Just Give Me Jesus

I went to the "Just Give Me Jesus" conference this weekend.

It was a good weekend. I have to admit that I didn't stay for the final session as a 2.5 hour ride home had turned into a three hour ride once I realized that I needed to bring my friend back her bible. So...I left early so I didn't have to drive too far in dark and rainy weather.

Before I forget.... FERNANDO ORTEGA was the worship leader. I LOVE his music and style of playing. Just ah...touches me heart it does. I even bought another CD of his music. :) I'm ah...happy with that. :)

What didn't I like? Paying for parking. Now granted, if I was a person who was really cool with driving around in an unknown city and was confident in my ability to find my way out of unknown streets...i could possibly have driven around and found cheaper parking. BUT since I was neither comfortable NOR confident I just paid parking where I found some! :) 45$ for the entire weekend. BUT... it was a good conference none-the-less.

For the first two sessions Anne Graham Lotz told the story of Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. She is a very easy lady to listen to. She dramatically told the story so it came to life again. :) I have to admit...I didn't like when she added the "I suppose that _________ felt _______ or I imagine that _________). To me that seems too much like adding to scripture. And I've too long with my husband that I've become more sensitive to that type of stuff.

Anyways, as Anne told the story, she would interpose questions and thoughts. For instance when Judas betrayed Jesus, she interposed the thought of... what do we do when we are betrayed, and have you ever betrayed someone. If you have, who have you confessed your sin to? Just your friend, OR have you taken that to the cross and asked Jesus to forgive you. I appreciated how she did that. Made it immediately relevant. I could see the women around me just thinking which was neat. :) (what can I say, the teacher in me loves to see lights go on!)

Oh..I did dislike one thing in her message...that I thought was bad teaching. You know the place where Jesus meets Mary Magdalene in the garden, and she is told by Jesus to go tell the disciples that he is alive? Well...she said that was Jesus giving permission for women to teach men. That women are supposed to do this from now on. Didn't like that. Seemed to take scripture out of context and doesn't quite fit in with other NT scripture.

Questions I ended up asking myself at the end of these two sessions
1. What do I need to die to?
2. Is my thing that I have about feeling this lack of assurance just a feeling? BECAUSE I know when I die that I will go to heaven because I know that Jesus' blood covers me. So therefore I think it is just an emotional thing, that I want to feel "loved" completely by God, and want to feel within myself that I love "God completely all the time". And I don't feel either. So what do I do with that? Anyways, I'm feeling/thinking better about my relationship with God right now which is a good thing. It's like somehow this intellectual yet emotional mix in me somehow got answered.
3. Should I write Anne and remind her that praying for illumination means more than praying that Jesus will bless our time together? :)

Session Three: led by Jill Briscoe.

I had a hard time with this session. For a couple of reasons.
1. she mixed medias...and for someone easily distracted like I am... asking me to focus on someone talking WHILE music is playing in the background with songs that I know... well.... gee whillikers.....test a person's ability to focus. TOUGH. But I managed at times.
Jill's talk was a practicum on prayer.
Overview
Prayer is 1/2 our relationship with God and is us talking to God about what we have learned. And prayer has four basics areas.
1. Look above
- start with God
- know that when we talk with God that we are standing on Holy Ground
- treat distractions with scripture... have to admit..I really liked this one thought!
- ask God to keep you focused on him
- it is praise, it is telling God how much we love him, and for what reasons.
2. Look within
a.remember the things we did and didn't do that were wrong (sins)
b. grieve the fact that you did them and see the consequences of said action (or inaction)
c. confess these sins to God
d. receive his forgiveness
e. thank you (thank God for what he has done for you)
3. Look around
- see your families, your friends, your acquaintances etc. Pray for them. but focus on the needs of your immediate family as God has given them to you to care for and nurture and so forth.
4. Look abroad
- world leaders, missionaries, and so forth. It's the large picture of the world around us.

What didn't I like about Jill's message?
Sometimes I think that my husband has infected me...or made me more tuned into what I think is wrong when I get vibes that something isn't correct. See I've always had this sensitivity, but haven't always been able to put my finger on it. My hubbie is helping me to refine that a bit. :)
anyways, one thing that Jill kept saying and her accompanist often sang, was about being centred, that we need to Centre-down in prayer, that we need to be collected and meditate in the silence of being centred. and that just rang bells in my sensitive vibes....AHH!!!!
Sounds like eastern meditation mysticsim sneaking in the backdoor...and there were about 10,000 women there I bet...and they are hearing that message over and over again.
STRONGLY disliked that.

BUT I did like the group prayer times about specific stuff...praying for families and missionaries and stuff about God that we just love. It was neat that. One thing that prayer time did was make me realize how much I have to give stuff up to God and trust him once and for all to handle. And it was good to realize that.

Last talk that I stayed for.....
Anne did an interactive verse-by-verse study on Luke 9:10-17. FASCINATING. But you'll have to wait till tomorrow for that as I"m on my mom's dial up computer and she wants to go to bed! :) So I have to post this and I'll write more tomorrow.

Calvinism

I was over at this blog this morning.

And I liked this line in her chosen by God entry "But I think it is sometimes easy to go with an interpretation that is comfortable (like the complete free will of man) rather than accept what the scripture actually says. And I think Calvinism makes people uncomfortable."

It is so true. People like to "make up their own religion", even within Christian circles. Something about scripture doesn't make sense to us, so we find a way "biblically" to explain it away. Really believing in Scripture, which Calvinism tends to promote, tends to prevent people from doing that. :)

This lady admits that she is not a Calvinist, but she finds the teachings of Calvinism interesting. AND she likes reading Calvinist authors. For some reason I find that intriguing.

Anyways, go check her out. I find she writes decent posts. She likes to think hard about what she believes.

Boys You are Just TOO messy!

This article in Aftenposten, a newspaper in Norway, tells us about a school that has forbidden it's male students to stand to "pass water".

I look at this and I think a couple of things.
1. yet another way for people to make boys into little girls. You must all sit to go pee. And
2. boys are just TOO messy (well what can I say...some men can be too) :)

I can kinda understand the desire to make unisex bathrooms. It saves money, space and so forth.

BUT I also think the idea is a bit foolish.

Boys are NOT girls. You can't expect them to act the same. And trying to mold them into the same image is not a correct course of action. Would I blow it up like Kleppe does and make it a political thing? Probably not, I'd rather organize the parents of the children to say, "hey, don't do this" OR if I had a son at that school I say...stand to pee, just aim good OR I have someone come in and paint the toilets with a little fly (or something) in the bowl for the boys to aim at.

Boys are boys...do you really want them going to the bathroom in the same room as a bunch of little girls? I don't think so. Boys do stuff because they are boys and they aren't old enough to have learned that "ah maybe I shouldn't do that".

Just over all doesn't seem a good plan to me.

Where I'll be this weekend

If anyone wonders where I will be this weekend, go here.

I hope it's a good event. I've heard good things about Anne Graham Lotz. And Jim says that Fernando Ortega (just LOVE his music) is doing music at it so that's cool.

I just hope it's a good event and that God moves in the hearts of women all across Ontario. :)

The Foolishness of Idol Worship

I have to admit. I don't understand this worshipping of idols that people do. I just don't "get it".

The buddhas and so forth. I don't understand making a car or a house or a whatever so very important in a person's life. I do understand people caring about their stuff, but I don't understand putting that "stuff" ahead of the true God or ahead of people. I just don't get it.

I have to admit, I also don't "get" the lack of care that some people show towards their "stuff" either. The wanton disregard for pets, for possessions, and for some their very family members. But that would be a post for a different day.

I especially don't get the idol worship of "stuff". It makes no sense to me. Why would this block of wood, or that hunk of stone be so much more important than that wood or that stone. Or why is this vehicle so important, but that one is like...who cares? I don't understand it.

So here I was reading in Isaiah 44 this morning, not really thinking about that and I come across these words from God through Isaiah.

9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

Here we see God speaking through Isaiah. He is saying how idol makers are worthless. They make objects that do nothing. And because they do so, they shall be put to shame.

12The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!"

Do you see it? Do you see how they do it? They make the decision on how to use the wood or the stone. Let's say a tree is picked.
1. THEY pick the tree
2. THEY water it and keep an eye on it.
3. THEY decide which part of the tree is to be used for what purpose
4. THEY do all the work of it. - the chopping, the burning, the forming etc.
And then
5. THEY worship the part they've decided is to be worshipped.

18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" 20He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

Do you see the foolishness? A guy has a tree, half he uses for his personal sustenance, the other half he worships like it's supposed to help him. It makes no sense. How does he determine which half is to be the "god" and which half he can do with whatever he wants? Makes no sense to me. It really exemplifies to me how the wisdom of men is but foolishness to God.

But God explains why this is. He has shut their eyes (so they cannot see) and shut their hearts (so they cannot understand). They don't think about what they are doing. There is no knowledge or discernment or anything. It is just something they do. Their hearts are deluded, and they are led astray by it. They cannot save themselves.

Makes me think of who I was before my faith became really important to me. I didn't think about what I did half the time. I just did what I wanted to because I wanted to and somehow it made sense to me. DUMB!!!!

Makes me think abit more about the conference I was just at. The one teacher expounded upon the fact that it is the HOLY SPIRIT who does this work of illuminating the Word to us. I cannot save myself, I cannot make myself understand God's word... but the Holy Spirit comes along, lives inside of me and makes the Word of God real and understandable. He makes it so that MY heart cannot be deluded. If he didn't, I would be like those poor idol makers, who have no idea of just how lost they really are.

We need to be so aware of what the Holy Spirit keeps us from. :) AND pray all the more diligently that we can be of use to him in the saving of others for God. (and yes, i know... i probably didn't word that well. ) :)

What are Your Excuses

My hubbie alerted me to this.

Sola Scriptura Conference - what I learned

Sola Scriptura Conference, held Sept 22-23, in Toronto.

The church building was a good size, as was the parking lot which was quite nice. Easy to get in and out. :) We stayed at a friends place, well...we ate breakfast with them and we slept out in the van. Jim wanted to test out the van to see how it would work for when he goes to a men's campout in November. He'd rather not pull the trailer if he doesn't need to. It works really well. Found out that it gets hot quickly!

Anyways, the Friday night program featured Derek Thomas and Bruce Waltke.

Derek Thomas spoke on: "the Holy Spirit in Interpretation".
Excellent message. He spoke on how the Holy Spirit is active in helping believers understand the word of God. The Holy Spirit was active when the word of God was written. He is actively present as we read to understand it. He actively interprets it for us.

He ended his talk reminding us that
1. We must pray to the Holy Spirit for his aid in understanding scripture EVERYTIME before we start to read it.

2. We must not forsake

• assembling together
• bible study
• asking questions
• putting scriptures together

3. We need to always appreciate that the Holy Spirit makes scriptures real. We can't get so locked into routine of "now I do this, and then I do that" when it comes to bible study. We need to be aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing.

We took a break. I discovered an old Friend of mine was there! wow.... what fun! I've known Anne since college. We lived together for a semester, reconnected through work and have maintained a good friendship since. It was fun. She's in school in Toronto getting her medical lab degree. Gets to take blood and analyze all kinds of stuff now. Not my thing, but I"m thrilled for her. It was so nice to be able to chat for a bit.

Bruce Waltke spoke on: "Reading the Psalms".
So appreciated the fact that he gave handouts! Wow! For someone who gets easily distracted, handouts are just wonderful! Yeah! :)

He went through all the different approaches people take to reading the Psalms. Approahes like: literary form, historical, rhetorical, messianic and so forth. Interesting. Showed me things I hadn't considered before. I really appreciated how he made the historical come to like.

Showed how David did not just pray...God help! But...showed how in scripture David prayed God helped, but he also took action. It was just fascinating. You just have to get the CD/MP3. Go to these fine folks to get them. They don't have them posted yet, but hopefully will have them soon. Dr. Waltke had WAY too much information so did the last part of his message really fast, this disappointed my hubbie because he was like "oh...now I know how to preach the Psalms!" and "I want to know more!". :) My hubbie...the ever-learning preacher. :)

Check out Joshua's site for more info on this lecture.

That finished Friday night for us.

Then Saturday came. Ah... now we heard from a new to me fello.

James White. Now I have to admit, we got there a wee bit late so I had a really hard time following his first message. he talked about "Issues in Contemporary Hermeneutics". Yeah.. right. Hermeneutics....what????? It's all about how people study the bible. Okay..got that.

I did appreciate though how he advised us that scholars aren't the end all and be all. That is doesn't matter how smart or educated someone is, we still need to carefully examine their words to see if they line up with what scripture is really saying.

He did two lectures right after each other. During the break I found three books for Justin. Two were board books on stories not commonly found for children, and the other was a good book that I thought Jim and I could use during family worship time when Justin gets a bit older. Has memory verses and everything.

The second lecture started with him reading about Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. He explained how Jesus took the time to show these men who he was throughout all of scripture (that just being the Old Testament at the time).

People like to pick apart scripture. To follow "Jesus' words only" or to say that Paul didn't really write this, that or the other book. Or did Moses really write this, or this contradicts that.

When Jesus explained who he was in scripture he was showing that "the answer lies in knowing that God's truth is in the whole of the Bible, not just in one part." (james white) we need to know ALL of scripture. Not just one part, not just one area, not just Jesus' words, but all of scripture. Makes me think of that passage where people are saying...I follow Cephas, I follow this fellow, and Paul chimes in with....But I follow Christ, and him crucified.

This folks is what we are to do with the bible. Not pick and choose, but to follow God and his son throughout the whole of scripture. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit helps illumines our minds to understand this.

We took a break for lunch. Bloggers ate lunch at Swiss Chalet. I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of eating there as EVERY TIME I have ever eaten at a Swiss Chalet my food has been burnt. Wonder of wonders...this time it was different. I ordered the two leg dinner...and it came out perfectly. No complaints. Unfortunately.....my bad Swiss Chalet "charms" were transferred to James White and to my hubbie. "ALL MY FAULT" James White said. :) Made me grin. :) but my food was good so... life was just fine. :)

It was a good time by all. Lots of laughter and discussion. Jim got to talk with Tim Challies for a bit, he enjoyed that. Carla turned out to be nice, and not intimidating at all. James White LIKES guns. Really does. Me...I don't get it, but hey...works for him.

Bruce Waltke picked it up after lunch. Once again, he provided handouts which, for an after lunch crowd, was a really good idea. He spoke on "reading historical narratives". It was a good lecture. The thing I remember most from his lecture was when he explained that when we read and learn the biblical narratives, we are connected to our history. We are able to see how God worked in lives past and see how he works for us today (within that history). Helped me with teaching my Sunday School class. :)

They had a Question and Answer period which I listened to but didn't get a thing out of. :)

Derek Thomas closed off the day talking about "Apocalyptic Literature" His main point was that we need to see the big picture before trying to see all the details.

It was a good conference. Lots of good things learned. Time spent in God's word. Time spent praising God. Time spent with God's people. Everyone should go to a conference like this at least once a year.

Just so you know, Sola Scriptura, has another conference coming up. It's in London...half an hour from my home. November 3-4, 2006. Why don't you come?

Bloggers I met at the luncheon

Though I didn't have a chance to chat with these bloggers (they were sitting at the opposite end of the table) I found their blogs. Here is Joshua and Lydia.

There were also a few others Darrin, Paul, James White, Carla and her husband Kevin, Tim Challies, and a few others. I have to admit, I don't remember them all. :)

I know that Carla has links to most everyone over at her site. So you'll have to go there to get those ones. She also has pics posted as does Josh and Lydia.

The Conference Sept 22-23

I'm going to write more later today. For now you can check out Carla's blog for information on the conference.

It was a good time of learning.
It was a good time of fun.
It was a time to catch up with old friends.
It was a time to purchase some books.

But right now I have a hungry boy to feed so will write more later.

Surprise, surprise

Today our boy surprised me. We were getting ready to go for a walk and I asked him if he was going to bring black cat or Collie. And from the door I heard "col-col". And off he trotted to get his beloved collie. I hadn't expected an answer...I just expected him to go get whatever he wanted. So it was kinda cool. :)

It was cute. We went to the Pet Store today. A new one opened up downtown so we just had to go check it out. They had the usual hamsters, fish etc. And at the back of the store was this fluffy young Himalayan kitten. :) OH BOY!!!! Was the look on our boy's face. Off he trotted. This kitten just made his day, because our boy stuck a finger through the bars and this kitten rubbed back and forth along that finger. Our boy was just delighted! A cat that likes him! :) We ended up going back later to pick up two plecos to help keep Midas' old tank clean with the goldfish added to it. Hopefully they will do a good job. If I keep on top of cleaning it, it will definitely help!

And I surprised our boy. While he was napping I took the opportunity to clean the fish out and then move them around. Our boy woke up just as I was almost done. So I brought him downstairs so he could observe me while I finished. But oh no!!! Mommy moved MIDAS!!!!! Talk, talk, talk, talk and point point point. This little boy was so taken aback at the nerve I had! I MOVED HIS FISH!!!!!!!! He just couldn't get over it. Even when I brought the bright gold fish in from outside and put them in Midas' old tank, our boy was just pointing and talking about Midas being moved! That boy....has a real love-hate relationship with that fish. :) Even had a hard time eating his supper because THE FISH WAS MOVED!!! Tomorrow should be better. :)

Ephesians 5:3-21

Yesterday we learned how we are to imitate Christ, and how God answers us when we call upon him.

Today we learn a bit more about what it means to live for Christ.

3But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not associate with them; 8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
"Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

On the side of darkness we have:
sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking,
no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Deceivers, the sons of disobedience, unwise, drunkenness (from alcoholic beverages), no submission, no praise, no music of praise, foolish, no understanding of the will of God.

On the side of light we have:
Thanksgiving, Non-association with the dark side. At one time part of the darkness, but now part of the light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, Fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Discerns what is pleasing ot the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Finds it shameful to speak of what the dark side does. But learns that darkness exposed to the light is changed! Looks carefully to how one walks, wise, makes the best use of time, filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Can you see the difference?
I see those who walk on the dark side, as being those who are only concerned for themselves. Regardless of what they do, they are concerned for only truly for themselves.

Whereas those who walk in the Light of the Lord....they are concerned for the things of God. They see the importance of wisdom, in watching what they do, in bringing things out of darkness so they can be turned to the light, submission and respect for each other. They are a thankful, reverent people because of what Christ has done for them.

Makes me see more clearly where I need to be more discerning. Where I need to be more careful in what I do, and see, and talk about.

What do you see more clearly?

Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 5 opens with these words

1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

That therefore means we have to go back a bit to find out WHY we are to be imitators of God. So in Chapter four we find we have new life in Christ. We are not like the other people around us. We have been forgiven in Christ by God. Therefore.... we are to be imitators of God AS beloved children.

I have a 14 month old son. He makes me so aware of what I do sometimes. He tries, even at 14 months, to do what I do. He also tries to do what his dad-dad does. He LOVES to try to figure out how he can do things. He doesn't always succeed, but he does try hard. He gets frustrated and angry and AH!!! He cries meaning... mommy help! So..what does mommy do? She helps.

I see him like this, and then I read verses like "be imitators of God as beloved children". Justin is my beloved child. Just as I am a beloved child of God.

Just as Justin tries so hard to imitate me, I am to try SO HARD to imitate God. Even if sometimes I get frustrated by my inability to do what I want, I am NOT to stop trying.

I was talking with my Sunday School student yesterday. We are talking about Saul (king before David) and how Saul disobeyed God because it was EASIER for him then to do what he was supposed to do. I said that Saul had an option. He could have said.. GOD! Help! But because he didn't, he tried to do it all under his own strength, he failed miserably and God therefore, did not honour him or his effort.

Just as Justin sometimes needs help to imitate me or his dad, and calls for help (and gets it), Sometimes I need help to imitate my father (God). If I say, God... help... he does! He helps me just as if he was my earthly daddy...who I also know loves me very much. And I remember my dad helping me with stuff... to build a dog house, to learn how to work with animals, to learning the importance of reading my bible and so forth.

Sometimes the help that I get from God is just a reminder that He doesn't give me anything I can't deal with (knowing what God's words says is a big help in this). Sometimes it's encouragement from my hubbie, or friends or other spiritual people. Sometimes his help feels more like a whack up my backside! But if I call on him...he helps me. Just like a daddy.

Women's role in church

I like how Pastor Ed and his church phrased things on the role of people in church. Not just women, but men too. :) Check it out here.

I have always found this passage intriguing

Isaiah 11

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

10In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Just think about what you just read here for a moment.

Isaiah is talking to the Israelites, proclaiming to them the word of the Lord.
They know who Jesse is, they know that David's line will always be important to God. And now they are hearing about how a shoot will come from what appears to be a dead-line. David's line will seem all but dead. Who expects a stump to start growing, much less start growing anything useful? But not only will this shoot start to grow, but it will form branches AND it will bear fruit! Totally cool. :)

And this offspring, from a seemingly dead line, will have God's blessing upon him.
See the blessing of the Lord upon this offspring

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

We know from Matthew and Luke that this offspring is Jesus. Can you see how having the spirit of God upon him was so important? Jesus was God. He was God's son through the line of David (via Mary and Joseph). Both Human and God. Jesus at 12 years old showing wisdom and understanding talking with the teachers in the temple. Jesus talking with the samaritan woman and knowing all about her, and being able to lead her to understanding who he really was (showed counsel). Jesus overturning tables in the temple, saying it was a den of robbers (might, knowlege, fear of the Lord). It was all there. Throughout his ministry.

See, I never really thought about that before. How God would have his spirit (in different ways) be promised to Jesus, and then be able to see the results of that in Jesus' life and ministry. I may need to think on this a bit more. :)

And imagine it... he delighted in doing the things of God. Imagine it. "And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD". He loved to fear the Lord. That was his delight. Have you ever chatted with mature christians, who just have this total delight in God? Isn't it neat? It's like seeing God shining out of their eyes. I read this verse, and I imagine seeing that same look in Jesus, when he's teaching, healing, talking, walking... that his whole delight is in being about his father's business. That's what "fearing the Lord" does I find. The more I respect and know God, the more I want to be about the things he'd have me do.

Jesus' whole ministry can be summed up in those next couple of verses.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

Jesus never did things just because he felt like it. People often misjudged him. For instance, when he was "late" to Lazarus, and Lazarus died. People thought he delayed for no reason, for Jesus had heard he was sick and yet stayed for 2 more days. People didn't understand why bother coming at all now. But as Jesus told his disciples "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Jesus saw more and knew more than "he should have." But as the son of God, he knew what he knew.

Now these are the verses that I have always found amazing:

6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

I know, we're not there yet. But oh man, I think that would be so cool to see on a regular basis. Not just those times when it seems an anomaly, where two critters that are normally prey and predator get along, but when it's just a normal course of events.

I have a 14 month old son. He's the light of my life. And I cannot at this point in God's timeline, imagine letting him play anywhere near a cobra's hole or adder's den. (or as is my case in Canada, near a rattlesnake's den) Just can't. I wouldn't risk his life that way. But these verses tell me a time is coming when I'll be able to do just that. Let him play wherever, and not have to fear that he will come to harm. A time of complete safety is coming! :)

Ah... blessed indeed be the name of our Lord.

A place for sermon listening

My hubbie introduced me to a new resource. It is called SermonCloud. It is a place were sermons can be listed free of charge. Up to 52 sermons.

Now I do have to admit that I don't know how good all the sermons are that are posted, but I do know that my hubbie's sermons are great!

Look for Jim and you'll find his messages.

I Find It Interesting

I find it interesting, in Isaiah, that in the chapter where God promises his son to the people, is also a chapter where we read a lot about how angry God is with his chosen people. How they repeatedly turned from him, how when he corrected them, they still turned from his. and his anger burned against them.

Read Isaiah 9. See it for yourself.

Here is God's promise to his people:

2The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
3You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.

Right after God gives Isaiah this promise to tell the people we read words like this:

8The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10"The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place."
11But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

Do you see how angry God is?
Isaiah continues:

13The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
14So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day--
15the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

God repeatedly corrected the people for the error of their ways. And instead of turning like children to their father, they continued in their folly.

BUT if we go back to verses 2-7 we read words like "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" and "you have increased its joy;they rejoice before you" and "the rod of the oppressor you have broken" and for what reason has God done this?

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is givenand the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore

WHY did God do this? "The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

So I wondered.. what does the zeal of the Lord of hosts mean?

From this dictionary I learned that zeal is "excessive fervor to do something or accomplish some end". God was fervent in his desire to accomplish this.

Can you imagine it? God so much wanted to give his people who were walking in darkness a light. He wanted to give them hope at reconciliation with him. This Stubborn, stiff-necked people. God was so fervent, so zealous for them, that he gave them his son. He sent his son for these people. Just kinda blows my mind.

It makes me more clearly see what God did for us.
It makes me see more clearly, the level of eagerness that God wants to see from me as I serve him. For he does say, do as I do (that is a very rough paraphrase) but we are his children and we are to live as he tells us, as he shows us to. And this level of zealousness I often see missing in my life. It is a thing to repent of, and a thing to aspire to. God doesn't want any half-hearted Christians. He wants people of zealousness.

Contest Entry

This is my entry to win a camera in the "Capture the Educational Moment" Contest sponsored by Spunky and Academic Superstore.

I'm required to list that...So thought I'd put it right up there at the top! :)

Hmmm.. an educational moment. Seeing as my son is only 14 months old, we have all types of educational moments. One of my current joys in teaching him, is helping him read all the different books and papers he likes to bring me. His current favourite books are Jane Goodall animal books. He just LOVES them. His most favourite of these six little green books is the one on Gnus. I now know more about Gnus than I wanted too! He loves it when they go swimming. I am hoping to build a love for books in this active little boy. Time will tell!

Update on Feeding our Dogs

As you know, our dogs are being fed a B.A.R.F. diet.

It's going well.

Riley, our senior dog, has the most trouble adapting to this diet. We learned with him, that he needs his food frozen so that he would scarf it down without chewing! We learned that he needs beer in order to keep his tummy working well. Three times a week he gets 1/3 to 1/4 can of beer.

Sassy likes her food in small pieces. She is VERY particular about her food. She learned that fruit is once again something to be enjoyed! Now if only I can keep her OUT of the raspberry bushes!

They get fed twice a day. Between 8-10 a.m. and between 630-830 p.m.

Morning meal: Riley gets 1/3 cup heaping of organ meats. Sassy gets 1/3 cup even of organ meats. Twice a week they each get a half cup. With this they get a 1/2 cup of schlump.

Schlump is a ground up mix of all types of veggies: carrots with their tops, turnips, lettuce, swiss chard, tomato (sparingly), cucumber, zucchini, bell pepper, beets or whatever I have on hand. Generally speaking 1/2 is leafy veggie, and the rest a mix of whatever I have. More above ground veggie than below. I also throw in 1-2 apples (depending on size) or a banana. SOMETIMES they are lucky (at least in Sassy's mind) because I'll give them cut up melon. I also put in all the egg shells from the week and have recently started adding some oil as I think they need something just a bit more, I'm hoping to add cod liver oil for the winter months (just need to find in bulk).

To this morning mix they also get all of Justin's leftovers from the day before. Yum Yum!

At night they get raw meat. As mentioned earlier...Riley's comes frozen. 8-10 oz. Sassy's is nicely in smallish chunks 10-12 oz.

They are both at a good weight. Sassy could stand to loose another couple of pounds. Riley shouldn't lose any more SO... twice a week Riley gets Sassy's portion and vice versa.

They have both nicely blown out their coats. They look shinier and nicer than ever!

We took canned fish out of their diets as they both consistently had diarrhea with it. And I figured I did NOT want to deal with that (and figured they didn't want to either).

What the dogs don't like is
1. empty food bowls! Riley grew up ALWAYS having food available, now it's not.
2. Sundays. They only get one meal. At night. And it's just a larger portion of their morning meal with yogurt and oatmeal added. All they get in the morning is ONE LOUSY dog cookie!
3. they have to SIT before I feed them, and
4. they are tied up to eat. Sassy doesn't mind, Riley hates it since he eats faster and likes to steal Sassy's food.

So what do I like about this diet?
1. Dogs are healthier
2. Sassy LIKES to eat now.
3. Easy to adjust if dog is a bit over or under weight or going to work hard (i.e. Sassy at a trial gets more the night before/morning of)
4. Costs about the same as feeding mid-range kibble
5. Riley occasionally plays again
6. Easy to vary what goes into diet to avoid allergy issues.

What don't I like?
1. more labour intensive with meal prep, clean up etc.
2. harder to travel with
3. hubbie dislikes feeding it himself, BUT likes that they are on it.

So that's our update on our dogs and their new eating patterns.

I'm feeling bothered....

Okay, So I've let this sit for a few days. And since it still bothers me, and since my hubbie says that I should say something about it, I'm going to say something about it.

There was a blog were a lady posted a "how do you think we can help this person". She listed the letter that she had received.
That entry can be found here. I've copied the bulk of the letter here to make it easier to follow.

It's all great and lovely when both dh and dw are moved by God to be on the same page as far as letting Him plan their family goes...but what about when dw wants more children and dh says, "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"??? I was lucky to get my four out of him, but it really wasn't God that got him there, it was me and my tantrums......Dh has ... reasons for the "why not", but basically it ... selfishness.

Why, oh why does God bring one person to this conviction and not their spouse? ...... And I now I am 44 and dh is almost 50...it won't be much longer until I CAN"T have anymore children. ......I feel like what a waste...I wonder who we are "missing"....it has caused great strife between dh and I...

I posted my response. They are moderated so I had to wait to see if I would be approved or not.

Her response to me was

I won't be publishing your comment.

When one of my readers confesses publicly to being less than perfect - which she clearly knew was wrong and felt ashamed of - she doesn't need some holier-than-thou drive-by sniper to shoot her when she's down.

If you can't respect the tone of my blog, then don't waste your time commenting here. My readers can feel safe confessing that they are less-than-perfect and asking for prayer and advice from others in becoming better people. I would never abuse that trust.

My response back to her was:

Thank you for letting me know why you won't publish my comment.

I guess we have a different opinion on what is "holier than thou".

Was it the fact that I got too direct about the need to respect her husband and be glad for what she had?

I'm not trying to be rude or pushy, I honestly don't understand your response to my comment.

I wasn't trying to "be holier than thou". I wasn't sniping.

I was trying hard to uphold the word of God which this lady obviously finds important. She doesn't understand why she has this desire, and feels that it is of God and doesn't understand why her hubbie wouldn't be on board with that. I honestly thought that a shift in her thinking as a Christian woman was important. I was hoping to show her that there's a bigger picture that she needs to be concerned about. Not the "selfishness" of her husband, not her desire for more children, but a larger picture that she could be proud to be a part of. Imagine it, be able, by your actions and attitude being able to show the world the picture of Christ and his relationship to the church? What could be better than that?

Another commenter said the same thing.....probably more eloquently than I did.... but she did say..."respect your husband". I'm not sure what the difference is between the comments I made and the similar comments by colicmommy.

So if you can further explain where you had disagreements with my comments or why you think my attitude was incorrect it would be good to hear. I don't know. I would like to know so that I can learn how to better express myself and still uphold God's word clearly.

Thank you for your time.

Her response to me can be found here.
Her response is as follows:

A couple days ago someone posted a comment that I did not publish. When I wrote to her explaining why, she wrote back asking for more clarification. I sensed complete sincerity in her request. And because in the beginning I too was often too harsh in my approach - and because I do know how to critique writing - I wrote a specific reply.

In case there are others who might benefit from what I wrote, I'm posting it here. The bold italicized text is the commenter's. My commentary comes before and after.

Dear _____ -

Thanks for writing back.

I know I have an advantage in having worked on my writing for many years. Although at first I tended to run pretty roughshod over people - in the interest of truth - I quickly learned that in order to reach those in need, I had to choose my words with care.

Especially when someone has already confessed a sin publicly and reached out for help, you want to be careful not to hurt her. She's made herself vulnerable. The best people to reach someone then are those who can admit to the same sin and talk about how they have dealt/ still deal with it.

The least effective person is someone who's always been "perfect" in that area. However, that person may feel led to contribute some wisdom. In that case, she needs to continue to be led in how she makes that contribution.

Your start was pretty rough:

My first thoughts when I read this....is where is this woman's love and submission and respect for her husband?

She tantrumed him into having four children. That's not a respectful way to approach things. It's not a loving submissive way to listen and respect his headship of the family. What I hear is >>> I WANT MY OWN WAY!!! And HE"S SELFISH and WON"T DO WHAT I WANT.

I know it's only a few lines in a letter, but I really struggle with the fact that many women say.. "but I know this is what God wants for me so why does my husband not listen to what I'm saying?" It ends up sounding like, me me me.

All of this sounds very accusatory. I picture a person lying bleeding on the ground and begging for help and someone coming up and kicking her. The normal person would respond by curling up in a ball to withstand the blows. How could she ever hear the wisdom that you share next:

God's primary object for us is that we bring glory to him. He has set out a fine model for us to follow. Men show God's relationship with church, women are to show the church's relationship to God. That's biblical...read corinthians, ephesians and so forth.

Your husband has made it clear that he doesn't want any more children. BECAUSE he loves you, he has graciously given you four lovely children. And now he says... this family is complete. Please honour him for the love he has shown you. Respect him, raise those children to love and honour God and you're doing what you need to do.

As another reader stated....you can always pray about it. But you still need to respect him for his decisions.

It's almost as if these two parts were written by two different people. In the second part I see God's leading; in the first I see the Pharisee. Not that I'm calling you a Pharisee - I'm using that as a metaphor that we both understand for an attitude of the heart that Christians need to avoid.

There's an old cliche: No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

I'm going to post this at my blog without your name, just as a little writing help and reminder to each of us - myself included.

Now what bothers is not that we have a difference in opinion. That's allowed. I have no problem with people seeing things differently than I do. For instance, I did not see this woman in the original letter as saying she was sorry for her actions or attitudes. But more that...I want my kids, my husband doesn't want any for selfish reasons, how can I get him to change his mind before I'm too old to have children. Granted, Barbara may not have posted the entire letter, and there may be things in it that I am not privy to. All I could do is respond to what was presented.

What I do have a problem with is... the two-facedness I see. I have no problem being corrected, if the person doing the correcting is someone that I can respect. I have a hard time respecting someone who accuses me of of sniping, of being holier than thou, of being mean... of being a person who kicks a man when he's down, WHEN that person in private does to me what they are accusing me of doing. And then very publically acts like she's doing me this huge favour. I was accused (very politely and publically) of being perfect in this area. Of being a bit of a Pharisee. Of being a person who beats a person when they are down and doesn't know how to show any love. Oh my.... how little she knows! :)

Now granted, I am sensitive to comments about not being nice in what say verbally or via writing. I tend to be rather blunt and straight-forward. I've been shocked at people's responses to what I thought were straight-forward observations. So I have learned over the years to temper my comments just a bit. :) And I know that I have more learning to do...but in a lot of ways, I'd rather be a bit blunt and have people know the truth, than to tip toe around and not have them really know what God thinks about things.

I don't know readers...maybe I did mess up somewhere. But somehow I keep going over it and think.... I still don't really get it. And since my hubbie doesn't really get it either, I thought I'd see what you all think.

Thanks in advance for any comments you might make.

Sola Scriptura Conference

Okay there's this conference on in September.

Tim Challies has mentioned it. Jim has mentioned it as well. Note: we're doing a blogger get together for lunch or something. Carla is helping us get some things organized. SO... if you are a blogger and going to this conference it would be really cool to meet you. And if you are, head on over to Carla's and hopefully we can get together and do something...wouldn't that be fun?

Do we mourn?

Do I mourn over the unrepented sins of others?

Do you mourn over the unrepented sins of others?

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12 wonders if, when he again meets with the Corinthians, if he will need to mourn over the unrepented sins of the people.

Read these words

For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish--that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

I have to admit, when people sin, I often think nothing of it.
Now, if it's a sin they've mentioned wanting to change, and then they don't. AND they act wilful in it. I will often, get frustrated with them, wonder what's going on, will sometimes confront them, but mourn? That is something I generally don't do.

I read these words and I feel convicted that what I've been doing is wrong.

That I need to
1. repent of such a generally uncaring for their souls attitude
2. change what I do.

We do need to care about the souls of our fellow believers. if they sin, and don't repent of it, we should mourn...their very lives are at stake! I know it might not seem like it as they keep living and moving and breathing. And for the most part, life seems to continue as is. But think about for a bit, do you really want them to become so stuck in their sin that they no longer care about God? Do you want them to risk not being with God forever?

I don't.

God calls us all to repentance. If we don't, then what are we saying? That our sin is more important than he is? That what I want and what I do is more important to God? If our fellow believers do this, what are they saying?

Yes, we should mourn. We need to mourn if people don't see God for who he is. We need to deeply care about the state of their souls. Eternity is waiting.

Taxes

How many of us like paying our taxes?
Do we "rejoice" in the ability to do so?
I think not for the most part. We'd prefer to keep our own money and do with it what we want. We want our money to go for things that we deem important...whether that for personal gain, or for "pet projects" or for tithing and so forth.

I was reading in 2 Chronicles 24 this morning and read these words.

4After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly." But the Levites did not act quickly. 6So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?" 7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.
8So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. 9And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.

The king issued a tax. This tax was one that Moses had instituted in the wilderness. And you do read what it says in verse 10? "the princes and all the people REJOICED!" Not only did they rejoice but they brought in their tax until they were finished.

Everyone took part.
Everyone was joyful about it.
If we read further in the chapter we read that the chest that they filled had to be emptied over and over and over again.

The tax collected was used for ONE purpose only.

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. 13So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.

God's house was restored. WooHoo!

Quite frankly. If the government came to me and said...your taxes are going to used to build up the word of God. I don't know about you, but frankly I'd be a little suspicious. BUT if they proved themselves true to their word, I would HAPPILY pay them my taxes.

I don't like paying my taxes to support abortion on demand, gay and lesbian lobbies, whiners who can't care for their own special interest groups and so forth. I have no problem having my tax dollars go to support the military or definitely needed medical services (abortion and sex changes are medically needed and are just a drain on society as well as sinful). I have no problem paying taxes to help the government run, as long as it is run in a decent manner (it currently needs some revamping I think). I have no interest in paying for special interest groups. Build your own museum, research your own critters, and so forth.

BUT...ah if the government wanted money to truly do the things of God.... like the Israelites, I would JOYFULLY give them my cheque! I would. Won't it be so cool to support a government doing things like that?

Hmmmm...gives me something to pray for. :)

Recently Read Books

"Life of Pi," by Yann Martel

This book was interesting to read. I"m part of a book club at the local library. Not that I've ever been able to attend a meeting yet, but I'm at least a reading member. This book had some funny lines, some very questionable theology, and I left wondering if Pi made up the whole story, OR if things really happened as people at the end of the book. Not entirely sure. Here's a review of it that I found on-line. It's not a bad read. Check it out.


Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey.

This overview sums up this book fairly well

Overview:
Kit Pitman is fourteen and lives in a ramshackle cottage on the outer banks of Newfoundland, where isolation is all she knows. The only visitors are fogbound fishermen and an occasional young man brought ashore to keep the bloodlines clean. But Kit's isolation is compounded by the mystery that surrounds her family and her illegitimate birth. Her mother, Josie, is mentally retarded and often runs wild among the clapboard houses that dot the shore. Meanwhile, her grandmother Lizzie staunchly guards them both from the disapproving glances pious townsfolk cast their way. But when Lizzie dies suddenly, Kit and her childlike mother are left vulnerable to life's harsh realities and to unexpected dangers that repeatedly threaten to break them apart.

It's not the type of book that I normally read. I found it fascinating to follow Kit's growth as she matured. She found a "peace" of sorts by the end of the book. Unfortunately, it wasn't a peace found in God, in fact, religion was seen in a fairly negative light in this book. But somehow her story was fascinating.


Outgrowing the Ingrown Church by C. John Miller
Now this book is a GOOD book. Talks about how people (primarily pastors) can change what they are doing, and what their focus is, and influence their congregations for the glory of God. How pastors can put the gospel message into everything they do.

I'll write more on this book at another time, in a separate post as it deserves to be properly chatted about. :) In the meantime, here's one review and another review and one last one here.

This made me smile...

I was reading in 2 Corinthians today. And Paul's opening words made me smile.

Paul opens chapter 10 with these words

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!--

Isn't it just SO true? It is just SO easy to be bold with people when we are not face to face with them. And when we are with them, face to face, we are often more meek and more gentle. Have you ever seen that with yourself? Have you seen it in the blogging community? People say and write things in a bolder tone of voice when they are not dealing with individuals directly.

I know for myself I can be like that. I have friends that drive me to distraction sometimes and I just want to shake OR yell at them to smarten up because what they are doing is WRONG!!!!! But when I am with them, I don't do that. What I do is strive to have good conversation, and gently offer some insight into what is bothering me about what they are doing...or at times I don't even do that!

Shame on me I think at times.

But Paul had the same thing. He was easier bold when distance between him was greater. But when he was with people, the meekness and gentleness of Christ were more evident in his life.

I have to admit that there are lots of times when I wish I were more naturally a gentle person, or ... let me say that more accurately. I wish that I didn't have to work so hard at conveying the gentleness I feel through my words.

BUT when things aren't right, does that gentleness show itself easily? NOT!!! It's like ARGH!!!!!

When I worked at Christian Horizons there was a mennonite lady who worked there as well. Glo had this natural way of softly expressing herself. There were OODLES of times when I thought to myself...why can't I talk like that? She conveys the correction thought and biblical understanding, but says it in a nice way. AH!!!! would be my cry of frustration.

Now...I have learned some! yes,...me... bold sometimes speaks to fast me.. I have learned some.

I have learned when typing stuff....to reword things occassionally. I have learned to when talking to sometimes say...let me back track and explain what I meant when I said that. AND to say...I do care. This is what my heart feels. This is what the bible says.

So I don't know exactly if this is what Paul was talking about...but it's where it took my mind.

I do want to be more like Paul...showing the meekness and gentleness of Christ when I am talking face to face with people. I do want them to see that as believers we are not waging a physical battle, we are waging a spiritual one and showing Christ is how we best do that.

I know, I probably didn't word that the best....but ...oh just read 2 Corinthians 10, maybe you'll see it better there.

From our previous camping trip

Just trying this out.
I remember how much fun Justin had playing with Sassy's dog food dish.

He would find toys and other such stuff from the campsite. Put it into Sassy's bowl and then ... well, this video will speak for itself.

Vacation Report

Ah vacation..... we had a lovely week. :)

We camped at Glen Rouge park in Toronto. It is literally right between Scarborough and Pickering (at least I think I have that right). Situated in a valley. There is NO street noise. Across the river is a lovely path to walk. Sites aren't real private but it appeared the most people did what we did....used it as a place to park the trailer and do day-tripping in Toronto. EXCELLENT location for doing such a vacation.

Monday: we arrived around 4 pm. We got settled in. Did some reading once Justin was asleep.

Tuesday: a trip to the zoo. We were tempted to bike to the zoo, but thought...what do we do for a stroller? Didn't stop to think that perhaps we could have rented one at the zoo, ah well, lessoned learned for next time. Parking was $8 so not that unreasonable.

Boy...is seeing the zoo different when you have a little boy with you. We listened to drum players. They taught us different rhythms for drumming and then did some "dance" instruction. It was actually kinda fun, but got too noisy for me after a while so we left a bit early.

Justin LOVED the seals. Watching them swim under water caused his eyes to go big and he banged on the windows. Not long and not hard, just a bit. He was amazed everytime they came past. Jim captured it on the camera video....If I can figured out how to add it to the blog, I'll do that. Jim figured out how to do it! Go here.

Justin also loved the water park. It's a series of splash pads with different animals and palm trees that spray water out. He would stand and watch the other children play and then would find stuff to "clean up". The other children were quite considerate of him too which was fun to see, you don't always see that at splash pads. Even when he was shivering from cold he didn't want to leave. It was funny, in the change room he kept escaping from me and trying to run outside to the water again. :)

I enjoyed seeing the chimps with their new baby. And also the huge tank of cichlids...I just find it so beautiful all those fish...the size of that aquarium just amazes me. I also liked the praire dog displayed. We initially only saw one doggie and then it barked and suddenly there were three other doggies to be seen, watching us all VERY closely.

Jim had a butterfly on his finger. It was so neat! He took lots of pictures of various animals. I'm not sure which display he liked the best, but he did enjoy the polar bears.

Wednesday: Hung around the campsite in the morning and early afternoon. Did some reading while Justin napped. Slipped up to Whitby to see if friends were home, they weren't so left a message. Then out to Tiger Direct to see if Jim could return an item and save himself the shipping charges...he couldn't so we did the post office thing.

Thursday: In the morning we did some reading while Justin napped. We attended the CNE in the afternoon and early evening. We had advance tickets which was really nice to have. Saved us $4 each on admission. Parking was $10 so not too bad either. It was fun.

Justin enjoyed the farm exhibits. He had a blast running back and forth along the turkey pens, saying "ah" to the calves and cows, and just being there. :) He also had a lot of fun at the petting zoo. He had no fear of any of the animals and went right up to them. The sheep were cool BUT the goats were better in his mind....they had faces he could grab and look at! He watched the other children feeding the animals. It was funny...he couldn't figure out what they were feeding the animals so he picked up sawdust and offered that. When I did get him some feed he thought he should eat it himself! I nixed that notion.

He played a game (had to pick up a circling duck) and got a whale! He played that one because the first one we tried....the dino got stolen from us. That was a real bummer.

The vendor area was huge! It was organized into countries. Some of the booths were quite interesting. Egyptian candy tastes neat....never would have thought about putting chick peas into a candy treat but it works well!

I liked the horiticultural display. Some of those plants I just wanted to take home with me they were so interesting. Like this aloe vera plant that just looked like a prickly cactus type, small leaves growing on a larger stem...not this long leafed succulent that most people have. I was unable to locate a picture of it, but it was neat. Jim's response to it was...I could have this in our house!

Friday: In the morning did some reading while Justin napped. We visited Don and Deb to do our laundry which we were running out of clean dry clothes for Justin. They sweetly took us out for a quick lunch. We had a nice visit. We visited a scrapbooking store... LARGEST one I had ever been in. I picked up a couple of items.

Saturday: We had supper with Mark and Jen and their family. It had been four years since I last saw these fine folks. It was a lot of fun visiting them. Their daugther is moving to London this week to go to U of Western Ontario so that will be fun. I hope to have her up to supper once or twice during the school year.

Sunday: We went to church in Whitby. Lunched with Don and Deb. Went back to the campsite and ended up (since it was raining) going to a local mall to keep dry.

Monday: We packed up and left Toronto. On the way home we met up with "someone" (that's his handle on line) who gave Jim a catalytic converter for the Sunrunner....Jim now has to replace it! We dined at Applebees. We arrived home to find the dogs! Jim's mom surprised us by bringing the dogs home for us. Saved us a trip to London for them. Made us laugh though... Mom's car is fairly new yet and the dogs have been BANNED from her car. So I asked how she got them home.... "I put every blanket I had in the car and covered things up really well and then I washed the blankets when I got home."

Funny mom....but she was a complete dear to care for the dogs for us.

In summation: It was great week away. Lots of discussion as Jim read a book that touched his heart. I read it as well, but I'll discuss it more another time.