More melancholy post, but it will by happy and I hopefully won't be ashamed to have friends stumble upon it should they Google my name.
Very thankful for the life of Charlie Moore. I will say one last goodbye to him tomorrow. He is the reason I have kids every week at church and not just every other week. I hope I can rehabilitate 8-year-old Madison in to having a healthy grief, and perhaps even get her mom to church.
Very thankful that I know Amy Gray. She's going to Africa for 9 months. There was a huge goodbye party at her house. Just turning onto her street you could see how loved she is. There were cars up and down the street.
Thankful for Caitlin. I spent four hours at her house yesterday. I still find it bizarre. She's Catholic, and I'm Calvinist. The only way our beliefs could be more different is if I was a Baptist. and I'm still impressed that we can discuss theology without getting into a huge debate, which we did almost the whole time. I almost feel like she could be my twin if she wasn't a year and a half younger than me. So thank you Caitlin. If you ever see this blog, and I discuss Catholic theology on it, I'm both sorry and not sorry in advance.
I'm thankful that I'm in school again. I just got my college and seminary loans deferred. Maybe by the time I'm done at Clayton I can afford something.
I'm thankful I'm going to a psychologist. He's a wonderful man who plays Christian music in his waiting room, and I can tell he's a Christian by the discounts he tries to give me. Also, I'm a much better person on this new medicine, though I'm still trying to get my sleep schedule back in line.
I'm very thankful that he decided I just have Asperger's. Just ADHD. He informed me that there really is no such thing as ADD, but I'm not acknowledging the H.
Thankful for Mary who not only takes care of my brother, but also give me social pointers.
Thankful that I'm finally cleaning and enjoying it. I'm finding so many things and actually playing piano again!
Seriously happy at the moment. My main prayer requests this week are Madison and Mary and, just remembering when to bite my tongue.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday facts
For the first time in 8 years I went to a high school football game. It was so fun. I forgot how much I missed watching the marching bands.
I did some cleaning this week, I know shocking, and found a bunch of music from when I went to Trevecca. Good music like the whole score of Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah. I know have the grandiose idea of playing all the music in the Messiah. I actually played the piano for the first time since sophomore year of college.
A dear old man from my church got killed in a car accident today. I cannot tell you how sad I am but how happy that I know he's with the Lord. His name was Charlie Moore. He was going to visit his wife who has Alzheimer's in the nursing home and got in a wreck. He's the reason I have most of my youth group. He brought his great granddaughter Madison who started bringing her friend Alexis who brought the rest of her family and her friend Emily. He will be greatly missed. I hope he gets to see my mom up there. She'd love him.
I'm a bit tired at the moment, so that's all my facts for now. Happy weekend!
I did some cleaning this week, I know shocking, and found a bunch of music from when I went to Trevecca. Good music like the whole score of Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah. I know have the grandiose idea of playing all the music in the Messiah. I actually played the piano for the first time since sophomore year of college.
A dear old man from my church got killed in a car accident today. I cannot tell you how sad I am but how happy that I know he's with the Lord. His name was Charlie Moore. He was going to visit his wife who has Alzheimer's in the nursing home and got in a wreck. He's the reason I have most of my youth group. He brought his great granddaughter Madison who started bringing her friend Alexis who brought the rest of her family and her friend Emily. He will be greatly missed. I hope he gets to see my mom up there. She'd love him.
I'm a bit tired at the moment, so that's all my facts for now. Happy weekend!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Godspeed Amy
This is for my friend Amy who leaves next Tuesday to go to Kenya for 9 months.
You served the kids at Kids' Camp
You served us at your home
You earned your wage with doctors
And now you'll cross the foam
You stood with us in weddings
Helped us cope with our griefs
And now you go to Kenya
To share God's true belief
I can't express my pride
As you cross to their shore
To live among the orphans
And let them in your door
But as you dig the ground
And seek for newer friends
Know that God's Word is perfect means
To read a perfect ends.
You served the kids at Kids' Camp
You served us at your home
You earned your wage with doctors
And now you'll cross the foam
You stood with us in weddings
Helped us cope with our griefs
And now you go to Kenya
To share God's true belief
I can't express my pride
As you cross to their shore
To live among the orphans
And let them in your door
But as you dig the ground
And seek for newer friends
Know that God's Word is perfect means
To read a perfect ends.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Jacob's Disfunctional Family
I'm starting this post with an excellent comment from Ron Livesay:
"The sad thing about the account of Esau and Jacob is that Isaac fully intended to thwart God's will and give the blessing to Esau, regardless of what God had said, and that both Jacob and Rebekah tried to help God out by using trickery in order to accomplish His will. None of the three were operating by faith.
"Jacob did not need to "steal" either the birthright or the blessing, since they were already his, but he certainly tried to do so. If he and Rebekah had simply believed God, the right thing would have been accomplished without the consequences.
"It is amazing how the grace of God prevails in spite of human unbelief and rebelliousness. Some have wondered how God could hate Esau. A better question might be, "How could God love Jacob?" You are certainly right in stating they were both scoundrels, but Jacob was the son of promise, and God's promises are always fulfilled.
"I enjoy your blog when I have time to read it. Keep up the good work."
Thank you for your encouragement, Ron. I remember discussing this in Sunday Schools of the past when we did a mock trial over this story, deciding who all was to blame and if anyone was innocent. It reminds me that we did occasionally have good Bible lessons at my home church, but it's something you never actually think about: Isaac being every bit as messed up as the rest of his family.
Fact: God told Rebekah that he would bless the younger son, Jacob, as the covenant child.
Why on earth was Isaac so impressed with Esau? At least impressed so much that he would stubbornly bless Esau when God told him that Jacob was the promised child. Was he not nearly sacrificed to God by Abraham to show that we need to obey God even when he doesn't make sense? Did he forget that he was younger than Ishmael? I don't know, maybe Abraham and Sarah tried to hid the Ishmael story, because he was sent away when Isaac was young. But he and Ishmael both got along enough to bury Abraham together, so he had to know that Ishmael did not earn God's primogeniture. Why is he so quick to forget this with his own children?
At this point, I'm still not sure how they got from the loving couple of Genesis 24 to the scandals of Genesis 27.
Genesis 24: Isaac and Rebekah got married. It truly was a match made in heaven.
Genesis 25: 20 years pass and Rebekah finally gets pregnant with the twins.
Genesis 26: The twenty year wait must have weighed on Isaac because he's repeating the same mistake as Abraham, lying to Abimelech about his relation to Rebekah and nearly selling her as a concubine. He still shows more passion for his wife than his parents ever displayed as Abimelech caught him and Rebekah necking one day and figured it out. It's like Isaac was confused. And you have to think, in chapter 24, Abraham wouldn't let him go to Paddan Aram to find his bride. It's like he was kind of overprotected and spoiled. It's no wonder God wanted to see if Abe would sacrifice him.
So, back to chapter 25. Esau grows up to be a hunter, and somehow this impresses Isaac. Jacob is clearly pampered by his mother as he sticks by her apron strings in the kitchen. It's like Isaac considers Jacob a wimp and prefers the manly, virile Esau even though he married Canaanite women that brought strife on both parents. In Isaac's old age, he forgot God's promise to him, preferred the macho man even though Jacob was the promised child, and it took a good swindle to wake him up until he finally voluntarily blesses Jacob before he runs off to Laban. He still doesn't forgive Rebekah as later on, Genesis tells of the death of Rebekah's nurse, but not Rebekah. He clearly must have divorced her and moved on to the nurse.
Anyway, when I teach this lesson on Sunday, I'm going to focus on Jacob's birthright and blessing which were already his. He did not need to steal them. If he had remembered God, then the blessing would have happened. All the same, God still keeps his promise despite our trying to "help" him.
"The sad thing about the account of Esau and Jacob is that Isaac fully intended to thwart God's will and give the blessing to Esau, regardless of what God had said, and that both Jacob and Rebekah tried to help God out by using trickery in order to accomplish His will. None of the three were operating by faith.
"Jacob did not need to "steal" either the birthright or the blessing, since they were already his, but he certainly tried to do so. If he and Rebekah had simply believed God, the right thing would have been accomplished without the consequences.
"It is amazing how the grace of God prevails in spite of human unbelief and rebelliousness. Some have wondered how God could hate Esau. A better question might be, "How could God love Jacob?" You are certainly right in stating they were both scoundrels, but Jacob was the son of promise, and God's promises are always fulfilled.
"I enjoy your blog when I have time to read it. Keep up the good work."
Thank you for your encouragement, Ron. I remember discussing this in Sunday Schools of the past when we did a mock trial over this story, deciding who all was to blame and if anyone was innocent. It reminds me that we did occasionally have good Bible lessons at my home church, but it's something you never actually think about: Isaac being every bit as messed up as the rest of his family.
Fact: God told Rebekah that he would bless the younger son, Jacob, as the covenant child.
Why on earth was Isaac so impressed with Esau? At least impressed so much that he would stubbornly bless Esau when God told him that Jacob was the promised child. Was he not nearly sacrificed to God by Abraham to show that we need to obey God even when he doesn't make sense? Did he forget that he was younger than Ishmael? I don't know, maybe Abraham and Sarah tried to hid the Ishmael story, because he was sent away when Isaac was young. But he and Ishmael both got along enough to bury Abraham together, so he had to know that Ishmael did not earn God's primogeniture. Why is he so quick to forget this with his own children?
At this point, I'm still not sure how they got from the loving couple of Genesis 24 to the scandals of Genesis 27.
Genesis 24: Isaac and Rebekah got married. It truly was a match made in heaven.
Genesis 25: 20 years pass and Rebekah finally gets pregnant with the twins.
Genesis 26: The twenty year wait must have weighed on Isaac because he's repeating the same mistake as Abraham, lying to Abimelech about his relation to Rebekah and nearly selling her as a concubine. He still shows more passion for his wife than his parents ever displayed as Abimelech caught him and Rebekah necking one day and figured it out. It's like Isaac was confused. And you have to think, in chapter 24, Abraham wouldn't let him go to Paddan Aram to find his bride. It's like he was kind of overprotected and spoiled. It's no wonder God wanted to see if Abe would sacrifice him.
So, back to chapter 25. Esau grows up to be a hunter, and somehow this impresses Isaac. Jacob is clearly pampered by his mother as he sticks by her apron strings in the kitchen. It's like Isaac considers Jacob a wimp and prefers the manly, virile Esau even though he married Canaanite women that brought strife on both parents. In Isaac's old age, he forgot God's promise to him, preferred the macho man even though Jacob was the promised child, and it took a good swindle to wake him up until he finally voluntarily blesses Jacob before he runs off to Laban. He still doesn't forgive Rebekah as later on, Genesis tells of the death of Rebekah's nurse, but not Rebekah. He clearly must have divorced her and moved on to the nurse.
Anyway, when I teach this lesson on Sunday, I'm going to focus on Jacob's birthright and blessing which were already his. He did not need to steal them. If he had remembered God, then the blessing would have happened. All the same, God still keeps his promise despite our trying to "help" him.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Free Will -- with Scriptures
Much thanks to Alice Alfred for reminding me to use Scripture to talk about Scripture. It's one of my biggest beefs: people who don't use Scripture. It's such a big error that even I fall into it.
Romans 3:10 -- There is no one righteous, not even one. All of Paul's quotations in this section help us to know that we are at least totally depraved. We either have no free will or we have too much.
Romans 7 is Paul's famous passage where he wants to do right but he can't. What he does do, he hates. It's like he can't control his inner sinner at times.
Romans 1:24-- God gave them over to their sinful desires. So it seems there might be free will but it isn't the wonderful gift that the Arminians glorify. It's actually God's punishment. True freedom is when he captivates us to himself.
Ephesians 2:1 -- You were dead in your transgressions and sins. Last time I checked, dead people have no freedom.
Colossians 2:3 -- While you were dead in your sins, Christ made you alive with Christ. We could do nothing unless God awakened us. And again, dead people have no freedom, and our freedom is actually God's punishment, which is not freedom at all but slavery to ourselves.
1 Corinthians 5:22 -- As in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive.
So free will is actually a glorious paradox. If God was so unmerciful as to leave us to our freedom, we would never choose him and remain dead, but since God awakened us to Christ, we are completely enslaved to him but completely who we were meant to be in him, finding complete life and life to the fullest.
Just like that Wham! song: I don't want this freedom, freedom from your loving.
Romans 3:10 -- There is no one righteous, not even one. All of Paul's quotations in this section help us to know that we are at least totally depraved. We either have no free will or we have too much.
Romans 7 is Paul's famous passage where he wants to do right but he can't. What he does do, he hates. It's like he can't control his inner sinner at times.
Romans 1:24-- God gave them over to their sinful desires. So it seems there might be free will but it isn't the wonderful gift that the Arminians glorify. It's actually God's punishment. True freedom is when he captivates us to himself.
Ephesians 2:1 -- You were dead in your transgressions and sins. Last time I checked, dead people have no freedom.
Colossians 2:3 -- While you were dead in your sins, Christ made you alive with Christ. We could do nothing unless God awakened us. And again, dead people have no freedom, and our freedom is actually God's punishment, which is not freedom at all but slavery to ourselves.
1 Corinthians 5:22 -- As in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive.
So free will is actually a glorious paradox. If God was so unmerciful as to leave us to our freedom, we would never choose him and remain dead, but since God awakened us to Christ, we are completely enslaved to him but completely who we were meant to be in him, finding complete life and life to the fullest.
Just like that Wham! song: I don't want this freedom, freedom from your loving.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Fruit
It's always good when my dad guest preaches at Trinity because he doesn't preach longer than 15 minutes. It's the way sermons should be. Of course, I never heard sermons live anymore, but it's still good.
My same two girls, Alexis and Emily were there. This time, I read the story of Jacob stealing Esau's birthright. I would read a word like Jostle, and they would pretend to wrestle. Then I had them say the quotes from Rebekah, God, Jacob, and Esau. I'm amazed at how they are still paying attention.
After that, we had discussion questions. Was Esau's birthright something to trade in for one meal? No.
My same two girls, Alexis and Emily were there. This time, I read the story of Jacob stealing Esau's birthright. I would read a word like Jostle, and they would pretend to wrestle. Then I had them say the quotes from Rebekah, God, Jacob, and Esau. I'm amazed at how they are still paying attention.
After that, we had discussion questions. Was Esau's birthright something to trade in for one meal? No.
Looks like Esau will do anything to get what he wants when he wants it. Looks like Jacob knows that. Was it right for Jacob to play into Esau’s weakness? Neither brother did what was right in this episode. They used lying, trickery, impulse to get what they wanted. They followed their inner sinner, aka sin nature.
Then, I went over the inner sinner qualities of Galatians 5 followed by the Fruits of the Spirit. I explained how this is not nine fruits, but one big fruit. Then I had them draw each quality as if it was a fruit. The first three were easy. Love=heart. Joy=smiley face. Peace = peace sign. The next six were not so easy to draw. I decided to draw a watch for patience. Then I just drew stick figures for the rest, like for kindness, someone hands someone a dollar. Faithfulness, I drew two people hugging each other and staying together. The others did pretty well. Then I handed out fruit snacks and church was over.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Shield about Me
How my foes rise up
They say He won't deliber
Patronizing smiles
So smart, they are not list'ners
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
Because the Lord sustains
I can sleep and waken
I won't fear the thousands
Who oppose me. I'm not shaken
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
Break their smiling liberal teeth
Strike them on the jaw.
God brings my deliverance
Against him there's no law.
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
They say He won't deliber
Patronizing smiles
So smart, they are not list'ners
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
Because the Lord sustains
I can sleep and waken
I won't fear the thousands
Who oppose me. I'm not shaken
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
Break their smiling liberal teeth
Strike them on the jaw.
God brings my deliverance
Against him there's no law.
But you, O LORD, are a shield to me
Surround me with glory and lift up my head
You, O LORD, are a shield to me
He answers when I call out in dread.
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