiti. First of all, we as a family have been on our faces for the Haitian people, the rescue workers, the volunteers, the orphans and orphanages, and the missionaries. Secondly, this horrific event has made me have to teach the children a unit in Earth Science, and what exactly an earthquake is, how it is measured, why it happens, etc.,. I have watched the news, read blogs of missionaries and mission agencies, heard radio broadcasts of teenagers that were on a mission trip to Haiti when the earthquake occurred, and on and on. The thing that has been the most moving to me are the families that have been awaiting a child from Haiti and the efforts to get them out of the country and into the arms of their forever family. I cannot even imagine. We are continually praying about how God will lead us in getting involved in the relief efforts. There is nothing like seeing your children’s hearts be moved for the nations, that they may know the love of the Savior.
Easy Chicken and Dumplings
My hubby bragged on the chicken and dumplings via Facebook the other day. I thought I would share the easy recipe that I tried from the January issue of Southern Living magazine. This was my very first attempt at dumplings, and they turned out terrific.
1 (32 oz) container low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 (10 3/4 oz) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 (10.2 oz) can refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; return to low boil.
2. Place biscuits on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat each biscuit to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.
3. Drop strips, 1 at a time, into boiling broth mixture. Add carrots and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking.
Happy Birthday Roane Church
January 17, 2010
Filed under missional people, prayer request, provision, the people, why plant
Today is the one year birthday of Roane Church. What an amazing day of celebration for us as a church to celebrate all that God has done in our city over this past year! Melvin taught from Genesis 22, “Finding the Person Between the Problem and the Provision”. It was a very proper subject for us to focus on as a church today because of all the amazing provisions from God this year. The management team of the Michael Dunn Center honored us with serving us lunch. After lunch, we had a time of sharing where people in the church could share what God had done in their life as a result of God planting Roane Church. What a time of encouragement for us as a church to persevere in the coming year, that there will be many added to the kingdom this year as a result of Roane Church and our obedience to the radical, crazy things that He asks us to do. Our worship leader lead us in this song this morning.
Please pray for us. We want to make a radical difference in Roane County for the sake of Jesus.
