death to life

...i can't get it to play on my blog.... if you have the same troubles, click on through to vimeo. :)

~lynnie

statements that pack a theological punch

"People who need help often feel overwhelmed with their emotions, and part of being overwhelmed is that life feels like thousands of fragments. They have lost any coherence and don’t even know where to begin." --Ed Welch, in his article "I Can Help You in Six Words".

that is me. that is me, almost always. no, just always. always, always, always.

these are not necessarily 6 words, or suit the counselling situation... but they pack the punch he talks about in the article, they come to mind and paint such a big picture.... and i cling to them:

if God is not sovereign, God is not God. (rc sproul???)

"upon the solid Rock i stand..." (song)

"he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." (galatians?)

there is not one random molecule in the universe. (first heard via my pastor -- from sproul?)

He works all things according to the counsel of His will. (bible)

cursed is the ground, for your sake. (genesis)

man falls as God's providence ordains, but he falls by is own fault. (calvin)

without Me, you can do nothing. (bible)

those who look to Him are radiant... (psalms)

more than oxygen, i need Your love... (song)

...to the praise of the glory of His grace... (bible)

the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things... (bible)

all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. (bible)

in me dwells no good thing. (bible)

what satan meant for evil, God means for good. (bible)

the Lord gives, the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord. (job)

my times are in Your hand... (bible)

"....have you considered My servant Job?" (job)

He became sin, who knew no sin; that we might become His righteousness. (bible)

He who sits in the heavens laughs. (psalms)

You make everything glorious.... and i am Yours.... what does that make me? (david crowder)

He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (bible)

enoch walked with God.... and was not. (bible) ...(my hearts cry)

who is this coming out of the wilderness leaning on her Beloved's arm? (song of songs)

...if i have not love, i am nothing. (corinthians)

(sorry for the not-verbatim quotes, and the incomplete references, from this incomplete mind....... but enough to point you in the right direction if you're not already there, lol.)

and there are more.... this is just a sampling of nuggets that God uses in me to encourage me and help me focus on Him. memorizing scripture is so important; and so is being able to encapsulate great theological truths in simple, meaningful statements.

~lynnie

hello.

well, i'm back, i think. two months? ish? huh.

i been keeping busy with other things, but keep thinking of this blog lately.

am currently sick (yah! hi! i'm back! i'm sick!...what a way to kick off eh? lol).... which is a blessing in disguise cuz it means getting to soak in all kinds of good teaching, and trusting in His strength and care.

goals for today? rest. go for a walk around the block, get some vitamin D and fresh air. eat light, drink lots of ginger tea. read a section from Institutes that was recommended to me. start doing a little more concurrent with the little better i'm feeling. (weird sentence there, lol.) would like to vacuum out my laundry area in preparation for a hoped for surprise call saying my "washer/dryer is fixed, can we bring it over ____?" that's mostly it, on the practical daily living side of things. try to not over do it physically, or under do it nutrition wise.

i recently read a post on gluttony that said, basically, the problem with diet schemes is that they try to solve the problem (lose weight; get fit) but will never tell you that you're fat because you have a sin. they also talked about the symptom of gluttony being, as the dictionary defines gluttony, 'habitual overeating'. so what if you are over weight but a habitual under-eater? and that's part of why you are fat? i strongly dislike blanket solutions to complex issues. arrgh. i'm not denying that the sin nature is at the core of almost all problems; but making a blanket statement that implies "all people are fat because they are a glutton" is unhelpful; and could push the person who already has trouble getting themselves to eat a little more over the edge. *sighs* the false diagnosis of one sin (gluttony) could push me further into another (lack of self care for reasons to complex to pigeon hole). hmmm.

i have an appointment to see a surgeon on friday morning; my doctor wants me to have the oft-dreaded colonoscopy. (colonoscopy isn't in the spell check, weird.) things ain't working right; its time to find out what's causing it. various thoughts float through my head... so far as my limited knowledge can tell, the possibilities are broad; anything from hemorrhoids to cancer. (hemorrhoids is a word i would definitely get wrong at a spelling bee.) but.... my God is big, my God is good, always, and my God will be glorified. nothing can happen to me that is outside of His good will.

~lynnie

I&tNC - preface

a book that has recently been made available at church is "Israel and the New Covenant" by Roderick Campbell. and since i've been looking forward to finally getting it for over a year now, i'm reading it. and so i thought i'd post any notes or quotes here... starting with the preface, here, right now.

"The most that any of us can do in a study such as is presented in this book is to clear away the debris which has accumulated around the solid work already done, and then add, if we can, a brick to the slowly-growing structure of Apprehended Truth." pg. xii.

i love that image.... adding bricks to a structure that represents the truths of God that we have finally come to apprehend, understand, and really "own".

how to treat women

this is sooooo good.

oh what the price

in this incredible sermon on taking up your cross, Derek Thomas contrasts what it meant for Jesus in order for us to be able to receive the acceptance of God.... so i'll do the same here, from Numbers 6:24-26 (esv):

in order for us to hear:

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Jesus, on the cross, had to hear:

The Lord curse You and withdraw His hand from You, Jesus;

the Lord turn away His face from You and condemn You, Jesus;

the Lord withdraw His countenance from You and deliver You, Jesus, into torment....

oh the price He paid for my acceptance~!!!!

flinging heavenward

today's quotemeal captured my imagination:

Only he who flings himself upward when the pull comes to drag him down, can hope to break the force of temptation. Temptation may be an invitation to hell, but much more is it an opportunity to reach heaven. At the moment of temptation, sin and righteousness are both very near the Christian; but, of the two, the latter is the nearer.
-- Charles H. Brent

i like the image of flinging ones-self heavenward......

aliens

how aliens keep the identity of their homeland, by john piper

super cool.

nanoo, nanoo.

it's all about brokenness

this is just such an amazing, compassionate response, and actually applies to any form of brokenness in our lives, i had to share it!

ain't it the truth