Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Begg on The Christian Life
We received this e-mail today from Truth for Life. Please take a moment to read Alistair Begg's comments encouraging us to 'run with endurance' and to use our lives wisely for Christ.
Dear Friends,
I recently had one of those moments when I was stopped in my tracks by something someone said. I was in Lima, Peru speaking at a conference for Wickliffe Bible Translators. This afforded me the opportunity to learn about the life and work of a Bible translator. I listened each day to reports from the field, all of which were challenging, but one in particular provided the moment to which I’m referring.
Here is the sentence: “On November 19, 1952, I went down the Amazon in a dug-out canoe with an outboard motor.”
I didn’t hear anything else the man said for some time, because I was trying to process the fact that he and his wife have been committed to the task for 57 years, which is my lifetime. They were beginning their ministry when I was six months old, and they are only now leaving with a sense of completion.
Just when I was silently commending myself for 26 years of service at Parkside, it dawned on me that I haven’t even reached halfway by their standard! Their length of service stands in marked contrast to those who today are offering themselves for “long-term” mission work, long-term being defined as four years.
There are doubtless many lessons to be learned from this story. Perhaps the most obvious is that we need to live with a sense of history and to remember that the Christian life is not a few 100-meter sprints, but a cross country run of obedience that lasts for the rest of our lives. When we view things from this perspective, we will be protected from being unduly unsettled by our disappointments or too eager to raise monuments to our achievements (Hebrews 12:1-3).
In earlier generations, those who were involved in the building of great cathedrals across Europe played their part with the awareness that they would never live to see the completion of the project. Similarly, much of what we share in together through Truth For Life is sowing the seeds of God’s Word. The extent of the harvest will only really be apparent in the light of eternity.
I didn’t check, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my friend in the canoe is living his life in light of Philippians 3:14. I hope that you are as encouraged and challenged by this example as I am.
Warmest Christian Greetings,
Alistair
Friday, January 29, 2010
Winter Wonderland!
I know it's us and a thousand other Oklahoma website owners who are posting this exact picture today, but it's just too pretty not to put on-line. In a storm that was supposed to be mostly ice, we're now sitting at 6" of snow and still going strong. It's an absolutely beautiful day!
Kristin snapped this picture as we headed out to our favorite sledding hill. Too pretty.
These two were the best dressed on the hill. Notice Maddox' eclectic mix of hand-me-downs (Anna's bib, Kristin's gloves, Nicholas' boots and her daddy's smile).
Nicholas was full-bore on the hill, mixing it up with some of the older boys.
He concluded that the toboggan was much faster than the old 'American Flyer.'
Kristin snapped this picture as we headed out to our favorite sledding hill. Too pretty.
These two were the best dressed on the hill. Notice Maddox' eclectic mix of hand-me-downs (Anna's bib, Kristin's gloves, Nicholas' boots and her daddy's smile).
Nicholas was full-bore on the hill, mixing it up with some of the older boys.He concluded that the toboggan was much faster than the old 'American Flyer.'
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Suggested Reading for 2010
Every year, Alistair Begg creates a list of books on his website that he thinks every believer should read. We read several of his recommendations last year and they all were excellent. They were all quality books that were very solid in theology and teaching.
We've already eyed his list for this upcoming year and wanted to post it for everyone to see. The descriptions below come straight from the Begg's website. If it's been a while since you've read a good book, look through these titles and see if any of them strike a chord and click over and order one (we've linked them all to Amazon)!
The Courage to be Protestant
by David Wells
buy here
The Cross of Christ: 20th Anniversary Edition
by John Stott
buy here
Lectures to My Students
by C. H. Spurgeon
buy here
Communion with the Triune God
by John Owen (ed. Justin Taylor & Kelly M. Kapic)
buy here
Jonathan Edwards: A Life
by George Marsden
buy here
In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life
by Sinclair Ferguson
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
by Jeremiah Burroughs
buy here
Money, Possessions, and Eternity
by Randy Alcorn
Valley of Vision
by Arthur G. Bennett
buy here
Truthforlife.org
We've already eyed his list for this upcoming year and wanted to post it for everyone to see. The descriptions below come straight from the Begg's website. If it's been a while since you've read a good book, look through these titles and see if any of them strike a chord and click over and order one (we've linked them all to Amazon)!
The Courage to be Protestantby David Wells
It is an utterly brilliant book and one that I feel is a recommended read, and maybe even a must read, for any Protestant. Wells keeps the reader glued to his text for page after page as he challenges the reader to hold faithfully to the theology of Scripture, to display the courage it takes to be Protestant in the church today.
buy here
The Cross of Christ: 20th Anniversary Editionby John Stott
More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission. Stott’s penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.
buy here
Lectures to My Studentsby C. H. Spurgeon
On this volume Spurgeon wrote, “At the end of the week I meet the students, and find them weary with sterner studies, and I judge it best to be as lively and interesting in my prelections as I well can be. They have had their fill of classics, mathematics, and divinity, and are only in a condition to receive something which will attract and secure their attention, and fire their hearts.”
buy here
Communion with the Triune Godby John Owen (ed. Justin Taylor & Kelly M. Kapic)
Owen recognized the great need for every believer to understand the triune God. Communion with the Triune God revisits the truth presented by John Owen and challenges all believers to truly recognize and appreciate the ministry that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have in their lives.
buy here
Jonathan Edwards: A Lifeby George Marsden
A distinguished Notre Dame scholar humanizes America’s greatest colonial clergyman. Marsden—drawing heavily on recent scholarship—restores Edwards to an eighteenth-century New England where most shared his doctrines, though few could rival him in the power with which he preached them.
buy here
In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Lifeby Sinclair Ferguson
This book offers helpful biblical insight on how to apply the message of the gospel to our daily life. –“In fifty short chapters arranged in six sections, Dr. Ferguson shows that Christ, who is fully God, took on humanity that He might be the Great High Priest of His people as well as the once-for-all sacrifice; that He now ministers to His people through His Spirit, crowning them with great and precious blessings; and that believers are called to duty, from cultivating contentment to mortifying sin …packed full of nuggets of Scriptural truth that will spark and fan the flames of the believer s love for the Savior who is so beautiful in His person and so faithful in His work on behalf of His beloved sheep.” -Pub. buy here
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentmentby Jeremiah Burroughs
In our world today, contentment is a rare thing to find. In this book from Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs, readers are encouraged to consider what contentment is and where it can be found.
buy here
Money, Possessions, and Eternityby Randy Alcorn
In our culture today, we are incredibly blessed financially. How does this comparable wealth impact our gratefulness? What does the Bible really say about money and how we as Christians should view earthly success? This completely revised and updated version of the classic best-seller provides a Christian perspective about money and material possessions based on the author's painstaking study of the Bible. Randy Alcorn uses the Scriptures to approach this often touchy subject head-on. Thought-provoking arguments challenge readers to rethink their attitudes and use their God-given resources in ways that will have an eternal impact. Alcorn deals straightforwardly with issues of materialism, stewardship, prosperity theology, debt, and more. This is an excellent choice for group study as well as individual financial guidance. A study guide and appendix with additional resources is included. buy here
Valley of Visionby Arthur G. Bennett
These rich prayers were written centuries ago by godly Puritan ministers. The prayers are arranged topically, and many prayers are included for special occasions and days. These prayers will stimulate and bring a healthy perspective and focus to your prayer life as you pause to consider the many blessings that God has given us in our lives.
buy here
Truthforlife.org
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Numbering Our Days
We received this thought from Alistair Begg today in an e-mail and wanted to post it for everyone to read.
Such good thoughts....
www.truthforlife.org
Such good thoughts....
Teach us to number our days aright,Dear Friends,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” —Psalm 90:12
Here is a suitable verse for the start of the year of our Lord 2010. Calvin observes that “it is a clear confession that without divine grace we are utterly foolish concerning the plainest things.”
If statistics alone could impress upon us the brevity of life and the reality of death and the certainty of judgment, we would all address ourselves to the issue. The fact is, the message never registers until God brings it home to us. Moses’ prayer comes at a time when thousands were dying annually in the wilderness. One would think that such fearful mortality would have impressed the whole nation. But it didn’t.
Twenty-first century men and women are no different. We walk through graveyards, treading on the dust of our forefathers, meeting long-lost friends at funerals, and yet we do not number our days aright except through some special operation of the Spirit of God.
Perhaps by now you’re thinking that this is a rather gloomy way to begin the year. Not so! This is not a funeral psalm. It is for the living. When we submit our minds to God’s revelation and we consider Him as Creator, Judge, and Savior, then we will learn to be satisfied every morning in His unfailing love. Then we may safely ask Him to “establish the work of our hands.” In brief, we enter 2010 walking with Him and working for Him.
It would be a useful and beneficial exercise to commit this psalm to memory. (Let me know if you’re successful!) When Isaac Watts in the 17th century wrote the hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” it was this psalm which provided its inspiration. When Paul urged the Ephesians to “Be very careful how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” (Eph. 5:15), I wonder did he have Moses’ prayer in mind.
Well, here we go! I am so thankful that you are partners with us in prayer and that you continue to give so generously that this message of God’s unfailing love reaches more and more people.
Hoping to meet many of you during the year.
Yours as always,
Alistair
www.truthforlife.org
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Hidden Cost of Compassion
Kristin and I read this quote today on a blog of a young mom who is battling cancer. In expressing her thoughts, she quoted an entry from the devotional Streams In The Desert.
It was too good to not share again.
It was too good to not share again.
From the December 10th entry:
Oh dear God, may you not waste our pain. Please don't waste these trials which you have brought into our lives. Help us not to get lost in ourselves, but instead, to lose ourselves in You. Create in our broken hearts the ability to seek those around us that are hurting and may we sip a cool cup of water together, and remind each other of a day that is coming when you will make all things right.
Are there not some in your circle to whom you naturally betake yourself in times of trial and sorrow? They always seem to speak the right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for; you do not realize, however, the cost which they had to pay ere they became so skillful in binding up the gaping wounds and drying tears. But if you were to investigate their past history you would find that they have suffered more than most. They have watched the slow untwisting of some silver cord on which the lamp of life hung. They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed to their feet, and its contents spilt. They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping gourds, and noon sunsets; but all this has been necessary to make them the nurses, the physicians, the priests of men… So suffering is rough and hard to bear; but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities, which not only leave us nobler, but perfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation, according to the will of God.I think of several Saints whom God has sent our way to comfort us over the past two years. And when I think about them, several have suffered "more than most." As a matter of fact, some of them are still suffering today.
Oh dear God, may you not waste our pain. Please don't waste these trials which you have brought into our lives. Help us not to get lost in ourselves, but instead, to lose ourselves in You. Create in our broken hearts the ability to seek those around us that are hurting and may we sip a cool cup of water together, and remind each other of a day that is coming when you will make all things right.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Beauty Will Rise
If you've been friends with us for any time, there's no doubt that you know we're big Steven Curtis Chapman fans. His music has encouraged us in so many stages of our lives.
Last year Chapman lost a daughter and through his grief, he wrote in our opinion, some of the best songs we've heard him write. His new album, Beauty Will Rise, has been such a salve to Kristin and me as we've been grieving over the past few months.
If you've recently been through a tough time and need to be reminded that God is in control and is with you every step of your way - please consider buying this album. I just can't tell you how much it's encouraged us.
You can buy the album here.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Year End Wrap Up
As 2009 came to a close, we wanted to post a few pictures to summarize our year's end:
Maddox turned five in November with her usual style of celebrating life.
Nicholas turned eight in December and continued to grow in his love for all things outdoors.
Maddox turned five in November with her usual style of celebrating life.
Nicholas turned eight in December and continued to grow in his love for all things outdoors.
Kristin and I celebrated our 17th anniversary in December -
more thankful this year than ever that God gave us each other.
more thankful this year than ever that God gave us each other.
And finally... we ended the year as it began -
thankful for all of the little things along the way that make life special.
thankful for all of the little things along the way that make life special.
