22 Oct 2014

31 Hymns: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

by | posted in: 31days, hymns | 0

When I Survey

This is bar far one of my husband’s favorite hymns. It tells a story of his conversion and his growing in Christ while in high school.  I love hearing him tell how Christ saved him.

And one of the stanzas coincides nicely with a Pauline theme that was found in Philippians 3 this morning in our small group study of it at church.  Always love how God gets your attention over and over again.  He is ever gracious and patient with us (as I also was reminded of again in my reading in 2 Peter via She Reads Truth.)

He is good to remind us of our need and gift of the Gospel.

 

30 Sep 2014

Glory and Grace: Philippians 1:6

by | posted in: Bible | 0

Glory and Grace Philippians 1:6I’m humming an oldie Christian song in my head that is the base of Philippians 1:6.  This is one of those verses that are claimed and sometimes used out of context.

Philippians 1:6 NLT

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Philippians is truly a book about pursuing forward: running hard after Jesus: looking more like Him.  This “work” that God the Father began in you (if you are a believer in His Son Jesus Christ as your Savior) – HE, and HE alone will be faithful to bring it to completion.  Your life, at the end of it, will look like what God wants it to.  He is the author and perfecter of your faith.  He will make you to look like his Son.

And I heard a pastor say one time that Jesus was the “most gladder” person in the world.  Don’t you want to be glad?  Soak in the sanctifying process that God has you on.  Its a hard journey, a fun journey, and an ever-changing journey.

So be it.

3 Jan 2011

New Year’s Much & Link Love (January 3)

by | posted in: Bible, Books, food, Uncategorized, Vegetables, vegetarian | 0

Happy New Year!  When do you get tired of hearing that?  I usually have to wait until after my birthday, which is tomorrow.  New Years and birthdays, both great.  I used to dislike having a birthday so close to Christmas (school was out so I never got to celebrate it in school), but now I love it, because not only am I starting a new calendar year, but also a new birth year. 

1.  I had one of the best new years ever!  A friend from seminary came over to Raleigh: we cooked dinner, hung out a cool place in Cary, went to the NCMA, and watched movies.  It was low-key and wonderful.

2.  I already went away from on of my 2011 goals.  I ran in a 5k on Saturday and unfortunately left my cell phone at home so I had no interval timer.  I finished this multi-terrain, ice/mud, hills, loops race about the same time I finished my first one.  So, I wasn’t happy.  But, I did it.  And I had friends cheering me on and running with me!

3.  This is going to be a tough week and a good week.  Tough week with many things going on a work and writing kicked into high gear.  Good week because I get to have dinner on Thursday night with some of the most amazing RDU friends a girl can have, both new and old, and I’ll be missing some too because of vacations and babies.  God is good, isn’t He!

4.  Day one of clean eating went very well yesterday!  I am thankful for oranges and sweet potatoes that I don’t have to buy because of family!  Everytime I have craved nut butter or even milk or egg whites today I thought that God is sufficient for my every need and He is gracious too.  I have included seeds in this clean eating: fruits and veggies only while at home.  Seeds because I eat hummus and tahini is in it – ground sesame seeds.  I’m already thinking post-40 days to see how my diet will be altered, and see how my food-relationships/sin issues have been changed.  Thank you God for the cross!

5.  Bring on the playoffs!  Excited.  We’ll see how long my teams last.

6.  January… here we go: I’m doing the list here rather a whole new post. 

6.1: Birthday celebrating

6.2: Working out and logging milesd

6.3: Stemmerman Inn for my birthday!  Thank you Mom!

6.4: Charlotte to prepare for an upcoming women’s conference I am speaking at in March. 

6.5: Photog!

6.6: Writing and reading.  Sound familiar?

Link Love

1.  One of the coolest things I’ve heard from country music in a while – great on the gender issue too.  Go Zac Brown!

2.  With clean eating for 40 days, I’m making this soup.

3.  For those of you memorizing Philippians, John Piper reciting it may spur you on!

4.  Do you already need help keeping those resolutions?  These apply to any you have made.

5.  One of the smartest guys I know, and do ministry with, gives his list of best reads of 2010.  And he read a lot more than this. 

6.  Some great sermons and talks about keeping resolutions

7.  After taking off most of 2010, John Piper returns and tells all what God taught him and Noel from their leave of absence.  Good stuff.

8.  Also, if you have never memorized long passages of Scripture, here are some quality sermons from Andy Davis and John Piper to help you out and to see the benefit of it. 

9.  If you still need help picking which Bible reading plan to do for 2011, go here.  Justin lays a lot of them out for you.  I am doing Elevate’s B90X from last year, just multiplying it times 3 with some breather days in there. 

10.  Her photos are inspiring.

11. 

Recipe coming soon!

30 Dec 2010

2011 Projections (Goals, not Resolutions)

by | posted in: Books | 3

However you feel about New Year’s Resolutions…we all have different ideas.  Some keep them, some utterly fail.  But, I have found that if I don’t have goal – life doesn’t seem to be lived intentionally.

So, these are my goals for 2011.  I think they are good, meaningful, and attainable.  I am also praying for some God-sized things this year.  What God-sized things are you praying for this year – things that when the world sees the answer: the only praise will go to God?

1.  40 Day Fast.  My friend, Lara, is doing a Daniel Fast.  I am not called to the same fast that she is, but I am supposed to change my life for the time of January 2 – for 40 days: here’s how:

* no syndicate television.  At least for 40 days.  This will not include football.  And to be honest, my Mom will record the shows I normally watch and I will watch them after 40 days, but how I can use this 40 day time period to focus on other things.  And I will be watching NFL during this time, because again, the NFL isn’t wrong and isn’t as consuming as hour long drama shows.

* no sweets at home

*only fruits and veggies when I eat at home (as means of getting clean foods into my system)

* up at 5am (this is fasting from sleep)

* computer off at 9pm (this is a fast too)

2.  Continue daily Bible reading (I haven’t decided what plan I will be using this year, but there are plenty to choose from)

3.  Blog strategically: 4 times a week at least (then special posts). 

4.  Read a book a week.

5.  Increase photog skills, ministry, and sell cards/stationary

6.  Finish my book.

7.  Lose more than I’ve gained in 2010

8.  Continue weekly Panera planning.

9.  3 races – all done in interval times (5k, 10m, half)

10.  Memorize Philippians

11.  Three yoga workouts a week: my body feels so much better whne I do this!)

18 Dec 2010

Book Review: Living in God's Two Kingdoms

by | posted in: Books, ethics | 0

I was really excited when I saw this book on the new release list. I had been in recent conversations with friends about how they were personally engaging the culture, and I attend a church that seeks to “engage the city”, and used to attend a church (before I moved) that modeled engaging the city and culture very well. I was intrigued to see what David VanDrunen had to say about Living in God’s Two Kingdomws (btw, the cover design is really cool).
VanDrunen does a good job at laying out the outline of his book, telling you exactly where he is heading. He engages some of the opposing views and arguments that basically are the foundation of this new “area of theological discussion” (Neo-Calvinism, Emerging Churches, but this is not exhaustive).
I personally do not fully agree with either side. I think one side takes it too far, and one side doesn’t go far enough. Finally, though, the author basically states three ways that Christians are to engage the culture, how a Christian should live successfully as sojourners in this land we call “culture” .
1. “Christians should pursue cultural activities not with a spirit of triumph and conquest over their neighbors but with a spirit of love and service toward them.” (p 124). Wow – I think this is probably the toughest one of his three and I wholeheartedly agree. Even our redeemed status doesn’t make us perfect yet, and I personally often struggle with motive.
2. “The New Testament calls us to critical engagement with human culture.” (p 126) I almost wish his whole book would camp out on this point. This is where I try to engage the culture. I learned this well from a friend and professor at SEBTS, and I love reading through secular books, watching movies, and looking at art with this critical mind at work.
3. “The New Testament calls us to engage in cultural activities with a deep sense of detachment from this world and of longing for our true home in the world to come.” (p 126) This is probably the hardest for me to deal with on a personal level. As I get more into style, design, photography, clothing, I tend to step back into a materialistic mindset which the Lord has saved me from, but Satan likes to wedge his foot in my mind.
While the author does a good job at bringing in cultural examples and has a personable writing style (unlike some theological books on differing subjects), I think VanDrunen could have made this a shorter book and made his argument more simple for the non-theological to grasp.
A word for all Christians: you can’t engage the world by separating yourself from it. Home-schooling families who only allow their children to be friends with other Christians, people who will never go to movies, read secular books, watch television, own ipods, allow their teenagers on social networks…this is no way to engage the culture. Read more on VanDrunen’s point #2.
Wherever you land in this discussion: one thing is for sure: We are to be shining lights in a crooked and depraved generation (Philippians 2)

15 Dec 2010

Workout Choices: Yoga or Rock Music

by | posted in: weight loss, workout dvds, yoga | 6

Working out: especially this time of year (or should I say in 2 weeks) this is what is on everyone’s mind. You find magazines, gym specials, tv shows, use-at-home products, new videos, etc – all geared toward one things…helping you work out harder and better. Whether your reason is to be healthy, shed pounds, have engagement with other people, or whatever…working out is fun and beneficial. As I was spinning this morning at a local gym, I thought of these things.
Yoga (for me, little y yoga) has gotten a bad rap lately for certain leading conservative personalities. My thoughts have been posted on this blog and you can read them for yourself. Have you made up your mind about it?
Then as I was in two classes: body pump and spin, I thought about another avenue…
Why do I need to listen to a crass instructor who makes sexual jokes during class? Why do I need to listen to rock music that talks about killing someone and uses profanity that the instructor blares at the right volume (the volume is not the problem). I got a great workout in both classes. Loved it. But…there are negatives.
Is there a difference?
If I attend a Hot Yoga class for 90 minutes and shed serious body fluid and kill my muscles or if I sit in my home and do a 50 minute yoga video…or if I let my ears here sex jokes and poor taste rock music…what is the difference?
How do I engage the culture (be outside my Christian bubble) and do one or the other? I would rather attend yoga classes than be yelled at or have rock music filling my ears at 6am.
Is one necessarily worse than the other? I don’t think so. So…in matters like this…christian liberty?
Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3 come to mind. What are your thoughts?