Awesome Def Jam Poetry

Many thanks to my friend Jon Bolin aka "Smoothie" for bringing this poem to my attention. This pretty much sums up my take on social issues and politics. Enjoy!

Shutterfly Update

January was a month full of snow!  It has been a very unusual winter here on the coast.  In the 4 years we've lived in this area we have never had so much snow.  Pictures from around our house covered in the fluffy white stuff has been added to Shutterfly account.

Steve, Amanda, and our sweet niece Katie came to visit between two of the snow falls.  There are also pictures of our fun weekend together on Shutterfly.




Just click on the 'Pictures' link on the top right hand side to view our Shutterfly account.

Radical Family

Here are some statements of Jesus to ponder:

Matt. 10:37 – "The one who loves his father or mother more than me isn't worthy of me, and the one who loves a son or daughter more than me isn't worthy of me."

Luke 14:26 – "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be my disciple."

Jesus exemplifies this:

Matt. 12:46-50 – "While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Look! Your mother and your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to you." He asked the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Then pointing with his hand at his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

What does this mean?:

When we love Jesus most supremely, our actions and affections will appear as hatred toward our family. This only happens when we live out Mark 12:30, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Notice that God requires all of our love. We don't spread it around in priorities, cutting off the biggest slice for Jesus. There is no room for any other love. Jesus deserves our entire love and devotion.

Question:

Could your love for Jesus be characterized in such a way that when compared to your family, it appears that you hate your family? Or has your parents, children, or spouse become an idol? Remember, God wants all of your love. The result of total devotion to Jesus will be the ability to love your family correctly. That is how husbands fulfill Ephesians 5:25 (husbands, memorize it if you don't know it!).

A frightening reality:

Here is the kicker. Jesus says that this is a requirement of a disciple. If you are not doing this, you are not his disciple. You are not even worthy to be his disciple.

*All Scripture quoted from the ISV.

The Damascus Way by: Davis Bunn and Janette Oke

The Damascus Way (Acts of Faith series part 3) has several stories going on at once but are all intertwined.  Persecution has reached its peak with Saul of Tarsus seeking out the followers of the Way.  But this hasn’t stopped the growth of followers.  Abigail must leave Jerusalem with her daughter Dorcas for safety.  Jacob (Abigail’s brother) is a guard for a wealthy merchant’s caravan and is trying to find his place serving Christ.  He finally realizes his job is to travel to different areas, secretly warning the followers of the Way of any threats that might be coming.  Their love for Christ shows through their actions and how they risk their lives to continue sharing the Good News!

What are we willing to risk for the sake of spreading the gospel?  How many of us would be willing to face the struggles these characters had to face in order to spread the gospel?  These books go hand in hand with my favorite book in the Bible, Acts.  It’s very interesting to read this series at the same time you read through Acts and see what life was like for those who put their trust in Christ.  I highly recommend these books! 

Rating: Two thumbs way way up!

The Hidden Flame by: Davis Bunn and Janette Oke

The Hidden Flame (Acts of Faith series part 2) is the continued story of The Centurion’s Wife mentioned in a previous post.  The story is set in Jerusalem after the day of Pentecost.  A young girl, Abigail, is finding new ways of serving the risen Savior.  Persecution is becoming rampant, and her life begins to turn upside down.  As the book progresses we see how Abigail is able to praise God even through the trials she must face.

What a lesson we should all be able to learn!  Here in America we don’t often have to face persecution for our Christianity and what a blessing for this.  But many times our lives seem to turn upside down with different circumstances.  The questions is, are you able to praise God through those times?  What an encouragement this was for me in my daily walk with the Lord!

Rating: Two thumbs up!   

IntroductionS to the New Testament... grrrrrr!

For part of my Th.M. degree, I have to spend time in SEBTS library and make an annotated bibliography of their holdings that is necessarily relevant to my field of study. The first section of this bibliography is on NT intro's and surveys. Yeah... its not as cool as it sounds.

I just wanted to point out 2 things:

First, it is sad that many of these brilliant NT scholars can't be a bit more witty in their book titles. The vast majority are Introduction of/to the New Testament, New Testament Introduction, or simply The New Testament:...! How boring is that !?!?

Second, I wanted to give a shout out to a brand new NT intro that came up with a good title - The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown by Kostenberger, Kellum, and Quarles (first two are SEBTS faculty, woot!). And it is a good intro text to boot. Way to go!!!

A Year in Review - 2010

(I got this idea from a friends blog.  She did a much better job though.)

January

        Tim resigned from New Hope Baptist Church as pastor.

February

        We went to Virginia to visit the Peters side of the family.

March

        Nathan and Traci got married!

April
        Our house sold in a month (Praise the Lord!) and moved into a temporary house by the water.

May

        Liz survived the month of 5^th grade EOG’s and the end of the year wrap up!

June

        Tim and I went to Virginia to work at Camp Bethel for Girls and Boys Camp.

July
        We moved into a more permanent place in Newport.

August

        The Decker family gathered together in Charlotte to celebrate birthdays!

September

        Lori, Traci, Amy Roscoe (plus her kids), and Holly came to visit!

October

        Liz was in the wedding of our friends, Stephen and Allison Waters!

November

        We spent Thanksgiving in Virginia with the Peters side of our family.

December

        Baby Kaleb was born on the 8^th!  (That makes 5 nieces and nephews for us!)

     ~ Liz