I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking lately. Amid the smorgasboard of thoughts, this train of thought emerged. Maybe you have some thoughts about this. A brother told me there are three important things to think about in ministry: who GOD is, who the people around you are, and who you are. So, I’ve been thinking a lot about who I am and how to figure that out. Do the things we do show who we are, or is it possible that we do them just because and if we knew the ‘truth’ we wouldn’t do them? Do we find out what our desires are by looking at what we fill our time with? Or do we just fill our time mindlessly, thinking we’re doing what we desire to do? Is it possible that if we were to dig we would find out that we are someone very different from who we always thought we were? Can we ever find that out? For example, I’ve always thought that if I had more money to spend on clothes (and lived in a larger centre where I could actually shop for clothes) that I would dress differently. But what I’ve begun to wonder is, do I just think I would dress differently? Would I wear the things that I think I would? Or is that just an illusion and in reality I would dress the same? These thoughts reminded me of the verse "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Of course, knowing who you are is not really the context here, but I think there is application. This is really a lot of rambling thought. What do you think?
Monthly Archives: December 2005
On a Hill Far Away
It’s Christmas time in Bethlehem town.
The shepherds awake with angels all around.
"Go to Bethlehem the Baby to see.
He’ll save you from your sin, your Redeemer is He.
Cause on a hill far away He will bleed and die,
The Sacrifice for all your sins.
On a hill far away God’s plan will be fulfilled in a perfect way."
It’s Easter time. The Son of God is hanging on a tree.
The final cry is heard; in death Christ won the victory!
Don’t go to the tomb because He is not there.
He has risen, your sin He can bear!
Cause on a hill far away Jesus bled and died,
The Sacrifice for all our sins.
On a hill far away God’s plan was fulfilled in a perfect way.
Now it’s today. Sinners let’s run to His cross
And nail our sins there, count everything else as loss.
When we’re at His cross we see His face
And we are purified by Amazing Grace.
On a hill far away my sins nailed Him there.
I left Him to die alone.
But on a hill far away God reached down in His love
And made the murderer His child!
Cause on a hill far away Jesus died once for all,
The Sacrifice for all my sin.
On a hill far away Jesus reaches out in love.
Sinner come to Him.
Jesus, I come
Jesus, I have sinned
I come
~DJ Friesen
The Gift of Gifts
O Source of all good,
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I canot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreate and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my redeemer’s face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.
~ Valley of Vision
O Bless the Lord, My Soul
O bless the Lord, my woul! Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless His name whose favors are divine.
O bless the Lord, my soul! Nor let His mercies be
Forgotten in unthankfulness, and without praises die.
~Isaac Watts
He’s Here!
That’s right! The Cuteness-of-all-cuteness has indeed arrived! I will be updating my site with new pictures shortly but I tell you, pictures do not do justice! My nephew is the cutest thing ever and I have enough non-biased opinions to believe it to be true! He likes to dance and when you say "Can you play guitar?" he will strum, with the right hand even, and so many more things. Very teachable, he is. Definitely adorable.
On Thursday night we had the coffeehouse with Unquenchable. For the most part I was amazed how smoothly things went, especially with setting up. About half an hour before we were supposed to start, we realized that there were problems with the projector/laptop for powerpoint, even though earlier it had worked no problem. We tried different things. Nothing was working out. So finally we, the band, went downstairs to pray and left some people to try to figure out the situation. As we were praying I realized that what was happening could very easily be a spiritual attack. Our desire was to make GOD more famous, something Satan does not want. So we prayed against that, praying that there would be nothing to distract from GOD’s glory. As we finished our prayer time, I was about to head upstairs when I met my cousin, who was carrying a laptop case. Praise the LORD! With his laptop and a different projector we were able to get everything working. What an answer to prayer, that GOD would move to make him think it was logical to bring his laptop. We serve a GOD who works in the details.
Well, I doubt I’ll be updating my blog before Christmas. Tomorrow we’re going to pick up my brother-in-law, who is flying into Winnipeg at 10:30 pm! (Ridiculous) Then it’ll be Christmas day! Have a wonderful Christmas revelling in the grace of our Saviour; celebrating the gift already received. He was born in Bethlehem, placed in a manger, but He didn’t stay there. He grew up, went to the cross, died and rose again and now He sits at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us. What a wonderful Saviour! Now that is something to get excited about!
Clinging
I’ve never considered myself a doubter. It’s always been easy for me to see GOD’s plan in things, to see what is needed, to believe that GOD would come through. I guess that’s because I was never really tested.
While I was in Bible school one of the female staff gave an illustration which is really quite silly, but it has stuck with me. She likened our Christian journey to a book shelf. At the beginning you’re on the bottom shelf. This is where the simple books are, filled with basic knowledge. The higher the shelf, the deeper the content of the books. Well, you start at the bottom and spend time in the books, and it’s great. After a while, you need more, so you go to the next shelf. To get to the next level though, you have to go THROUGH the shelf. As in the wood. This is a painful process. But when you are through, you have access to the books on both shelves.
It seems that GOD is taking me through a shelf right now. The shelf between the books of theory up to the books of practical reality. Part of that has been coming face to face with my own independence. Some time ago a friend of mine shared that she has a hard time listening to me speak because humility is missing. (Wounds of a friend) Those words came back to me today. It’s not just humility. It’s reality. This of course is not something you can just create. It’s not like we can choose, "oh now I think I’d like to go through a time of testing." It’s out of our control. James says this, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance." Well, that’s all fine and good, but until you experience trial, until your faith is tested, it is merely theoretical, at no fault of your own. So as GOD is carrying me through this ‘shelf’, I am learning in a new way what it means to cling to Scripture, to claim GOD’s promises. I’ve wondered where GOD went and have been tempted to let Him go. I’ve thought thoughts that I’ve never thought before. And yet…as scared as I may be of trusting Him, I’m more terrified of not trusting Him. I’m terrified of missing out on the adventure of risky faith lived out in reality. But I can say for the first time, it’s not easy.
Praise Warfare
Having severely neglected updating my site there have been many things that the LORD has opened my eyes too that I would love to share here. As I think on them I realize that there is a common thread. To begin with, last week I was thinking about three individual situations that are all very different from each other but equally impossible. With these thoughts in mind, I encountered these words in The Valley of Vision "Nothing exceeds Your power, nothing is too great for You to do." Minutes later I read from Psalm 77:13, 14 "Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." What a promise! We have a miracle working GOD! Then on Friday, Pastor Tony spoke at GIFT. One of the statements he made was this, "Don’t worry; worship. Don’t panic; pray and praise." (I will give an update on GIFT later) Saturday morning found me in a worrying state. I struggled to worship rather than worry. The LORD led me to Isaiah 55, which is filled with gems and promises. "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat!" GOD gave me the grace to rest and trust and put Chris Tomlin’s song "How Great is Our God" into my heart. Did that mean an end to worry? LOL! Some things we know in our heads but are so hard to apply personally. It’s not always easy to trust GOD. This last week has been really hard for me. Praise the LORD that He is patient because this morning He had two more treasures for me to unwrap. The first was from 2 Chronicles 20:1-26. I had entirely forgotten about this story, although I think it should be on my list of favourites, if not "Top 10". Here a king is faced by an INTENSE army. The NIV says that Jehoshaphat (the king) was alarmed. No kidding. He knew he was beat. Rather than trying to face the enemy in his own strength he calls his entire nation together, men, women and children, and seeks the LORD. The first thing he does is declare who GOD is. He recognizes that GOD is in control. He ends his prayer saying "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." The LORD answers, says they won’t have to fight the battle, so the king woships, gathers his army, puts men in charge to sing and praise GOD LEADING the army. So, picture this, HUGE army and this puny army approaching them singing "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." (Would they be called praise warriors?) And you know what happened? The enemy soldiers killed each other so that by the time the men of Judah reached the place where they could see the enemy, there was not one man left alive and none had escaped. It took them three days to gather all the plunder. Wow. The second treasure was reading Charles H. Spurgeon’s sermon "Jesus Knew What He Would Do" from the text John 6:6. This is taken from the story of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus knew what He was going to do. He knew how He was going to perform that miracle and He knows how He will perform the next miracle in my life. It’s not easy to trust, as I said, but what hinders me from doing so? Is it not unbelief? My GOD has always proved faithful, what right have I to doubt? Even Allister Bagg this morning shared that we have no right to worry. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) What a command! He is the miracle worker. He already knows what He will do. He will be faithful. "Don’t worry; WORSHIP."
Unquenchable Reunites (plus one, minus one)
Mark your calenders! December 22nd, LORD willing, SCAP will be filled with sounds of praise and worship of our great and glorious LORD, accompanied by Unquenchable. As a group we’ve gone through quite a bit, including seperation since August. (check post "Tribute" on August 5 in the archives) Actually, even now we will not be completely reunited. Our drummer, Clemens, is unable to be with us, so in his place we welcome our good friend Ryan.
It is always a privilege to be with these unique and beautiful individuals. Most of them have been away to university since August and have grown much since. As part of the evening, LORD willing, they will be sharing about what GOD has done in their lives since leaving this humble district. I’m looking forward to hearing how GOD has been good in their lives beyond what they have already shared with me personally.
And of course, I am also greatly looking forward to playing with Unquenchable again. It’s been some time since I have had the privilege of playing and singing with a music team. I look forward to singing some ‘old time’ favourites, such as "Grace Like Rain", "My Redeemer Lives" and even possibly "God of Love." I eagerly anticipate that there will also be some new songs to add to the mix, maybe even some originals.
All of you are more than welcome to join us for this evening of informal praise and worship of Jesus Christ. To GOD be the glory, great things He has done…and will do.
Tribute
I just have to post an entry about the males in my family. First of, my brother. What a guy. So, he’s a snowboarder. The nearest mountain is quite a ways away so he decided to build a snowboard jump in the yard. Realize that we have the flatest yard imaginable. So he gathered up a bunch of pallets, stacked them up, beside them set up a rail, and waited for snow. Well, the snow has come. Not enough to have his ‘big jump’ ready, but right now, he and Jason are out there, pulling each other on the snowmachine and doing jumps on the snowbank. Yep. What a guy. It’s great. It’s training for when I have teenage boys, although it’s more likely that I’ll join in the fun now then when that time comes!
Secondly, my dad. Some days….he is such a goof! This afternoon he suddenly walks out, jeans, plaid shirt, and a tie that has been hanging in his closet for years and a BIG goofy grin on his face. So random! Makes me laugh.
On another note, I was thinking about my earlier post about the mug…to carry the analogy even further: the mug I drink coffee out of is really ugly. Actually, it’s made by "Pretty Ugly Pottery", if that says anything. (I think it’s great :D) We have another mug here that has the handle broken off. Also, my dad’s thermos that he has used for years is completely dinged up, has been for over 10 years. It survived a pretty intense accident. Another one of my mugs is chipped. None of these leak. Isn’t that so true spiritually too? Some people are pretty banged up, chipped or are just plain ugly and yet can be far more useful than some who have a seemingly spotless record. GOD doesn’t call us to look perfect or attractive, He calls us to be useful to Him. It’s a good thing too. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Lesson in a Coffee Mug
My Mom has a mug. It’s grey with a loon and the word "WISCONSIN" across the front. Cute mug. It’s been sitting downstairs in the pantry for some time so my Mom decided to bring it up and use it. After all, why not use a good mug? While sitting over a cup of coffee, she realized that the coffee was leaking out of the cup. When you study the cup there is no perceptible crack, except for a very very fine line. Just studying the cup, the line would draw no attention, after all, many mugs have such lines on them without any leaking happening, and we can only assume that this is where the coffee is seeping out. None the less, the cup is good for nothing but an object lesson, as my Dad said.
And it is a rather good one. Many of us have heard similar analogies. But it bears repeating and can even be taken a step futher, I think. Recently I heard the story of a lady who is much like that mug. She seems to be a Christian. She looks good. She knows her Bible. But she leaks. Even worse, she doesn’t realize it. It makes me wonder, how many of us are leaking without realizing it? We may even study ourselves and seem to find everything alright.
That led me to another thought. There may be ‘cracks’ that we cannot see strictly by how we feel or look but rather by what comes out. Matthew 12:34 says "…For the mouth speaks of that which fills the heart." In Galatians 5:22, 23 it says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…" If the Spirit is within us, no matter how mature we are spiritually, we will be growing in each of these areas. I was once challenged to take a list like this one and go through each one and ask, "How have I grown in this area in the last year? Have I grown in this area?" It may be quite interesting to ask questions like "When I am irritated, to respond more gently than I used to?", "When there are a lot of things going on, am I more likely to communicate peace rather than stress?", "Are the people I love increasingly aware that I love them?", and any number more. Food for thought (no pun intended).
the.happenings 