Well, this week marks the unofficial end of summer. School starts Monday.
Where has the time gone? It does seem like yesterday that I woke up, mid-May, the morning after my daughter's wedding. I said to myself, "Once we get everything cleaned up and put away today, I have the whole summer to rest and recuperate." The weeks stretched out in front of me, rather deliciously.
My life is a dang vapor. I mean, really. The weeks have gone by as though they were two days.
And not only did I not get an opportunity to rest, Tim and I have been tested and tried like never before - physically, relationally, spiritually, you name it! Most pastors would be declaring a year-long sabbatical by now. Not my pastor. He is learning to count it all joy, when he encounters trials of various kinds, and all at the same time. And I do mean trials. Fiery.
The trying of his faith is creating something in him that is mature and complete, lacking nothing. The hard part is that, since he leads and I follow, my faith is also being tried, as gold in the fire. I got no control of him - he is a stark raving gospel preaching madman. What is a girl to do? All I can do is stand and watch him do what he does, support him with my God-given gifts, hitch up my big girl underwear and deal with it.
But you know something weird? Once everything in my life that could be shaken has been, so that what cannot be shaken remains, I lately find that I am strong, and very close to what some might even call "tranquil". Well, as tranquil as a woman with my temperament can get. My whole world has undergone transition, but one thing remains the same: the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can say with utmost integrity that it has not only changed my destiny, it changes my day. On this gospel, I have staked my claim. Here, I have placed my hope. Here, I draw significant, life-fulfilling solace. My friends, this gospel is real.
Some. Things. Simply. Cannot. Be. Shaken.
In the last one week alone, I have watched my oldest son go out sharing the gospel in the streets, prayed with my youngest son as he experienced a fresh move of God in his life, shared Christ myself with a woman in my neighborhood and prayed with her, heard of a man receiving Christ two nights ago, in our downtown Market Square, because a group from our church led him to the Lord; I've received encouragement from as nearby as across town, and as far away as Scotland, I've listened to my mother testify to the power of the grace of God delivering her from a lifetime of condemnation (and she, already a very seasoned, mature saint), I've observed the ministry of my father, as he invests his time and his considerable anointing into my sons, and spent quite a lot of time with my daughters, receiving from them, allowing them to minister to me, and bring the word of the Lord to me!
No wonder the weeks go by so fast. No wonder the enemy is upset.
For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. (I Cor. 16)
What a summer. What a God. What favor I have been shown, in Christ Jesus!
The Beauty of a Life Lived in Community
Women who are cynical are more likely to die of stress-related illness. The gospel of Christ is the only antidote to stress, cynicism, skepticism, and loneliness. A life lived in community, centered on the truth of the Word of God, is the only well lived life.
If I live to the proportion I care about others, and to the degree I am loved...if I am granted years in my life, in proportion to the life in my years, I am going to live to be an old woman.
These came for me today. From a friend. I mean, a bona-fide sister in Christ who loves me for the long haul. She's already been in relationship with me for longer than we can remember, and I've probably offended her deeply and several times over the years.
We love each other.
Talk about blessing my life and my day! Talk about health to my bones! I could never thank her enough, but she has never demanded that I try. This woman loves Jesus, and she loves me, and lives her life as though loving God and loving her sister were one in the same thing.
<Beautiful.
Quotable Quote
“Religion is, ‘I obey, therefore I’m accepted’. The Gospel is, ‘I’m accepted through what Jesus Christ has done for me, therefore I obey’. Religion gives you control, that’s why its so popular…
~Tim Keller
~Tim Keller
We Follow God's Own Fool
"God's Own Fool", by Michael Card
Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's holy wisdom is foolish to man
He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
Chorus
We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
Surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
Chorus
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well
Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's holy wisdom is foolish to man
He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
Chorus
We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
Surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
Chorus
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well
Work
For nearly two years, I've been gathering Scripture, quotes, and ideas on the subject of work.
Work. We all have to do it. Ministry is called "the work of the ministry". Each of us is intimately acquainted with whatever our work is, whether preacher or plumber or home maker. A Christian can exhibit a genuine love for his or her work, because Christianity is incredibly down-to-earth...incarnational...and has involved a healthy day's work since the garden of Eden.
Here is just one of the many things I have gleaned and gathered so far. It is a quote by one of my very favorite poets, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Enjoy!
"It is not only prayer that gives God glory, but work. Smiting an anvil, sawing a beam, white washing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if, being in His grace you do it. God is so great that all things give Him glory if you mean that they should."
Work. We all have to do it. Ministry is called "the work of the ministry". Each of us is intimately acquainted with whatever our work is, whether preacher or plumber or home maker. A Christian can exhibit a genuine love for his or her work, because Christianity is incredibly down-to-earth...incarnational...and has involved a healthy day's work since the garden of Eden.
Here is just one of the many things I have gleaned and gathered so far. It is a quote by one of my very favorite poets, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Enjoy!
"It is not only prayer that gives God glory, but work. Smiting an anvil, sawing a beam, white washing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if, being in His grace you do it. God is so great that all things give Him glory if you mean that they should."
Summer Afternoon...
A love gift, this past Sunday, from nieceKatie
Sunshine on a stem
The other sunflower patch
You take some whole grain pasta...
Some Roma tomatoes and some basil...
Some olive oil and some parmesan...And you can have dinner in no time flat.
What was it the poet said? Something like, "Summer afternoon...there are no two words more beautiful in the English language." In the waning moments before school begins (I have not looked forward to it!), I've spent my day napping on my porch, with the sound of the pond waterfall relaxing my thoughts into a warm, happy silence. I've picked sunflowers, and enjoyed the advice of an out of state friend, who spoke words encouraging moxie into my spirit.
(Moxie: The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage. Aggressive energy; initiative. Skill; know-how.)
I've watched goldfinch feeding on my coneflowers, and cooked a delicious, simple dinner, straight out of my garden.
Just when I should, perhaps, be having a string of bad days (neither motherhood nor home schooling nor ministry is never an easy thing) I find myself having strings of good days, like pearls. My soul so boasts in God over it! He does what only He can do.
"I Own That..."
I own it all. I really do. (Please bear with me, it isn't as arrogant as it sounds. I say it that way to get your attention, that's all - this is very Biblical, you'll see if you stick with me...)
If you espouse sovereignty and election...I own that. If you espouse "whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved"....um, that's mine too. I own that. Are you currently enjoying a book by Finney? I won't call it heresy, because though I don't agree with him down the line, still...I own the concept that faith without works is dead. Are you into Edwards or Spurgeon and their fantastic views on New Covenant? I own that. William Law and the importance of certain disciplines? I own that. Grace alone? I own that. It is all mine. Don't let that make you crazy. I didn't come up with any of it, and neither did you. Nor did Paul or Apollos or Peter. Truth belongs God.
Fact is, I own it all, yet am not owned BY any of it. I can shift emphasis or focus at will, or at the clear leading of the Lord to my spirit. I know many other men and women who own it all, I've eaten dinner with some of them recently. Yet these saints are owned BY no one thing, and it is a clear sign of maturity.
I am not even allowed say, "I am of Christ" because of the ring of exclusivity that idea has to it. Christ has chosen to deposit truth into a beautiful diversity of vessels, and I am to receive from them, giving thanks to God for the gift He has placed within them.
I hate moral and ethical sin, because of the deep, generational affect it can have on a human being. I own the fact that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. But when a man or woman is sorry for their sin, and willingly embracing a process of restoration, heeding a consensus of Godly input, I am to walk with them in their process. I am to cover them. I also own the truth of love covering a multitude of sin. I own it all.
Free will? I own that. Election? I own that. Can I lose my salvation? No. Can you? Maybe - I have no choice but to let you answer that. Discipline and training? Own it. Dancing in the freedom that is mine? Own it.
Can I tell you the Biblical definition of carnal? It might surprise you. The definition of carnal is to be owned BY a particular emphasis, to the point that you part company with another believer.
We are making the choice to know nothing in this season but Christ and Him crucified. The gospel will be what we are about till the day we die. Everything we teach, everything we live out in secret in the walls of the Atchley home, will be with an eye towards never....ever....being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We own every aspect of it, bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. Foundational grace is something we will return to, from time to time, as needed.
So I won't take the writings of men and pit them against each other, as though they were plastic army guys in an imaginary war. I won't live as though James and Paul had it out for each other. I won't act as though there were no power in the gospel to completely transform the vilest sinner, nor will I toss out an emphasis on the renewal of the mind, as illustrated in the classic phrase, "a long obedience in one direction."
I own it all. The people of God own it all. Finding common ground is not so difficult for a mature human being, much less a saint.
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
If you espouse sovereignty and election...I own that. If you espouse "whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved"....um, that's mine too. I own that. Are you currently enjoying a book by Finney? I won't call it heresy, because though I don't agree with him down the line, still...I own the concept that faith without works is dead. Are you into Edwards or Spurgeon and their fantastic views on New Covenant? I own that. William Law and the importance of certain disciplines? I own that. Grace alone? I own that. It is all mine. Don't let that make you crazy. I didn't come up with any of it, and neither did you. Nor did Paul or Apollos or Peter. Truth belongs God.
Fact is, I own it all, yet am not owned BY any of it. I can shift emphasis or focus at will, or at the clear leading of the Lord to my spirit. I know many other men and women who own it all, I've eaten dinner with some of them recently. Yet these saints are owned BY no one thing, and it is a clear sign of maturity.
I am not even allowed say, "I am of Christ" because of the ring of exclusivity that idea has to it. Christ has chosen to deposit truth into a beautiful diversity of vessels, and I am to receive from them, giving thanks to God for the gift He has placed within them.
I hate moral and ethical sin, because of the deep, generational affect it can have on a human being. I own the fact that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. But when a man or woman is sorry for their sin, and willingly embracing a process of restoration, heeding a consensus of Godly input, I am to walk with them in their process. I am to cover them. I also own the truth of love covering a multitude of sin. I own it all.
Free will? I own that. Election? I own that. Can I lose my salvation? No. Can you? Maybe - I have no choice but to let you answer that. Discipline and training? Own it. Dancing in the freedom that is mine? Own it.
Can I tell you the Biblical definition of carnal? It might surprise you. The definition of carnal is to be owned BY a particular emphasis, to the point that you part company with another believer.
We are making the choice to know nothing in this season but Christ and Him crucified. The gospel will be what we are about till the day we die. Everything we teach, everything we live out in secret in the walls of the Atchley home, will be with an eye towards never....ever....being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We own every aspect of it, bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. Foundational grace is something we will return to, from time to time, as needed.
So I won't take the writings of men and pit them against each other, as though they were plastic army guys in an imaginary war. I won't live as though James and Paul had it out for each other. I won't act as though there were no power in the gospel to completely transform the vilest sinner, nor will I toss out an emphasis on the renewal of the mind, as illustrated in the classic phrase, "a long obedience in one direction."
I own it all. The people of God own it all. Finding common ground is not so difficult for a mature human being, much less a saint.
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
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