Happy Reformation Day!

"Since then your serene majesty and your lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the Pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves),

I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. 
I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand. May God help me. Amen."

----- Martin Luther -----

" 62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God."

----- The 62nd of Luther's 95 Theses -----

The door of the Castle Church on which it is traditionally 

believed that Luther nailed his 95 Theses in 1517.

- Wittenberg, Germany - April 2009 -

The tower of the Castle Church. 

The words around the tower are Luther's from 

A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

- Wittenberg, Germany - April 2009 -

Sermon in Malachi: "Return to Me"

Today our Pastor, John Meador, started into a series on Malachi. I was encouraged and challenged by the "introduction sermon" he shared this morning as it brought a timely reminder to my life about the tendency to stray from true worship, the gracious love and rebuke of the Lord, what He requires in response to His Word, and the consequences of not returning to Him. 

If you have opportunity I encourage you to read through Malachi this next week (it's a short book - only 4 chapters). I have included below the sermon notes from this morning and the things which especially stood out to me as we looked at the over-all theme of this book. These are the last words spoken to Israel for 400 years. For 4 centuries, until the time of Christ, God's people didn't hear another word from Him. How important are these last words?!?!

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Background to the book of Malachi:

• Even after all the incredible things God has done for the nation there is an incredible indifference to Him on the part of the people.
• These are the last words spoken to Israel for 400 years, until John the Baptist comes on the scene. For 4 centuries, God's people didn't hear another word from Him! How important are these last words?!?!
• Malachi is God in quotes - it is Him speaking very directly to the nation of Israel.
• Malachi shows what God has to say about spiritual life, worship, relationship (Historic Israel becomes a picture for us today).

 Key Verse:

"From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'"

----- Malachi 3:7-----

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God's Reminder Is..."I have loved you" (1:2)
     This is the foundation on which this book is written and upon which Israel's relationship with
               God exists.   
     He loves them with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3) - "everlasting" = eternal, unchanging
     Why this introduction?
               He wants them to know that the hard things He is about to say to them (His rebuke of
                       them) is encompassed by His love - this is the basis for His rebuke.
               In reality, they cannot experience this love of His fully unless they heed the hard things.

The Response Is...Indifference (1:6)
  God: "I have loved you."                                         Israel: "How have You loved us?" (1:2)
  God: "You have despised my name."                Israel: "How have we despised Your name?" (1:6)
  God: "You are presenting to me defiled food." Israel: "How have we defiled You?" (1:7)
  God: "I do not accept your offering."                    Israel: "For what reason?" (2:13-14)
  God: "You have wearied Me by your words."     Israel: "How have we wearied You?" (2:17)
  God: "You have robbed Me."                                 Israel: "How have we robbed You?" (3:8)
  God: "Your words have been arrogant."             Israel: "What have we spoken against You?" (3:13)
 
   God's rebuke is meant to humble the people and show them what to turn from in order to come
               back to Him.
   God knows when His people's heart is not really His - when they are just going through
                the motions. Israel questions whether God's judgement is true (forgot His
                omniscience and perfect ability to judge) demonstrating their indifference, but
                ultimately their pride in saying that they are more accurate evaluators than
               God, Himself.
                       "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."
    Israel: "It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge..." (3:14)
          Why do we serve God? For what gain? For what purpose?
                The example of Job - will a man still serve God for nothing?
                Serving God isn't about our gain, it's about who He is.
    Our actions and passions reveal the reality of our love for God (what's in the heart eventually
                shows).

God's Continual Call Is..."Return to Me" (3:7)
      Israel: "How shall we return?" (3:7)
      2 Cron 2:14 - REPENT
      The tragedy of not heeding: We know from both Israel's response in this book and also
             from future historical records (particularly the New Testament) that Israel did not
             heed the Lord's warning. It was the descendants of the recipients of this book who
             rejected Christ. This was the ultimate tragedy of not heeding the rebuke of the Lord.

     Warning to us: If we do not heed the Words of the Lord, if we do not heed His discipline
             and rebuke, we risk the great tragedy of also missing the most important things.

"He has told you, O man, what is good;  

And what does the LORD require of you 

But to do justice, to love kindness, 

And to walk humbly with your God?" 

----- Micah 6:8 -----

"Return to Me, and I will return to you."

-----Malachi 3:7-----

  

Happy Anniversary to Us!

We celebrated the 2 year milestone with some Cajun food at Razzoo's in downtown Fort Worth. It is a restaurant that Mike spotted during one of our first times in the downtown area and he has been wanting to try it ever since. It took us nearly a year and a special occasion to finally do it! We didn't try any gator this time; we stuck with the shrimp, catfish, and a tilapia po' boy instead.  It was all very yummy!

Both of us are grateful for each and every day that the Lord gives us together. It is a blessing to be able to share life with someone, to learn from each other, and to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18) together.

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And this [we] pray, that [our] love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment , so that [we] may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

-----Philippians 1: 9-11-----

Canadian Thanksgiving in Pictures

Short one wallet; short one jacket; and obviously, short a few marbles ;) we have just returned from a wonderful week home in Canada with Mike's family. The whole 10 days were wonderful but by far my favourite part was the final few - thanksgiving weekend - spent with my in-laws but also with my sister and cousin who are currently studying at Word of Life Bible Institute in Owen Sound, ON. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so I think I've included about 21000 words worth below...because they are much better at capturing our time together than my babbling. :)

Thursday, October 6 - We met up with Sarah, Sophia, and Ryan who, along with Word of Life had spent the previous week doing Open Air Evangelism in Toronto and Hamilton. It was neat to watch them patiently and consistently share the Gospel with whoever the Lord brought past them on the street; it was neat to spend the day sharing alongside them.

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Friday, October 7 - We had an occasion to dress up. Sophia's graduation happened to be scheduled during that same weekend that we were there and so we got to share in the event with her. In honour of the occasion we went out for Lebanese food. Watching Ryan eat it was a highlight of the weekend! :) Another highlight is that between the times I last saw them, Sophia (sister-in-law) and Sarah (sister) have become very close friends - it was so fun talking, laughing, and hanging out with them together!

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Saturday, October 8 - While in Kitchener we HAD to introduce Sarah and Ryan to City Cafe, one of Mike's (and I think Sophia's too) favourite coffee shops/cafes. (I will second that they have about the best plain-old cup of coffee I've ever had and probably about the best homemade bagels too.) Following our breakfast stop we spent the morning at one of my most favourite places to visit every time we're in the area, the St. Jacob's Farmers Market.

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Saturday & Sunday, October 8-9 - We spent the weekend at their cottage on Lake Huron in Kincardine. It was a weekend full of too much food, long walks on the beach, watching sunsets, sitting by camp fires, and enjoying family.

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Witness to a Miracle

Several weeks ago a young woman walked into the pregnancy center that I volunteer at and her ID and form were handed to me to take on as my client. What made her different than any other client I had personally dealt with up until that point was that she had checked the "unsure" box answering the question of what she plans to do about her pregnancy. When checked it most often means that abortion holds a lot of sway as an option. It was a moment that I was reminded of my inadequacy as well as the great weight of the ministry of the center: it is a matter of life or death.

Scared, I went out to meet this young lady and led her back to a counselling room. What she wanted was something we couldn't offer: abortion referrals. What I could offer I was limited to give because we can only provide information and help so far as the client gives us permission, and that permission was not granted me. (Legally and to protect the organization from being shut down or slandered by those in opposition of it we are at liberty to share only that which the client gives us permission to share.) So our meeting was very methodical, me leaving out any religious opinions, as she requested as soon as we had sat down, and she being very closed to share much of what was going on in her heart and life. Our conversation remained at the surface, primarily focused on what the abortion procedures are and the risks involved, information that the majority of abortion clinics do not offer to their clients. At one point she broke down crying so I did see a little glimpse of the battle going on in her heart, but she told me she still didn't want to talk about it. Following the positive pregnancy test results I offered her a sonogram appointment which she reluctantly accepted but told me she probably wouldn't keep. I left that time with her feeling drained, discouraged, and pretty sure that I would never see this young girl again.

I continued to pray for this young girl over the next days, but with little expectation. We tried to contact her via phone several times but she never answered and never returned a call. A couple of weeks later her sonogram appointment came and went. I left the pregnancy center that day after my shift discouraged but honestly not very surprised.  But half an hour after I got home the client advocate director gave me a call saying that the nurse had managed to get ahold of this girl, found out that she had not yet had an abortion, but had been told by her that she could not talk at that moment and would give the center a call back. I continued to pray for her that evening, hopeful in the fact that she had not yet made an irreversible decision but still doubtful that she would give that promised return call.

I was scheduled to be back at the center that next morning and shortly after I walked in the door I was greeted with the excitement of some of the staff members who had just received a call from this girl. Together as a group of women we lifted the appointment scheduled for that afternoon to the Lord. I was afraid to hope in too much of a change of heart. I had seen the hardness of her heart firsthand, yet I knew the fact that she had not yet gone through with an abortion had to count for something or rather, Someone at work in those weeks since I had last seen her.

Sonograms are handled primarily by the nurse so I was not there for the initial part of their counselling session. I had asked if I could witness the sonogram, though, so I could at least try to touch base with this young lady again. When the nurse came to get me I was nervous but she was smiling. Upon entering the room I was shocked at the young woman I saw sitting before me. She looked so beautiful and so joyful! I would honestly have probably not recognized her had I not known going in that it was her. The nurse asked her if she felt comfortable sharing with me all that had gone on in the weeks since I had last seen her. With a huge smile on her face she told me about how a few days before she had gone to the abortion clinic for her scheduled appointment and upon arriving there she was told that the actually procedure could not be carried out for at least 24 hours following this initial visit (a new law that came into effect on October 1!). Her next appointment happened to be scheduled on the same day as the sonogram appointment we had scheduled for her and it was when she was on her way to the abortion clinic that the nurse had managed to get through to her on the phone. That was the evening before the very moment that we found ourselves in this room together. Many other things factored into this change of mind including her family, who are believers, finding out about her pregnancy; several friends who were standing against her in her decision to abort; as well as, I believe, the work of the Lord in her own heart because as far as we could tell she was a believer throughout all of this.

Out of all the sonograms I have witnessed this one by far was the most joyful and exciting, not just because I felt that way but because this young woman could almost not contain herself. She was laughing, nearly crying, and talking constantly and asking questions about the little baby she was seeing and little heartbeat within her that she was hearing. I'm humbled and amazed that I got to be a witness in this choice of life. I'm ashamed at my lack of faith in the power of the Lord who is at work both at the pregnancy center but also in each and every life that leaves our doors. I'm so thankful that He graciously let me watch His power at work, inspite of my own unbelief. It's not only that young girl who experienced change yesterday, but myself too!