Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Long time, no talk
Camp was great. I met some of the most amazing people ever, and was able to know people from previous summers even more. I miss everyone so much! And it was great getting to see God work and save lives for His glory.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Lesson #1 from Israel
John 14:2-4 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going."
This is an illusion to what happened in Jewish culture of that day. When a young Jewish boy would see the Jewish woman He wanted to marry, he would go tell his dad. And so the parents of the boy would meet with the parents of the girl, work out a deal that would have the two married; then the boy and his father would return home without the bride. The boy would then begin construction on the house for his future family. He would think its ready, go to the dad and say, "Am I ready yet?" His dad would inspect the house, and tell him to fix an edge here, build up the foundation here, make it more level, etc. So then the son would continue to work, not knowing when he would be allowed to go get his bride. Matthew 24:26 "But of that day and hour (reffering to the second coming and the end of things) no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." I have had a lot of friends get married recently and all of them do some sort of crazy countdown until the day they are married. And when you talk to them about it, they get so excited! I can't imagine how excited Christ is to come back and claim His bride, even though He doesn't know when that day is!
But i'm gonna spend a little bit of time on what the scriptures don't directly talk about in this story, the Bride, aka us. What was the Jewish girl doing during the time while she was waiting for her future husband to come get her? My guess is she was going about life like she was before she was bethrowed, going to the well getting water, eating food, drinking water/wine, washing clothes, cleaning the house...going about normal life. 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." So when we go about the routine things of our life we are to bring glory to God. "God is most glorified, we are most satisfied in Him." - John Piper. How often do we find ourselves being completely satisfied in God?
The second thing I want to look at is I think the bride to be was also doing everything she could to look her best and be like the wife she should be. When silver is mined, it is part of a rock, so the rock has to be melted down so that all the impurities can be removed. So the rocks with silver in it are thrown into the fire and heated up to at least 1761 degrees. As the silver is heated up, all the impurities (dross) rise to the surface and the silversmith scrapes the dross off the top of the silver. This process is repeated over and over again until the silver is 100% pure. But how does the silversmith know that it is 100% pure? When he can look down into the silver and see his reflection. That is us in our lives...we are the silver and we are constantly heated up again and again so that we can be made pure. "Consider it all joy, my bretheren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So the trials that we endure are shaping us and causing our dross to rise to the surface so that God can scrape it away and make us more and more like Him.
that is all that i have for right now...on this. much more to come
This is an illusion to what happened in Jewish culture of that day. When a young Jewish boy would see the Jewish woman He wanted to marry, he would go tell his dad. And so the parents of the boy would meet with the parents of the girl, work out a deal that would have the two married; then the boy and his father would return home without the bride. The boy would then begin construction on the house for his future family. He would think its ready, go to the dad and say, "Am I ready yet?" His dad would inspect the house, and tell him to fix an edge here, build up the foundation here, make it more level, etc. So then the son would continue to work, not knowing when he would be allowed to go get his bride. Matthew 24:26 "But of that day and hour (reffering to the second coming and the end of things) no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." I have had a lot of friends get married recently and all of them do some sort of crazy countdown until the day they are married. And when you talk to them about it, they get so excited! I can't imagine how excited Christ is to come back and claim His bride, even though He doesn't know when that day is!
But i'm gonna spend a little bit of time on what the scriptures don't directly talk about in this story, the Bride, aka us. What was the Jewish girl doing during the time while she was waiting for her future husband to come get her? My guess is she was going about life like she was before she was bethrowed, going to the well getting water, eating food, drinking water/wine, washing clothes, cleaning the house...going about normal life. 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." So when we go about the routine things of our life we are to bring glory to God. "God is most glorified, we are most satisfied in Him." - John Piper. How often do we find ourselves being completely satisfied in God?
The second thing I want to look at is I think the bride to be was also doing everything she could to look her best and be like the wife she should be. When silver is mined, it is part of a rock, so the rock has to be melted down so that all the impurities can be removed. So the rocks with silver in it are thrown into the fire and heated up to at least 1761 degrees. As the silver is heated up, all the impurities (dross) rise to the surface and the silversmith scrapes the dross off the top of the silver. This process is repeated over and over again until the silver is 100% pure. But how does the silversmith know that it is 100% pure? When he can look down into the silver and see his reflection. That is us in our lives...we are the silver and we are constantly heated up again and again so that we can be made pure. "Consider it all joy, my bretheren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So the trials that we endure are shaping us and causing our dross to rise to the surface so that God can scrape it away and make us more and more like Him.
that is all that i have for right now...on this. much more to come
Friday, April 4, 2008
Intro
I'm calling this lessons from coffee with Daddy. When I think of people imparting wisdom on me, it is generally over coffee, or when I want to get alone I'll go to a restaurant and want to sit there and read for a while...i usually get a cup of coffee (or i just end up at Starbucks). I also remember times where I would go to my grandparents' place and sit around with them while they drink coffee and reminisce about their youth and tell me stories of things they have learned. There is a fun story behind all this which makes me think of the book of Ecclesiastes. I read this book from that perspective...that I'm a young kid (or 23 year old punk) who is sitting around with the wisest person to ever live, and I'm at my grandparents' place...drinking coffee and listening to an old man tell me the troubled stories of his life.
But why am I calling it coffee with Daddy? Very simple, these are my lessons from my time where I go somewhere, grab some coffee and get alone (well, as alone as you can at a Starbucks or IHOP). But why are they with Daddy? Plain and simple, I have huge holes in my life left by my dad...so in Romans 8:15 when Paul says that because of our receiving "a spirit of adoption as sons we can cry out 'Abba! Father!'" that really means something to me. The Creator of the universe is also my Daddy. How sweet it is. So that is what this is...a little window into my soul that allows you to listen in to some of the conversations between my Daddy and me as He imparts wisdom so I can pass it on to others.
But why am I calling it coffee with Daddy? Very simple, these are my lessons from my time where I go somewhere, grab some coffee and get alone (well, as alone as you can at a Starbucks or IHOP). But why are they with Daddy? Plain and simple, I have huge holes in my life left by my dad...so in Romans 8:15 when Paul says that because of our receiving "a spirit of adoption as sons we can cry out 'Abba! Father!'" that really means something to me. The Creator of the universe is also my Daddy. How sweet it is. So that is what this is...a little window into my soul that allows you to listen in to some of the conversations between my Daddy and me as He imparts wisdom so I can pass it on to others.
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