A Net in Time

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Won’t You See the Real Me?

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Tonight as I write this post for the Five Minute word prompt, I’m feeling broken inside.
Broken and kinda hollow.  Wondering how will I do the word Connect. 

Especially when I am feeling like…

I just want to be loved and accepted for who I am…by more than my man and son.   And so often I feel like I’m not…that somehow I’m always found wanting.

But oh…how they treasure me.   Their treasuring of me lifts my soul up and feeds me heart with gratitude and yes.. total SURPRISE.  They love me!!! 

Even if I annoy them and frustrate them and drive them insane.

They love me and accept me for who I am.

They know my heart.

They are connected to the who I am.
Not the who they think I aught to be.. but the who I am RIGHT NOW.

It’s a big difference.

They see my foibles, and work around them.
They see my joys and are excited by them.
They lift me in ways they don’t always even know.

Why.
Because WE are connected.

And that I think is what really makes the difference you know?
They are so connected me.  We are us.   You get one of us.. you get the rest.   Just the way it is.

So when I ponder this question:
Why do families hurt and wound?

I wonder if perhaps, it’s that lack of connection.  That lack of not really seeing each other.

Because sometimes I think we are so busy looking for what we expect or want from each other or only seeing past hurts that we fail to see the person standing right in front of us.

We are lacking that connection to the real.  To real “you are here with me now person”.

Jesus did that you know.  He connected to the real you are here with me now person.   See Thomas and his doubt.  The woman at the well.   His own momma.

Jesus lacked what the rest of us are steeped in… the sin.  that inborn selfish that pervades all of our actions.  It’s a stain that is dreadful.  It is.

So sin didn’t influence his thoughts or his actions.   He could just connect with the person right there, just as they were.   And not only see them as they were but also see their potential to be more.

Sometimes, especially on days that I hurt, I just want him to come back.  To see him.  To have his light wash away it all.   To remove tetchiness and  dust-ups and sorrow and misunderstandings.

(Even though I really really want to see my lad grow up to be the man of God I think he will be).

A wee bit longer it took to write this than five minutes (wrote and changed, wrote and changed) but hey….you all will forgive me now won’t you?   🙂

Okay some of the rules here.
1. Five minutes to write.
2. it’s a free write which means you aren’t supposed to spend a whack of time editing.  Just write on the word prompt.
3. Dear Miss Kate provides the word prompt.  You can find her blog here.
4. write a post, link it up, then go and encourage the person who went on before you as encouragement is the name of the game and the SOUL of this community (and you wouldn’t want to let us down eh?)

Review: The Prayer Saturated Family

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This is a good book to read.  I have not read it all the way through mind you, just bits and pieces, enough to perk my desire to read it more in-depth. 

Divided into three sections

  • What Happens When Families Pray (8 sub-sections)
  • Time to Take Action (3 sub-sections)
  • Jump-start a life of family prayer (1 section)

Cheryl Sacks has a desire to reinforce the prayer life in families of believers.  She has therefore provided us with a book full of stories and practical ways to add prayer to your family’s way of living.   She adds so many ways that prayer is answered, how it’s a true work of God on behalf of his people. 

This is a very practical book written about how prayer can change the atmosphere in your home.   Prayer should be our first thought.

  Sacks tells us this “prayer can help us
navigate the often uncertain landscape of life, and seek the direction,
wisdom and presence of God along the way. It is amazing how, when we
look back, we can see what God has done – especially when we invite Him
into our families and allow his His Spirit to change the atmosphere of
our homes”.

We are often told that we should pray without ceasing, and this book helps us to make that necessary part of our lives of faith, a reality.

The third section of book is a 31 day section of different prayers that one can do as a family, praying for leaders, friends, decision making, schools, evangelistic works etc.  

I cannot say that I agree with everything in the book … the whole section on the family altar and taking communion only as a family causes me hesitation… but much about the book intrigues, and the fact that it helps stoke the fires of increased conversation with the Lord God, that is a good thing is it not?

Recommendation: This book is definitely worth a read.   Take it prayerfully.  Be willing to be challenged and to be changed.  God calls for us to be prayer warriors… this book will help.

The Prayer Saturated Family
Author:: Cheryl Sacks

Pages: 187
Publisher: Chosen, division of Baker Publishing Group

Type: Christian Helps

Reviewed for: Nuts About Books.

 Amazon.ca: The Prayer-Saturated Family: How to Change the Atmosphere in Your Home through Prayer
Amazon.com: The Prayer-Saturated Family: How to Change the Atmosphere in Your Home through Prayer
 

Hymn Study: One Day

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Just as a fun preamble…I was thinking the other day about hymns I would want sung at my funeral, and this is one of them.  I LOVE this song.

But funeral arrangements aside…. here’s more about the author and the songs history.  🙂

I am so thankful that J. Wilbur Chapman wrote it back in the day.   Mr. Chapman lived from 1850-1918, an American belonging to the Presbyterian church.  As a child he attended a Quaker Day School and a Methodist Sunday School.  Upon maturity he became a pastor within the Presbyterian Church, later becoming an evangelist working under Dwight Moody.

Overtime he became a superintendant over a number of other evangelists.  In 1909, Chapman demanded that any field evangelist who doubted the inerrancy of Scripture be removed from ministry. (source)  I read this and thought “good on him”.


Most of his work occured in the states…but get this.. he made an evangelistic trip to Canada! 


Interesting fact.  Chapman wrote two poems that he gave to his evangelistic singing partner to put to a tune Charles Marsh. Marsh then wrote the tune, but
there was disagreement over the copyright between two publishers. As a
result, this song was not published until 1911.  (source)

 
Lyrics
1 One day when Heaven Was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was As black as could be,
Jesus came forth To be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!
Chorus:
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried My sins far away;
Rising He justified freely forever:
One day He’s coming– O glorious day! 
2 One day they led Him Up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him To die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He![Chorus]
3 One day they left Him Alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He![Chorus]
4 One day the grave Could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered;
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore![Chorus]
5 One day the trumpet Will sound for His coming,
One day the skies With His glory will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved One bringing;
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine![Chorus]

Weighing out the Sin

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I don’t know if you are familiar with Tim Challies... he is a Christian blogger who THINKS.  Like really, he thinks.  He writes book reviews, links to good reads, and posts some really fascinating stuff.

I do not agree with everything he talks about, but sometimes he writes a post that really gets me to thinking.    He recently did that with THIS post.   Sex on the Silver Screen – Outsourcing Depravity.

And it’s gotten me thinking.

GAH!!!   Like I need more to think on this week.   I suppose part of the reason it has gotten me thinking is that when I am feeling stressed two things happen.


okay three.

1. I eat chocolate.  🙂   I recently polished off a container of dark chocolate sea salt caramels…YUM!
2. I read quick easy reads that require NO thinking.
3. I slow down on the blogging and let inner stories take control.  I tend to hide more within.  I fight that actively as it helps nothing and just gets folks concerned about me.

So this post by Challies hit home this week.

You know what a quick easy read is for me??? 

One of Nora Roberts romances.    I”m sorry I LIKE THEM.   They require no brain power and are often one of two genres… A story around a maturity theme OR a mystery.   Both involve people and relationships and how they work them out.

They also tend to involve premarital relations which (TRUTHFULLY) I have learned take about 3-4 double pages that I just skip.  NO.. not holier than thou, just dislike it.   I don’t need to read how glorious first time “you are the one” connections can be in the physical realm.  I just don’t like reading it.. always seems so very unrealistic.   Those sections, at least for me, do not add ANYTHING to the storyline and watching characters develop and become more of whom they aught to be.  That’s what draws me in you know…

In my most recent read… Cameron has been a play boy, keep yourself busy being a risk taker-gambler type of man and then his dad died leaving a boy behind in need of care.  No more running around … there’s a boy in need and he has to help manage it all.  And it is HARD for him.  But by the end of the book you can really see him “manning” up.  THAT is why I like to read Ms. Roberts book… they make you happy to be human and seeing others humans doing their thing and learning to do it better.

I liked this book enough I want to read the rest of the series.  I want to see what happens in this family of men and how they develop into better people.  I want to see Seth (the boy) grow up.

But then Challies comes along and says “HEY>>> should you be condoning this style of writing?  This writing that showcases the wrong in the world (in this case the sin of premarital sex)?   And I’m left saying…hmm… I don’t know… it’s so pervasive…I don’t know if I can avoid it… in any of the literature that I like to read.   Even the good solid mysteries.. there’s always sin at hand being shown and used and what not.

And I’m sorry.. reading non-fiction doesn’t cut it for me.   Non-fiction isn’t an escape it’s more work as I think hmm… I could blog about this…    When I want to escape I just want something easy and quick and non-thinking…something that keeps me out of my own head.

Do I need to think all the time???

As I ponder this I wonder… if we let the portrayal of sin stop us from reading or watching entertainment is there much left we can watch?   Think about it for a moment.   The bible is full of it… along with the consequences.   We often don’t see the consequences on the screen but last night the sins of people were found out and broadcast for the world to see…. if there was no hidden sin it wouldn’t have been an issue…   so how far does one take it?   One sees and reads about so many different sins.. acted out by characters where does one draw the line? 

Smoking?  Drinking?   Premarital relations?  Theft?  Lying?  Worshipping false gods?  One could find reasons not to watch or read anything.   Should we?   Where do we draw the line?

It is a good call to think about though isn’t it?   To evaluate and to find talking points. 

I don’t really  have the answers, but it made me think and that I suppose is the point.   To stop and think about what you are seeing and doing and taking in.   Weighing it the light of who God is and how he wants us to spend our time.

What does it make you ponder?  Weigh in with your thoughts eh?

Hymn Study: While shepherds watched their flocks by night

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 This Hymn is based on this Scripture passage.
 

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”   Luke 2:8-14

This hymn is attributed to England Poet Laureate Natum Tate.    Until 1782, it was the only Christmas carol officially sanctioned by the Church of England.  (source) All others hymns were taken from the Psalms.

Natum Tate and Nicholas Brady collaborated on a Psalter entitled New Version of the Psalms of David,
which they published in 1696 to replace an earlier Psalter that had
been published by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins in 1562.  The
Psalter by Tate and Brady was adopted by the Anglican Church, and
endured as the standard work for the singing of psalms for more than a
century. (source)

Lyrics to 
While shepherds watched their flocks by night
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord
came down
And glory shone around
And glory shone around

“Fear not,” he said,
For mighty dread
Had seized their
troubled minds
“Glad tidings of great
joy I bring
To you and all mankind,
To you and all mankind.”

“To you in David’s
Town this day
Is born of David’s line
The Savior who is Christ
the Lord
And this shall be the
sign
And this shall be the
sign.”

“The heavenly Babe
You there shall find
To human view displayed
And meanly wrapped In swathing bands
And in a manger laid
And in a manger laid.”

Thus spake the seraph,
And forthwith
Appeared a shining
throng
Of angels praising God,
who thus
Addressed their joyful
song
Addressed their joyful
song

“All glory be to
God on high
And to the earth be
peace;
Goodwill henceforth
From heaven to men
Begin and never cease
Begin and never cease!”

Sunday Sermon: Saviour, God With Us

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Hymns

Come thou long-expected Jesus
It came upon the midnight clear
O come, o come Emmanuel
The first Noel
Hymns in italics are linked to posts talking about the history or the author of the hymn.

 

 

 Scripture : 

 Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of
David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Sermon notes:

Christmas can be a lonely time of year when many suffer from the blues.

People are cut off from each other.

Our sin has cut us off from God   we have been alienated from God by the wrong that we do.

But Christ came, he was sent to break that alienation.

“The Genesis of Jesus happened in this way…..”

It speaks to the origins of Jesus,  the start of the Lord’s work on earth.

Mary and Joseph,  most likely an arranged marriage.   Engagements in those days were like being married.   To stop an engagement you needed a certificate of divorce. 

So it was no little thing for Joseph to contemplate setting her aside.  He liked Mary, he wanted to marry her  but pregnancy before marriage was wrong and he knew it was not his.   So in caring for her, he resolved not to make this news public, and to let her go quietly.

Joseph needed to deal with all this on his own.

God intervened though.
 Telling Joseph to fear not taking Mary to be his wife.
 Telling Joseph that it was God working in her,  not Mary being unfaithful.
 He also called him son of David, reminding him of who he was….a man from David’s line.
Telling Joseph what the baby’s name was to be, and why it was to be that.

He would save his people from their sins.

The bible is clear…throughout the whole bible.  Only God can save people from their sins.

So Joseph knew that this baby was a special baby, one who was of God.

God spoke directly into Josephs life, a life of obedience and glory to God.

God will do this with all those who are his own.  Speaking directly into our lives.  Even if we don’t always see it or feel it.  He never ever leaves us on our own and speaks into our lives.

Emmanuel….God with us.

Sunday Sermon: Christ is the Answer to Doubt

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This past Sunday was the start to the third Sunday in Advent.

Today we answer the question: What happens when we doubt?
The answer: Christ is the answer to doubt.

Hymns:

O come,  o come Emmanuel
O come, all ye faithful
God rest ye merry gentlemen
Joy to the world
What child is this?
Silent night
Glory to be the father.

 

Scripture:

 Matthew 11:1-19
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

11 Truly,
I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater
than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Sermon notes:

Intro: driving a route that was well known and feeling like you are going the wrong way because what you expect doesn’t happen.

So doubt sets in.

So Jesus recalls the tale of John the Baptist. 

John didn’t expect to land up in prison.  He expected to preach his message of judgement.   And he hears the Jesus’ ministry is one of grace.  He expected Jesus to have a ministry of judgement.  So he wondered if Jesus was the one he had foreshadowed so he sent his disciples to ask….are you the one I pointed the way to???

John had doubt.
It’s no different from the fact we have doubts about Jesus too.

Doubts about how God is working, with churches close who honour him, when illness strikes, or Christians diminish in number, etc.

Jesus did not leave John in his doubt.   Jesus pointed him to what he was really doing.  The blind see.   This was unique to Jesus’ ministry.   The dead live, the lame walk, the poor have good news preached to them, the deaf hear etc.

The poor, the ignored among society are being addressed.

Isaiah 29.   Isaiah 35.  Isaiah 61.  
Jesus says to John,  look I am doing exactly what God said I would do.
And all this action I do know doesn’t mean that judgement isn’t coming.  Judgement is coming, no question about it.

John was a testament to Jesus.   He immediately prepared the way for Christ.

John was reminded by Jesus that his place was the greatest prophet.  See what Jesus is doing. 

See the restoration that Jesus has wrought in your life.
It is so easy to not really see what Christ does .  
But Jesus reminds us what he is doing.   
Sight to the blind: physically and spiritually
Raises the dead: those who are dead to God see and hear the reality of God and that he calls them out to him.

Sometimes God sends a famine of his word so that people start to hunger for him.
Sometimes growth happens in one area while death occurs in another.

Never fear, God sees it, Jesus acts all the time, completing all of his mission.

Doing this through his people.

Look and see his action.
Look and see that he is coming again.