Footing #4

The Prophet Jeremiah has been a deep and unending encouragement for me. Not because he was a great success by any measure, but because he was always faithful. When left for days in the mire (picture an outhouse hole) he still spoke the words of truth, when threatened with death a every turn he still preached God's authority above all else, when dragged away to Egypt where he knew God said never to go again lest they be cursed he believed God was enough, when God told him never to marry and that his life would be one of loneliness he didn't pull a Benedict Arnold, when all his work was burned by the king's men (chapters and chapters of parchment(picture ancient scrolls) lost in moments--we are talking a whole lotta work here people) he patiently and carefully rewrote what we know today as the book of Jeremiah(its like 52 chapters and that's in English typed not hand written on parchment), when no one--and I mean NO ONE--believed a word he spoke even as his prophesies came true did he sit down and shut up and lose all hope? No, he kept preaching, kept standing, kept moving, kept trusting. And yes he did have his weaker moments, like when he called God to punish the nations, but he then turns around (like moses) and stood in the gap for his people.

Footing #3

"You like to tell me that things will work out, mom. But mom, what if they don't work out? What if things don't turn around, what if things get more affected by what has happened, what if my life turns into more drama not less? What do you say then?" I spoke these words very solidly and quietly and listened to the silence on the other end of the line. I wondered if I had offended my mother (who is awesome by the way, always trying to look on the bright side) by being as honest as I possibly could in the moment.

"I don't know, Larissa, I just don't know." Was her soft and gentle reply. Since then we haven't spoken in detail about how my life is playing out in worldly standards, but I have perceived that my mom actually is walking nearer to me in these times then she was before, even when she hasn't said I should just buck up and the "luck will change" things lately. I appreciate more than anything that she doesn't try to give me an easy answer, because there are no easy answers...there is enough for today...and that is all.

I know the Lord is actively teaching me the things which disciples throughout history have known; Athanasius, Perpetua, Jan Huss, James Renwick, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, William Tyndale, John Bunyan, J. Gresham Machen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jim and Elizabeth Elliot along with the other members of their group, Stephen and the early disciples, Paul Schneider, Corrie ten Boom, All the Prophets of the Old Testament like Jeremiah and Daniel, Job and so many others who just haven't come to mind (most of these are examples of people I have studied their writings or read biography(ies) on).

These examples of faithfulness in the face of great struggle in this world do not all translate to death, although some do. Some lost their reputations, some their jobs, some their safety and comfort, some were hunted and besieged all their lives, Tyndale and Jeremiah lost all their work: one in Prophesy and one in translation. Many lost loved ones, and several lost their freedom, they endured great hardships including beatings and dehumanization, loss of health, horrible humiliations and all this for the simple fact that they chose to follow and remain close to the Lord; all for love and obedience.

But one thing that sets these believers apart is the fact that none of them were surprised by the Cost this thing called Christianity brought to them. Not one of them (if you read a biography or an actual first person paper) seems to show surprise that living in this world with a passion and abandon for life they way He intended it can cost you a lot. In fact when you read or study many of these followers (for a good example Corrie ten Boom  says "because my sister died, I get to talk about Jesus all the time") you see that these struggles/sufferings made them know they were marked out by Christ because their lives resembled His life on the earth and gave them a reason or ability to speak more about the truth. He was rejected, and so were they; he was beaten, and so were they; he was imprisoned and so were they; he was wrongly accused and so were they; He was punished for doing what was right and so were they; He was criticized and demeaned and so were they; he was unemployed and so were they; he was homeless and at times so were they. Their life because of Christ had taken on the glow of His life.

What choice do we have if things just don't work out? If things are harder? If all you really do only have enough for today? A roof for today, a meal for today, a friend for today? Is it enough?

Can I like Corrie ten Boom say that I don't believe in the rapture because it gives believers a false sense of security and weakens them for the struggles that life holds? Am I willing to struggle for the sake of Christ? Are you?

Even though I do not like to bear up under this obvious struggle that is continually before my eyes I know that bearing these things is a joy for me because it colors my life like His own. I am singled out like He was and I know myself to be "peculiar" like Paul wrote to Titus (Titus 2). I also know, like Paul writes in 2 Cor that I have this treasure (ie. the gospel of Grace) in earthenware vessels (ie. weak little me...highly expendable) and the more battered this vessel is (ie the more beaten and bruised I become...the more I show up less and less) the more the treasure (ie the gospel can be viewed by people looking in on my situation) can be seen. Read 2 Cor 4 for a deeper look at what Paul says about our earthenware vessels (these weak and expendable bodies of ours).

Death Our Enemy

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5 (ESV)

Footing #2

Standing on His promises are wrapped up in obedience and are a reflection of Christ's life here on this earth. If we are being formed into the image of Christ, won't our life here, look very similar to His life here? If in Heaven when we see him we will be like Him for we shall see him as he is, right? We all perceive this truth in our lives to some extent, even when we aren't followers of him.

A good way to explain what I mean is using the example that was given when I watched an interview with a holocaust survivor (if you are interested in that video or others click here, but remember you will probably take several days watching just one interview). The survivor was relaying her experience after she came to America where she was reunited with her family(those who had escaped in the early 1930's) after the war. The interviewer asked this woman if she was able to speak with her family about the Holocaust or Shoah and she simply said something to the effect that "They were normal, they had these lives where the war meant standing in line for nylons or playing poker for oil cans to use your car. They just couldn't comprehend the experience of struggling for your life, having typhus, being hunted like a rabbit, not having shoes for years on end, not being able to use even a jacket because of it's lice infestation, losing your entire family. They just could not comprehend it at all. So I did not speak of it."

Footing #1

I wanted to start a series of posts on what has become the reality of my life. Insecurity. I don't say that word lightly and I don't mean it in a spiritual sense. I mean it like I say it. Not-secure. Unknown. I want to explore what living in the world and following Christ have equated to in this life for me (and our family), hopefully it will keep an honest depiction of our life, but also give us a better look at the truths of the gospel as they play out at times so close to our face that we cannot see them as clearly. So here goes nothing!

Thoughts on the Word

Happy Veterans Day! But do you ever remember the Battle for the Bible?

Many people in English speaking nations have heard of William Tyndale, just as Martin Luther carriers a position of admiration for most German speaking believers. These men held in common one specific thing apart from faith. They both believed that people should be able to read the word in their own common language. I know I have blogged on this topic before, but I still think it is pertinent. Do we ever think about what people went through so that you could have ten bibles in your home that you never read?

Tyndale spent his entire life writing and translating the word for the plowman, the blue collar folks who have no access to higher education. He spent much time running for his life, afraid of friendships, unable to really plant his life in any location, he never married (that we know of),ship wrecks and constant travels. He lost his entire translation of the Torah (first five books of the Hebrew bible) in a ship wreck and with out missing a step he managed to start back up and redo all the work he had lost; much like the prophet Jeremiah who lost his work on the book bearing his name and was forced to start all over again.

There are other example of people who sacrificed everything for the word. Do you sacrifice for the Word? We commemorate this day in history in remembrance of the things veterans did on our behalf, but do you commemorate the fact you have the word to read? Do you ever even think about what a bloody trail the bible in English left? How often to you ponder how much other's sacrificed for you to have the ability to read the word without joining a convent or learning Greek and Hebrew?

In closing, I thought that this quote from one of my hero's was pretty pertinent to the idea of the cost of the bible and our response not just to the ONLY book God ever wrote, but the cost other believers pain on our behalf for us to have the privilege to read the word daily.

"I fear we are in danger of forgetting that to HAVE the Bible is one thing, and to READ it quite another." ~ J.C. Ryle

Servant Leaders

“Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
― Martin Luther

While compliling a list of verses that were pertinent for married people I made up this list and one like it for wives. I post it here as a help and encouragement for people who are looking for complimentarian imformation, aka Biblical information, haha! :)

"It Will Work Out" The Most Unressuring statement Ever!

In the last two years of my life I have had the benefit of learning how flippant many of our words are to those around us who share their hearts and burdens. I have often said, "it will be okay" or "time will heal" and a number of other cliche statements. But then my father died and now more than a year and a half later, I still think of him often, the kids speak of him more than any other member of our family (apart from an Aunt that we recently lost in our family as well), and I still wish he was here. I cannot separate myself from my relationship with my father. I cannot heal my heart of the hurt that comes from losing someone so close and although I am healed in Christ from my sin, the wounds that this world brings to me cannot be healed until I am with Christ and removed from this earth.

So why do we say things like this to people: "It will all work out." or "I hope you have healed from that experience"....when the experience may not be one that a heal can be borne from. Only Christ and His salvation can heal us, and through times of trial or loss we aren't healed by those experiences we are sustained and borne up by Him and His body. I think of the people who succored me through the death of my father. Friends who sent packages and called, wrote notes and cards, people who cried with me and especially my sisters (all five of them) were such a HUGE and AMAZING comfort. The word itself comforted and worship music soothed my aching and bruised heart like never before, songs speaking of comfort in death were especially encouraging. And even today, I speak to my husband often of my father. We speak of his life, of his death. We speak of his choices and we speak of the grief that I think will never leave, this world is broken and will never offer us a reprieve from our reality as fallen human beings.

Sometimes the best thing to realize is that we cannot escape our situations and we MUST rely on Christ. If we remember that the only thing that comforts and heals is Him alone and His work on the cross and encourage others with this knowledge we will avoid the ever failing "everything will work out". We cannot be certain that things will work out in favor of someone in any situation and why do we say it will? We are not God and we cannot presume to know what the future holds! But we can presume on His character, He says He is always faithful, He promises to work all things for our good. So even Job (at the height of his suffering and pain when his body was erupting in boils and leprosy, his children were dead, his wife had forsaken him and his foolish friends said he and God had a "personality conflict") was within God's plan for Job's good. Even when Job couldn't see it.

So instead of saying our pat statements (which I know are meant to be comforting, but really don't offer any real biblical encouragement) about their being a rainbow at the end of the storm, remember that He is faithful and His character is worth betting on, staking our very lives upon. So even if you never heal from your current circumstances, you never have that relationship restored, your loved one is lost to you this side of eternity, you are persecuted for the faith, or you loose your security.....remember He is always working Good things in our lives and those Good things are rooted in Who He Is and not what you want. This is hard for me personally, because I often wonder when certain things will stop affecting my life ("when God will you let up a little and give me a break" I am probably the only one who prays this right?!). What makes it harder is that the answer may be: never. I may never "get over" certain things that have occurred in my life...but HE IS ENOUGH! I may never be able to think of my father without a pressure in my chest! I may never see anything positive come from situations of huge change and destruction in my life!  But I KNOW that He is making us to appear as He appears! He is making Good out of this muck which is human life! And in that we can rejoice! One day our tears WILL cease! One day we will be unable to mourn or suffer or struggle or die! One day we will be with Him and United with Him in His resurrection. That should encourage the most disheartened and depressed saint!

Helper

It (feminism) is mixed up with the middle idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands. –GK Chesterton

While doing some research and also some grading for one of the classes my husband teaches I compiled a list of very helpful facts about our roles as men and women. Obviously we are complimentarians, but biblically this seems to be the only option about marriage. I post this here as a help and a reference for myself and for others who are needing the complied work.