First Coming

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time,
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait.

till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

~ Madeleine L'Engle

Recommended Reading for Christmas "break"

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

The Reason for God by Tim Keller

Peace Is Here

Little children, born to chaos, sojourn by the stars appear,
Though your fears wrap all around you, love has come and peace is here.

Men to men, in violent rapture,
Wars lay sons in fields unknown,
Hope to quell the disappointment,
Justice born and mercy shown,

Gloria, Gloria, peace is here,
Gloria, Gloria, peace is here.

Angels sing in righteous envy,
Kings of Earth kneel by the throne,
Born to push against the fall, as far as the curse is found.

Gloria, Gloria, peace is here,
Gloria, Gloria, peace is here,
Peace is here, peace is here.

Na, na, na-na-na-na,
Na, na, na-na-na-na, na,
Na, na, na-na-na-na,
Na, na, na-na-na-na, na.

Gloria, Gloria, (peace is here)
Gloria, Gloria, peace is here,
Peace is here, peace is here.

~ Jars of Clay

Pooh Bear loves his auntie

New York at Christmas

is a very pretty place.

one-liners

We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening. ~ G.K. Chesteron

(ok, so that was more than one line.)

Excerpts from The Praying Life

Imbedded in the idea of prayer is a richly textured view of the world where all of life is organized around invisible bonds or covenants that knit us together. Instead of a fixed world, we live in our Father's world, a world built for divine relationships between people where, because of the Good News, tragedies become comedies and hope is born.

~ Paul E. Miller (p 217)

Trust thou thy joys

Trust thou thy joys in keeping of the Power who holds these changing shadows in His hand; Believe and live, and know that hour by hour will ripple newer beauty to thy strand.

~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson

one-liners

I am immortal until God's work for me is done. The Lord reigns.

~ Henry Martyn

one-liners

Soaring whispers

Shouting fears

Both are just as real.

~ Mom

You are the God of the early mornings

You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but, my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of the earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature - You Who are God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths, there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at - My God, search me out.

~ Oswald Chambers

one-liners

Nothing happens by chance, but by the far-sighted wisdom of God.

~ St. Julian of Norwich

The best place

The best place is wherever He puts us, and any other would be undesirable, all the worse because it would please our fancy, and would be of our own choice. Do not think about distant events. This uneasiness about the future is unwholesome for you. We must leave to God all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves. When God takes away that which He has given you, He knows well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.

~ Francois Fenelon

Matthew 5, 6, and 7

one-liners

Duty is ours; results are God's.

~ John Quincy Adams

one-liners

I would give nothing for that man's religion whose very dog or cat are not the better for it.

~ Rowland Hill

one-liners

What would you do if you had no fear of failure?

~ Matt Cassidy

Frosty Morning

one-liners

Ask boldly; surrender completely.

~ Paul E. Miller (from his book The Praying Life)

one-liners

Make wherever you are the eye of the storm. Be all there.

 ~ Janice Joyhart

Two Fingers

They just make the world a better place.

Bundle-lish!

His Cheekiness

as his Auntie Kristin would say.

I miss them

Three of my favorite things

fall, nephew, sis

Hillsong United - The Stand

The Talented Miss TPalm

TPalm took this photo of me riding Wilbur and I really like it.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology: 1 Timothy 6:4 and Blogging

Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology: 1 Timothy 6:4 and Blogging: ". . . an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and con..."

Jesus Sightings on a recent trip to NY

In keeping with the theme from the previous post, I'm trying to "develop an eye for Jesus". Here are some things I saw and experienced.

• on the plane - a father caring for his two young sons. he reassured them when there was turbulence, gave them schedule updates as our flight continued to be delayed, spoke to them gently when they got irritated at each other, spoke kindly of their mother (who was not with them), put a protective arm around them both when the plane jumped and acted like it was going to fall from the sky
• on the streets in NYC - a sweet smile from an older woman I walked past
• two couples from England who let me go first in line to check into my hotel room when we all get there at the same time around 2am in the morning. i saw them again the next day and it was fun to see "familiar" faces in a sea of strangers
• getting two standby flights from JFK to ATX after I missed my flight due to travel delays out of the city
• the AA ticket agent who noticed I'm tall and worked on getting me a seat with more leg room, not just on the leg from JFK to Dallas, but also on the flight from Dallas to ATX
• on the plane - a (cute) Marine who put my suitcase up in the overhead for me 
• barely getting to the connecting plane in Dallas before the flight left and being greeted by name by the AA ticket agent and getting reassured that I indeed had a seat on that flight 
• watching the same AA ticket agent offer a first class upgrade to the military officer who arrived at the gate the same time I did. his smile of gratitude was fabulous
• the parking agent in ATX who offered to stay at my car with me while I found my car keys

Developing an eye for Jesus

I've been reading a book by Paul E. Miller called The Praying Life and it is fabulous. It has changed the way I view prayer and it has deepened my walk with God. Every chapter is rich in truth and Miller's writing style is simple but poetic. I think I've underlined practically the whole book. 

One chapter called "Developing an eye for Jesus" talks about looking for God at work in a cynical world. In this chapter (and throughout the book) the author not only confronts the world's cynicism but also believers' cynicism in how they've forgotten to watch for God in our every day lives. 

Here are some quotes from the chapter: 

"Cynicism looks in the wrong direction. It looks for the cracks in Christianity instead of looking for the presence of Jesus. It is an orientation of the heart... Jesus never used his power to show off. He used his power for love. So he wasn't immensely noticeable... Humility makes you disappear, which is why we avoid it... The presence of Jesus, the only truly authentic person who ever lived, would reveal itself in the restoration of authenticity in people... When we look for Jesus we can find him, even in seemingly mundane encounters... With a little conscious reflection, it is easy to see the beauty of Jesus... Because he keeps his eye on the present work of Jesus, Paul is not overcome by evil but overcomes evil with good. Goodness infests Paul's prayer life. He is living out the gospel. Even as God has extended grace to Paul, so Paul extends grace to the Corinthians. He looks at the church through rose-colored glasses, tinted with the blood of his Saviour... Christians aren't superior, but our Saviour is. He makes the difference. He is alive and well in his church."

Streams of Evangelicalism

Streams of Evangelicalism

The One Who Saves

Either It's True or It's Not

If you believe the Bible is true, you need to live like it's true. You need to live in the conviction that it's true from Genesis to Revelation. It's all on the table. No piece of can be discarded because it's inconvenient or painful or awkward to explain to those who don't understand.

If you are going to live like it's true, there will be "God-moments" in your life and things will start to happen that can only be explained by the existence of a God. If you live like the Bible is true, your life will start to become a testimony to the truth of God and His Word.

But be consistent. If you say you believe in the Bible, live it. And if you don't want to live it, then don't say you believe it's true. Let your actions be consistent with your beliefs.

Wisdom from Rick Warren

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

For Our Sake, That We Might Become

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  II Corinthians 5:21

This is the what and the why of our lives.
He became sin -- so that we might become His righteousness.
He took on death -- so that we might have life.
He took our place -- so that our lives would take on glory and holiness and action that brings forth God's Kingdom.

Bundle-lish!

Sisters are the best

I want one

Can I have one for a pet please? They are SO cute!

Naughty and Nice

So, yes. I'm the gullable one of the bunch. Eryn and Jess had the bright idea of "blacking out our teeth" using dried cranberries. So look who's all into the idea and the other two who conveniently have their decaying teeth NOT showing. Yet another example of how the nice ones always get taken advantage of.

The Bundle (a.k.a. the nephew)

I miss him. And love him. And want to kiss his fat little cheeks.

Summer Pastime II

In keeping with tradition, here are this summer's movies:

1) The Holiday - still on the summer movie list. I can't ever get enough of Kate Winslet and Jack Black in this movie.

2) Elf - a classic Christmas-in-July movie (the best part is Papa Elf being serious when the whole time he looks like he's about to crack up laughing).

3) Leap Year - you can't go wrong with a film set in Ireland and watching Amy Adams prance around in her high high heels while Matthew Goode stands back completely amused by her.

4) New in Town - so so funny (in a laugh out loud sort of way). I really wanted some tapioca pudding while I was watching it.

5) The BBC version of Sense and Sensibility - I heart Colonel Brandon.

Looking Upward

Hillsong - Love Like Fire

I am desperate for Your touch
a glimpse of heaven
for the glory of Your Son.
In a moment You can
turn a life around
forever to be found in You.

I am reaching out to find
there's nothing greater than
Your love that holds my life.
Your grace and mercy that
have saved me by Your blood,
and swept away my shame Oh Lord.

Chorus
Your love is like fire
that burns for all to see.
My only desire
to worship at Your feet.
So let this fire
consume my life.
Let Your love take me deeper
pull me closer to where You are,
'cause all I want is more of You.

and I'll surrender to Your love
forever humbled by the
message of the cross.
I stand abandoned in
Your presence and Your grace,
and I'll never be the same Oh God.

Chorus
Your love is like fire,
that burns for all to see.
My only desire,
to worship at Your feet.
So let this fire
consume my life.
Let Your love take me deeper,
pull me closer to where You are,
'cause all I want is more of You.

When You call I will follow.
At the cross I surrender all,
Jesus I belong to You.

I belong to You Lord

Your love is like fire,
that burns for all to see.
My only desire,
to worship at Your feet.

Your love is like fire,
that burns for all to see.
My only desire,
to worship at Your feet.

So let this fire
consume my life.
Let Your love take me deeper,
pull me closer to where You are,
'cause all I want is more of You.

When You call I will follow,
at the cross I surrender all,
Jesus I belong to You.

Let Your love take me deeper,
pull me closer to where You are,
cause all I want is more of You

When You call I will follow,
at the cross I surrender all,
Jesus I belong to You.

Theology of Trouble

Something I've been churning in my head lately is this: when times are good, it's easy to think that things will always be good. We get comfortable. We start feeling entitled to the good times. We feel secure in the easiness and we grow accustomed to it.

But the good times get replaced with troubled times. When this happens, what is our reaction? Do we kick and scream and shake our fist at God? Do we wonder what we did wrong to deserve the trouble? Do we see the hard times as a chance to die to ourselves and become more like Jesus?

What is your theology of trouble? Have you prepared ahead of time what your reaction will be when you begin to experience it? Psalm 27:5 says: "For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon the rock." David had already prepared his response to when trouble comes - he will turn to God in trust, in hope, in belief that God will take of him.

As Christians, our theology needs to be proactive, prepared ahead of time, not reactionary. We must think ahead of time what our reaction to trouble will be, what God will expect from us, and what God has promised us. Then when the trouble comes, we need to hold onto our theology, which has been prepared head of time. Good theology will take us through the trouble - it will enable us to trust God and it will bring about joy and praise in the midst of the hard times.

Just Do Something

I highly recommend this book: Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung.

The book's premise is that instead of asking God for His specific will in whether or not you should be a doctor or lawyer or janitor or mechanic or pastor or and the list goes on, you should ask God how you can be His follower, do His work, become more holy, more like Christ in the context of your vocation, whatever it may be that you choose to do.

DeYoung goes on to say in the book (paraphrasing): God is not this "sneaky God" who has a specific will for you, but won't let you find it out and likes to watch you agonize over finding out what His will is. Instead, He is a God who cares immensely for you, provides abundantly for you, and is waiting for you to Just Do Something in His Kingdom. There's lots of work to be done - so get on with it!

With Everything by Hillsong

Open our hearts,
To see the things
That make Your heart cry,
To be the church
The You would desire.
Light to be seen.

Break down our pride,
And all the walls
We've built up inside,
Our earthly crowns
And all our desires,
We lay at Your feet.

So let hope rise,
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light,
And every eye will see
Jesus, our God,
Great and mighty to be praised.

God of all days,
Glorious in all of Your ways.
Your majesty, the wonder and grace,
In the light of Your name.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout for your glory.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Our hearts will cry
Be glorified,
Be lifted high,
Above all names.
For You our King,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Maui Highlights

an introduction to snorkeling - loved it!
swimming with a turtle
tomato and goat cheese salad
mai tai drinks
horseback riding to the backside of Iao Valley
driving the Road to Hana
sunrise at the Kalahaku Overlook
fresh fish - ono and mahimahi
hiking through the bamboo forest to Waimoku Falls
fresh pineapple, papaya, apple bananas, mountain apples
mac and cheese at Ma La's
walking the beach-side path at Wailea
beautiful sunsets and high-70 degree weather
new friends at the Maui Dive Shop
coming back from Hana on the Kula Highway

Maui