In the Apology, Socrates rebukes the Athenians for caring more about their pleasures than they cared about virtue:
"… it does not seem like human nature for me to have neglected all my own affairs and to have tolerated this neglect for so many years while I was always concerned with you, approaching each one of you like a father or an elder brother to persuade you to care for virtue..."
It isn't "human nature". Only a God-besotted pastor or mother or father or apostle or believer in Jesus can be that concerned with the health and wealth of the soul of another. When God infuses human nature, we care long and we care hard.
Baby, It's Hot Outside!
We missed setting an all-time heat record in my city today by one little degree...and I remain convinced that we shattered the record here at my house. My tomatoes love this heat, but not I.
Playing with the camera, shooting what is blooming 'round the garden this week:
dahlia...
...and more dahlia...
verbena and lantana...
broken chimnea, used as a planter...
mophead hydrangea...
...and so much more, really. Cottages must have cottage gardens, see. Mine is just beginning to look maybe like a cottage garden. But I'll save those pictures for another post for another day.
I received two of the most precious gifts this past week - and neither giver consulted the other! Take a peek~
I am totally into wearing cute summer skirts, tee-shirts, my Oka B flip flops, and aprons. This one was from my daughter Sarah.
And this one, from a dearest, says it all.
God is in His heaven, saints, and that means all's right with the world.
Playing with the camera, shooting what is blooming 'round the garden this week:
dahlia...
...and more dahlia...
verbena and lantana...
broken chimnea, used as a planter...
mophead hydrangea...
...and so much more, really. Cottages must have cottage gardens, see. Mine is just beginning to look maybe like a cottage garden. But I'll save those pictures for another post for another day.
I received two of the most precious gifts this past week - and neither giver consulted the other! Take a peek~
I am totally into wearing cute summer skirts, tee-shirts, my Oka B flip flops, and aprons. This one was from my daughter Sarah.
And this one, from a dearest, says it all.
God is in His heaven, saints, and that means all's right with the world.
This is What the Gospel Gets You...
From the perspective of a pastor and pastor's wife, this is what carefully and faithfully unpacking the gospel, week in and week out,staying on the same theme, gets you:
....a harvest.
This is the good news I woke up to this morning. Some believe in grace. Others depend on it. This is what you get to be part of in others' lives when you depend on grace. When you live of the gospel.
How is it that my heart can be utterly broken, yet profoundly rejoicing? Sounds to me a lot like being pressed but not crushed...cast down, but not destroyed...
In Which Sheila Declares
that the grace of God is where she has staked her claim and it has so been worth it and that's that...and that the sun is shining, and, for the first morning in months she awakened without so much as an ache anywhere in her body (much less everywhere in her body). This makes no sense to her natural mind...
...and, just now, she has received some of the best good news of her whole life. In The Top Ten List Of Best Good News Of Her Entire Existence. Maybe even top five. (I'm not even stretching the truth, here, friends.)
And that she'll See you in Harvest Church! She is happily and hummingly off to prepare for worship...
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
...and, just now, she has received some of the best good news of her whole life. In The Top Ten List Of Best Good News Of Her Entire Existence. Maybe even top five. (I'm not even stretching the truth, here, friends.)
And that she'll See you in Harvest Church! She is happily and hummingly off to prepare for worship...
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Gratuitous Beauty
I have a room divider I can paint like this...
A white kitchen never goes out of fashion.
I'm going to replicate this shed in my back yard.
And I am so going to do this over my jacuzzi tub!
Happy Isn't Good Enough!
Ah, there is such a difference between pleasure and satisfaction. Pleasure can never be satisfied...pleasure for the sake of pleasure, outside of Christ, only seeks ever new and more expensive experiences and trinkets. Pleasure might make me happy, but I find happiness insufficient compared to satisfaction. Pleasure-seeking will make you deeply unhappy, unless your pleasure is sought and found at the right hand of God. Only satisfaction can satisfy.
Sin can bring pleasure. But God promises that the pleasure will only last for a season. Jehovah alone can fill a yearning, gaping soul with satsifaction, and only satisfaction ultimately satisfies.
"Stuff" brings pleasure. Again, temporary. But relationships with people who you love, and who love you back...that brings satisfaction. A chocolate doughnut brings pleasure...a healthy, strong body that weighs ten pounds less than it used to brings satisfaction. Laziness can be a pleasure, but an honest, hard day's work brings satisfaction.
Building bigger barns brings pleasure. Being able to give a gift so powerful as to alter a deserving person's destiny...what satisfaction!
I could go on and on. I hope I've provoked your own personal ruminations regarding pleasure versus satisfaction! It is a satisfying thing to consider.
Sin can bring pleasure. But God promises that the pleasure will only last for a season. Jehovah alone can fill a yearning, gaping soul with satsifaction, and only satisfaction ultimately satisfies.
"Stuff" brings pleasure. Again, temporary. But relationships with people who you love, and who love you back...that brings satisfaction. A chocolate doughnut brings pleasure...a healthy, strong body that weighs ten pounds less than it used to brings satisfaction. Laziness can be a pleasure, but an honest, hard day's work brings satisfaction.
Building bigger barns brings pleasure. Being able to give a gift so powerful as to alter a deserving person's destiny...what satisfaction!
I could go on and on. I hope I've provoked your own personal ruminations regarding pleasure versus satisfaction! It is a satisfying thing to consider.
Doing The Hard Thing - Grace in Action
My pastor-husband and I are in the midst of a process with our oldest son. This process began about a year ago, and is now reaching the point of decision for him. We have been doing the hard thing, in obedience to God's word, and are fully prepared to see it through - following the example given to us by New Testament Scripture.
One year ago, in our flesh, we had moments when we wanted to circumvent the process, and act rashly. What parent of a rebellious son doesn't struggle with that? But when we searched the Scriptures, we realized we were not free to deal with this situation as mere parents - but as church leadership. (These aren't incidental things we are dealing with. We were open with people in this.)
So, contrary to the opinion of someone near us at the time, someone who was demanding that we deal with our son their way, we consulted Scripture. Thankfully, we chose to resist the urge to manipulate and control. We decided that those who preach the gospel should "live of" the gospel, and live of it in ways that go far deeper than an income. We chose, under a "multitude of counsel" from more experienced leaders, a slightly different, a wiser course of action, instead of giving into the demands of the one person.
Our son, we decided, would not be anyone's doctrinal experiment. This would be handled "by the Book".
We rather chose to imitate the heart of God and extend our son the same Biblical process, the same freedom to fail and space for repentance that any member of the church is entitled to, should they exhibit a desire to be helped. All while carefully watching over the flock of God to insure that our son's process could not harm some unsuspecting young person.
Yeah. Try and walk that tightrope. It will humble you to the dust, drive you to your knees, and cost you more than you imagine.
The law is so much easier, friends. The quid-pro-quo way of dealing with others: "you do this, I treat you accordingly"..."here is what you must do"...that mentality requires NO obedience on your part. It is NOT the hard thing to do.
The rigid application of the letter of the law is not true obedience. It is a clever counterfeit. The rigid application of the letter kills. Pure and simple. Anything masquerading as life is carefully scripted and skillfully managed.
(Law must control. Because Life is Messy, you see. People sin and stuff.)
You can't take even the Biblical, New Testament guidelines and "letter-ize" them. You can't picture the process of "if your brother is overtaken in a sin, you who are spiritual, go and restore him in a spirit of meekness" as being a series of steps that might take one week. Quite frankly, restoration can take months (in some cases, years) there is no set time table. No two cases ever look the same. That alone makes a legalist crazy. They are all about being fair, and "what about John?" (John 21:21)
And restoration can look, for a time, like a failure...all the while, it is going to be wildly successful in the end.
So. We have reached the place that - with an eye towards ultimate restoration - we are willing to take the next step in this long process, whatever that step involves, regardless of the emotional cost to us. We are completely confident that every grace has been extended to our son. We are confident that we have closely followed a Biblical pattern, going by the Spirit, not rote, mindless rule of law. We know we have paid an excruciating price to "live of the gospel" in this. Thankfully, this long arduous process has cost no one else. Just us and our family. Dearly. But that is as it should be. I would not trade the lessons I've learned for any price.
The point? Only now, after months, is it time to conclude this process one way or another. (It yet remains to be seen what our son will ultimately decide. This is a communication from the front lines, my friends, not a nice, neat observation from hind-sight.)
Our biggest lesson? True obedience is relational. If you can complete it expeditiously, list in hand, it isn't obedience. If it does not require you to change your mind, it isn't obedience. If it doesn't humble you, and take you completely outside your own version of personal peace, it is not obedience.
Obedience is not a rigid set of steps to be ticked off, all so we can all feel like we have acted courageously. No. True obedience...true courage....it goes the distance with people. It endures a long process with people...human beings who were not even created to conform to a list. Progress is not linear. At times what does not look like progress, is in fact the greatest progress of all.
To act Biblically will cost you. Some who you least expect will accuse you of the fear of man, and of being lax about sin, when in reality the very opposite is the truth. (These are typically the very ones who refuse to go the distance with anyone who significantly displeases them.)
However this comes out, there is still a relationship with our son. It might have to be strained for however long, but not estranged. Because if you don't have at least a relationship, you had nothing to work from in the first place.
And who knows...our son may choose very wisely and very well. Either way, this process is a triumph of grace, and an exercise in actual (versus imagined) obedience to Christ.
I heard my husband telling our other son two or three days ago, "In my life, Jesus is Lord. In this house, His Word guides our every decision."
I can attest to your integrity, Timothy! The fact that this process has taken so long is living proof of the Lordship of Christ in our lives. The other alternative would have been far easier, much less costly....and it would not have been coming under His Costly Lordship at all.
Here is what I know: Law requires no personal Lordship - much like doing the speed limit requires no special, submissive relationship to anyone in law enforcement. But you get to feel like you accomplished something... when you really didn't accomplish anything of eternal value.
Us? We are actually accomplishing things - eternal things.
You won't waste a prayer on us!
One year ago, in our flesh, we had moments when we wanted to circumvent the process, and act rashly. What parent of a rebellious son doesn't struggle with that? But when we searched the Scriptures, we realized we were not free to deal with this situation as mere parents - but as church leadership. (These aren't incidental things we are dealing with. We were open with people in this.)
So, contrary to the opinion of someone near us at the time, someone who was demanding that we deal with our son their way, we consulted Scripture. Thankfully, we chose to resist the urge to manipulate and control. We decided that those who preach the gospel should "live of" the gospel, and live of it in ways that go far deeper than an income. We chose, under a "multitude of counsel" from more experienced leaders, a slightly different, a wiser course of action, instead of giving into the demands of the one person.
Our son, we decided, would not be anyone's doctrinal experiment. This would be handled "by the Book".
We rather chose to imitate the heart of God and extend our son the same Biblical process, the same freedom to fail and space for repentance that any member of the church is entitled to, should they exhibit a desire to be helped. All while carefully watching over the flock of God to insure that our son's process could not harm some unsuspecting young person.
Yeah. Try and walk that tightrope. It will humble you to the dust, drive you to your knees, and cost you more than you imagine.
The law is so much easier, friends. The quid-pro-quo way of dealing with others: "you do this, I treat you accordingly"..."here is what you must do"...that mentality requires NO obedience on your part. It is NOT the hard thing to do.
The rigid application of the letter of the law is not true obedience. It is a clever counterfeit. The rigid application of the letter kills. Pure and simple. Anything masquerading as life is carefully scripted and skillfully managed.
(Law must control. Because Life is Messy, you see. People sin and stuff.)
You can't take even the Biblical, New Testament guidelines and "letter-ize" them. You can't picture the process of "if your brother is overtaken in a sin, you who are spiritual, go and restore him in a spirit of meekness" as being a series of steps that might take one week. Quite frankly, restoration can take months (in some cases, years) there is no set time table. No two cases ever look the same. That alone makes a legalist crazy. They are all about being fair, and "what about John?" (John 21:21)
And restoration can look, for a time, like a failure...all the while, it is going to be wildly successful in the end.
So. We have reached the place that - with an eye towards ultimate restoration - we are willing to take the next step in this long process, whatever that step involves, regardless of the emotional cost to us. We are completely confident that every grace has been extended to our son. We are confident that we have closely followed a Biblical pattern, going by the Spirit, not rote, mindless rule of law. We know we have paid an excruciating price to "live of the gospel" in this. Thankfully, this long arduous process has cost no one else. Just us and our family. Dearly. But that is as it should be. I would not trade the lessons I've learned for any price.
The point? Only now, after months, is it time to conclude this process one way or another. (It yet remains to be seen what our son will ultimately decide. This is a communication from the front lines, my friends, not a nice, neat observation from hind-sight.)
Our biggest lesson? True obedience is relational. If you can complete it expeditiously, list in hand, it isn't obedience. If it does not require you to change your mind, it isn't obedience. If it doesn't humble you, and take you completely outside your own version of personal peace, it is not obedience.
Obedience is not a rigid set of steps to be ticked off, all so we can all feel like we have acted courageously. No. True obedience...true courage....it goes the distance with people. It endures a long process with people...human beings who were not even created to conform to a list. Progress is not linear. At times what does not look like progress, is in fact the greatest progress of all.
To act Biblically will cost you. Some who you least expect will accuse you of the fear of man, and of being lax about sin, when in reality the very opposite is the truth. (These are typically the very ones who refuse to go the distance with anyone who significantly displeases them.)
However this comes out, there is still a relationship with our son. It might have to be strained for however long, but not estranged. Because if you don't have at least a relationship, you had nothing to work from in the first place.
And who knows...our son may choose very wisely and very well. Either way, this process is a triumph of grace, and an exercise in actual (versus imagined) obedience to Christ.
I heard my husband telling our other son two or three days ago, "In my life, Jesus is Lord. In this house, His Word guides our every decision."
I can attest to your integrity, Timothy! The fact that this process has taken so long is living proof of the Lordship of Christ in our lives. The other alternative would have been far easier, much less costly....and it would not have been coming under His Costly Lordship at all.
Here is what I know: Law requires no personal Lordship - much like doing the speed limit requires no special, submissive relationship to anyone in law enforcement. But you get to feel like you accomplished something... when you really didn't accomplish anything of eternal value.
Us? We are actually accomplishing things - eternal things.
You won't waste a prayer on us!
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