For old times' sake

I received an email from google that this blog is languishing. :-)

 I decided to log on, take a look around, stroll down memory lane, and now here I am - typing a few words to see what it feels like.
 I think it really would be good for me to write more longform articles than I'm prone to do on FB or Instagram, but it definitely takes more effort...and time. Time seems to be "of the essence" these days. :-)

 Well...this was fun. :-)

Piano Virtuoso!

Her Aunt Wendi should be proud of the intense interest she's taking in the piano! I can see great things in her future. :-)

2 month hiatus

In some ways it seems longer than that. Facebook has filled my desire to "share" things worth sharing. I don't necessarily like that though. I don't take the time to flesh out my thoughts on topics the way I used to here. But, then again, I haven't really wrote an "opinion" piece in quite some time - even on here. The last time I shared my personal thoughts was August 10th, 2010.

Lately a lot of my "learning experience" have centered around Bridget, and watching her interact with a world that is full of new and different. The concept of our depravity is starkly apparent in a developing child. She wants what she wants when she wants it, and if she doesn't get it soon enough she will continue to make things difficult as she expresses her displeasure.

My first reaction is "where does this come from?", but I know where it comes from. Ephesians 2:3 says "among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Already, at 6+ months old, she is expressing her desire to control her world - to be master of her reality - to dictate as she sees best. And do you know why it's so hard to be patient, loving, and graceful towards her? Because my heart is bent the same way. When she wants fed NOW, my heart can get frustrated, because I want to read my magazine now. When she needs to go home and go bed, I can get frustrated because I was in the middle of a good conversation with friends. When she wants attention, I can get frustrated because I just want to eat my supper and talk to my wife about the day.

I get frustrated and annoyed because she is imposing on my will. She is dictating to me how things should go, and as her father, I have a responsibility to bend to her needs. I have a responsibility to put her first. My flesh rebels against that. I want to be sovereign in my kingdom. I want to say what we'll do and when we'll do it. My flesh is selfish and self-fulfilling.

The beautiful thing about it all is that God, in His mercy and grace, is using Bridget to show me my heart. He's using Bridget to mold and shape my thoughts and my desires. He's using Bridget to bring me to my knees before Him in a new recognition that I can't be who He calls me to be. Similar to how Bridget doesn't have the capacity as a 6 month old to be what we ask of her. Physically she could do it, but morally she doesn't have the capacity to be selfless, patient, and kind. Physically I have the capability to always respond in a Christ-like manner. I have the physically ability to be thankful for all things. I have the physical ability to show love in response to hurt. Yet I oftentimes don't respond as I should.

I need Jesus. I will never not need Jesus. I'm thankful that He is faithful to keep bringing circumstances into my life which drive me back to the cross and to the truth that my sin is taken care of. It's finished. It's covered. I'm covered. Christ has imputed His righteousness to my account. I can boldly approach the throne of Grace.

I'm so thankful that the Father of Lights saw fit to breathe this little light into my life. As He calls me to be His tool in shaping Bridget's soul, He is in turn, using Bridget to shape me more into the likeness of Christ. For that I rejoice.

Is it easy? No.

Is it always fun? No.

Is it beautiful? It doesn't always feel like it when you're in the moment, but yet it is beautiful. It's beautiful in the ways that it perfectly illustrates different aspects of the character of God. Like a cut and polished diamond as you turn it over in the light and the different points of light sparkle and shine off the different facets of the stone. God's character is perfectly displayed by His sovereign balance of justice and mercy - grace and wrath.

I'm thankful for the tools that God has used in my life to help shape and mold me.

I'm thankful that I can be confident that He will continue His work in spite of me.

May we all do well to dwell more on the sovereignty of our Master as we encounter life in all it's ups, downs, and sideways. Let's remember that He is on the stage for His glory.

Killing my Sin

The following Blog Post from Desiring God is a powerful way to think about sanctification in the life of a believer.When it comes to killing my sin I don’t wait for the miracle, I act the miracle.

Acting a miracle is different from working a miracle. If Jesus tells a paralyzed man to get up, and he gets up, Jesus works a miracle. But if I am the paralyzed man and Jesus tells me to get up, and I obey and get up, I act the miracle. If I am dead Lazarus and Jesus commands me to get up, and I obey, Jesus works the miracle, I act the miracle.

So when it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle.

Read the rest of the article here

Challenging Changes

I wrote the following email this morning to family and friends. Since I know I don't have everyone's email that I would like to send it to, I decided to post it here.Good morning all,

It is with a prayerful heart that I type out this email. Heidi & I are sending you this email because you have a special place in our heart. You've all been a part of our life's journey and we're so thankful for that.

Over the last couple of years God has taken us through some rugged terrain. He's had us on mountain tops and He's taken us through dark valleys. Through it all He has been faithful. Romans 8:28-29 have been rock verses for us through it all. (And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.) We're so thankful that we can trust God's promise to work ALL things in our lives to mold us into the "image of His Son". Heidi & I have surely felt that work in our lives. Our prayer is that you have been aware of that work also.

It is with much emotion that we are taking this next step in our lives. After years of prayers, counsel, and seeking the principles of the Word, Heidi & I feel that we must move in faith regarding our church membership. Tonight (2-16-11) Ron Messner will remove our membership from the Apostolic church. We are currently planning on becoming members of Bethany Community Church in Washington IL. We know this decision will be difficult to accept for some of you. We have been praying hard for our family and friends that the Spirit will work in you all to trust Him and His work in our lives. Our reasons for this move in our lives are not easy to summarize as they've been developed over a long period of time and involve many different circumstances, teachings, joys, hardships, and lessons. Our heart is not to pursue ease, comfort, or self, but rather to passionately pursue a deepening relationship with Christ through His Spirit and through His revealed and Holy Scriptures.

We know our decision will bring pain to some of you that receive this email. We pray that, as we've seen God do in the past, He will use our pain to draw us closer to His father heart and teach us how to be more like our Savior. Heidi & I have a heart for our relationship with each one of you who receive this letter. It's our sincere prayer that God would continue to knit us together in Love even if we disagree on some things.

Heidi & I are open to discussion and sharing where we're at with anyone who has a heart towards that. We are willing to communicate as much or as little as you are each comfortable with.

Again, we want each of you to know we love you and are thankful for how God has used you in our lives to grow, shape, encourage, and challenge us.

Love in Christ,
Luke & Heidi

P.S. I'm sorry for those of you who may have gotten this twice. And I know I didn't have everyone's email that I would've liked to have sent it to. Please feel free to share this with our mutual family & friends.

The Entabulator!

It's not cheap, but once you understand what it does, you'll definitely want one!!

For those of you on Facebook, you'll probably have to go to my blog to see the video. It's worth it. :-) Especially for you engineering types.
Some years back, Rockwell International decided to get into the heavy
duty automatic transmission business and they were getting ready to tape
their first introductory video. As a warm up, the stage crew began what
has become a legend within the training industry.

This man should have won an academy award for his stellar performance.
Now remember and keep in mind, this guy is strictly speaking off the
cuff and nothing is written down. Nothing he says is true, even if you
could understand it. He had NO script! This was a rehearsal for camera,
lighting and stage crew. It's all total meaningless drivel made up as he
goes along.

Parenting

Can there be joy in realizing that I am powerless to complete a task? What if it's a task I desperately want completed?

In this blog post Paul Tripp explains how and why he finds joy in the impossibility of parenting.It was eleven o’clock on a Sunday night, and I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot exhausted and overwhelmed. After we had put our four children to bed, later than we had planned, Luella discovered that we had nothing in the house to pack for lunches the next day. With an attitude that couldn’t be described as joy, I got in the car and did the late-night food run. As I waited for the light to change so I could leave the parking lot and drive home, it all hit me. It seemed like I had been given an impossible job to do; I had been chosen to be the dad of four children.
Continue...

Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:20 - Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us...

That's a pretty incredible and humbling thought - God is appealing to the world through His people.

An ambassador is…

• Ready. An Ambassador is alert for chances to represent Christ and will not back away from a challenge or an opportunity.


• Patient. An Ambassador won’t quarrel, but will listen in order to understand, then with gentleness will seek to respectfully engage those who disagree.


• Reasonable. An Ambassador has informed convictions (not just feelings), gives reasons, asks questions, aggressively seeks answers, and will not be stumped by the same challenge twice.


• Tactical. An Ambassador adapts to each unique person and situation, maneuvering with wisdom to challenge bad thinking, presenting the truth in an understandable and compelling way.


• Clear. An Ambassador is careful with language and will not rely on Christian lingo or gain unfair advantage by resorting to empty rhetoric.


• Fair. An Ambassador is sympathetic and understanding towards others and will acknowledge the merits of contrary views.


• Honest. An Ambassador is careful with the facts and will not misrepresent another’s view, overstate his own case, or understate the demands of the Gospel.


• Humble. An Ambassador is provisional in his claims, knowing that his understanding of truth is fallible. He will not press a point beyond what his evidence allows.


• Attractive. An Ambassador will act with grace, kindness, and good manners. He will not dishonor Christ in his conduct.


• Dependent. An Ambassador knows that effectiveness requires joining his best efforts with God’s power.

Source

Power in Truth

I read a great article this morning titled "How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause".

I provided the link at the bottom, but before I give you the link, I want to share a few excerpts that I found exceptionally compelling. I hope they will inspire you to listen and read the entire sermon.

• The great tragedy is not mainly masturbation or fornication or acting like a peeping Tom (or curious Cathy) on the internet. The tragedy is that Satan uses the guilt of these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had, or might have, and in its place give you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures until you die in your lakeside rocking chair, wrinkled and useless, leaving a big fat inheritance to your middle-aged children to confirm them in their worldliness. That’s the main tragedy.


• Have you ever wondered what the next verse in Colossians 2:15 means? Right after saying that God nailed the record of our debt to the cross, Paul says, “[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” This is a reference to the devil and all his demonic hosts. How are they disarmed? How are they defeated? Don’t they prowl around like a roaring lion today (1 Peter 5:8)?
  
  The answer is: They have many weapons. They can do much damage. But they are disarmed of the one weapon that can damn us. The weapon of unforgiven sin. Be sure you see the connection between Colossians 2:14 and 15. In 2:14, it says God nailed the record of our debt to the cross. It’s punished. It’s finished. And in the next breath he says that God disarmed the rulers and authorities. He triumphed over them. Sure, they can beat us up. They can make us see weird things on the walls of our rooms. They can shake your house and cause lying signs and wonders. They accuse you and call you a loser, but they cannot damn you. That weapon is out of their hands. Only unforgiven sin damns. And that was nailed to the cross for everyone of you who despairs of saving yourself and trusts in Jesus.


• Justification is the act by which God declares us not only forgiven because of the work of Christ, but also righteous because of the work of Christ. God requires two things for our right standing before him: 1) our sins must be punished and 2) our lives must be righteous. But we cannot bear our own punishment (Psalm 49:7-8), and we cannot provide our own righteousness. None is righteous; no, not one (Romans 3:10).
  
  Therefore, God, out of his immeasurable love for us, provided his own Son to do both. Christ bears our punishment and performs our righteousness. And when we receive Christ as the Savior and Lord and Treasure of our lives, all of his punishment and all of his righteousness is counted as ours (Romans 4:4-6; 5:19; 5:1; 8:1; 10:4; Philippians 3:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

I hope those short excerpts inspired you to go read the rest of the sermon (or listen to it). Plus, the article has hot-links to all the scripture. It's powerful stuff, and it applies to much more than just sexual failure. It applies to any and all sin in our lives.

May God be glorified in and through His people.

Excellent TED talk on "How Great Leaders Inspire Action"

I thought this was a great first post of 2011. I'd love to hear my readers thoughts on this guys speech.


For those of you on Facebook who can't see the video, here's the link to my blogpost.

Sorry

I'm kind of sad that this blog is languishing. There have been more than a few times in the past month and a half where I wished I had something to say - something to share, but I've been surprisingly short on ideas lately.

Maybe this is fatherhood.

Maybe this is lack of sleep.

Maybe those two are related somehow.

Yeah, probably.

Here's a picture of my peanut. :-) I'm not going to lie...she's pretty darn sweet. And yes, her eyes are huge.

















Another entity I can blame for my lack of posting recently is Facebook. I've found that it's much easier to share an interesting blog post I read or a video I find on Facebook than it is to craft a blog post around it. Plus it reaches a few more people. (especially now that most people have probably quit reading this regularly)

Here are a few links I've shared on Facebook lately, for those of you who aren't my Facebook "friends".

How to Build Up Bible Knowledge In the Church

A Bitter Harvest (on relationships)

The Shortest Distance Between Points

And last, but certainly not least, Heidi & I are excited about being able to attend a Paul Tripp Parenting Conference hosted by Grace Presbyterian in Peoria. I helped design the Mechanical Systems in their new building too, so it'll be neat to experience it full of people.

Here's a short description of Paul Tripp Ministries.

That's it folks. That's all I got this morning.

Peace & Love

Prayer Answered by Crosses

This poem by John Newton touched me this morning. How true is this? Does this cause you to be more tentative when asking for growth and sanctification? Should it?

Prayer Answered by Crosses
By John Newton

I asked the Lord that I might grow 

In faith and love and every grace, 

Might more of his salvation know, 

And seek more earnestly his face.

‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray; 

And he, I trust, has answered prayer; 

But it has been in such a way 

As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that, in some favoured hour, 

At once he’d answer my request, 

And by his love’s constraining power 

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel 

The hidden evils of my heart, 

And let the angry powers of hell 

Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more, with his own had he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe, 

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, 

Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this? I trembling cried; 

Wilt thou pursue this worm to death? 

This is the way, the Lord replied
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I now employ 

From self and pride to set thee free,
And break they schemes of earthly joy, 

That thou may’st seek thy all in me.

This is powerful truth

This is a powerful message from Paul Tripp entitled "Broken Bones Hymns". I know it's a little longer than the usual "quick read blog post", but it's packed with Biblical insight and powerful truths to mold our thinking.

"I don't understand Election"

Paul Washer very gently and pastorally explains the doctrine of Election to a questioning student.

Do you want enough?

I know I've been doing a lot of "re-posts" lately from other blogs, but I've just been really challenged and encouraged by this stuff. It's great. Someday maybe I'll have some original thoughts again. :-)

This one is from Desiring God again. Here's the link if you just want to read it off of their website.In John 6 a large crowd crosses the Sea of Galilee looking for Jesus. But when they find him, instead of welcoming their “seeking” Jesus says to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. (John 6:26, 27)

A little later on in the chapter, he purposely offends them with his “hard sayings” so that many turn away and no longer follow him. But weren't the crowds coming to the right source of blessing? Didn’t they believe that he could and would heal them and give them bread to eat?

They did, and he certainly had the power to do it, but the problem was that that was all they wanted. They didn’t join the disciples in saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

The Israelites who fell in the wilderness had this same kind of "faith". They believed in God enough to complain to him about their dry tongues, but they lacked a thirst for righteousness.

The sort of faith that pleases God—real faith—is the kind that is created by him through the hearing of the gospel (Ephesians 2:8, 9). It rests in Christ alone and hungers and thirsts for righteousness. It is the kind that, when calamity strikes, results in worship and comfort that our “redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is the “peace that passes understanding.” This sort of faith causes us to cry out for mercy knowing we are sinners in need of the righteousness that only One could purchase for us.

By faith we hunger and thirst and are satisfied (Revelation 21:6). By faith we are comforted that all things, no matter how painful or sweet, will work together for our good, reaping eternal benefits that are so wonderful that they can’t even be compared to our grief (1 Peter 1:6, Romans 8:28). True faith believes that God is good and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

If as Christians we are called to endure difficult trials and yet always receive temporal blessings like health and safety, our peace could not rightly be called the “peace that passes understanding”. It would actually be quite reasonable.

If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are you! (Matthew 5:6)

Trusting in the Sovereign

I read the following article this morning on the Desiring God Blog. I was encouraged. I hope you are too. Author: Paul TrippDo you ever struggle with God's sovereignty? Do you wonder why he has ordained for you to face the things you face? Are you ever tempted to doubt his goodness or question his love? Or do you experience rest of heart even when your relationships are messy and your circumstances are difficult? The following words are about where the rest can be found.

I did it again and again when our children resisted our instruction and correction. I did it again and again when they debated a command or questioned our plans. I did it again and again when they opposed our authority and quested for self-rule. I did it again and again for two good reasons.

To begin with, my wife and I had brought children into this world who thought they didn't need us! Like us, each of them at some point fell into believing they were far more knowledgeable and capable than they really were. Like us, they often assumed that their intentions were noble and their plans were sound. Like us, they tended to think they were capable of determining what was best, even when they lacked important information and experience. Like we often do, they simply felt they were in possession of a better way.

But there was a second reason I did it again and again. Our children were too young to grasp the abstract, strategic, and often theological purposes underlying my instruction. Even if I explained everything in as age-appropriate a way as I could, they would still have no actual understanding. They just did not yet have the categories or the capacity to grasp the parental logic behind the plan or command.

So I did the same thing again and again. I would kneel down in front of them at eye level and say, "Please look at Daddy's face. Do you know how much I love you? Do you know that your Daddy is not a mean, bad man? Do you know that I would never ask you to do anything that would hurt you or make you sick? I am sorry that you can't understand why Daddy is asking you to do this. I wish I could explain it to you, but you are too young to understand. So I am going to ask you to do something—trust Daddy. When you walk down the hallway to do what Daddy has asked you to do, say to yourself, 'My Daddy loves me. My Daddy would never ask me to do something bad. I am going to trust my Daddy and stop trying to be the Daddy of my Daddy.'"

God does the same thing with you, over and over again. He meets you in one of the difficult hallways of your life, kneels down before you in condescending love, and asks you to trust his loving and wise rule, even though you don't have a clue what he is doing.

He knows there are many times when your life doesn't look like there is anyone ruling it, let alone someone wise and good. He knows there will be times when you will wish you could be the author of your own story. He knows that at times you will be overwhelmed by what is on your plate. He knows that his plan will confuse and confound you. And he knows that real rest cannot be found in understanding, because, like my children, there are things, as a limited human being, you simply do not have the capacity to understand.

Real rest is found in trusting the Person who is in control of the things you don't understand.

He is willing to have the conversation with you again and again, and he has made sure that his Word assures you of his rule again and again. (For just a few examples, see 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalm 103:19, Psalm 115:3, Proverbs 21:1, Isaiah 46:9-10, Daniel 4:35, and Ephesians 1:11.)

Encouraging reflections

I was encouraged this morning by the following:A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE.

source

Patience

This is the daily devotional from Grace to You. I thought it was both timely and potent."Love is patient" (1 Cor. 13:4).

We usually think of patience as the ability to wait or endure without complaint--whether it's with people or circumstances. But the Greek word translated "patience" in 1 Corinthians 13:4 refers specifically to patience with people. It literally means "to be long tempered," and speaks of one who could easily retaliate when wronged but chooses not to.

That kind of patience is a spiritual virtue reflective of God Himself (cf. Gal 5:22). It can't be duplicated on a purely human level. But for Christians, it's to be a way of life. Paul said, "I . . . entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love" (Eph. 4:1-2).

God Himself is the supreme example of patience. Peter said, "[He] is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). Those who reject His grace are despising "the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience" (Rom. 2:4).

In the Greco-Roman world of Paul's day, retaliating for a personal insult or injury was considered a virtue. Non- retaliation was interpreted as a sign of weakness. Our society is much the same. Our heroes tend to be those who fight back with physical strength or litigation. But that isn't God's perspective, nor was it Christ's in praying for His killers, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

As you consider your own patience, remember that retaliation isn't always blatant and forceful. It's often subtle--like withholding affection from your spouse when he or she has wronged you, or withdrawing from a friend who has hurt you. But godly love never retaliates. It cares more for the feelings of others than for its own.

Remember the Lord's patience toward you, and allow His Spirit to produce similar patience in you.

Great article on Grace!

Here's an excerpt to entice you to click the link and read the whole thing. :-)Grace is the most transformational word in the Bible. The entire content of the Bible is a narrative of God's grace, a story of undeserved redemption. By the transformational power of his grace, God unilaterally reaches his hands into the muck of this fallen world, through the presence of his Son, and radically transforms his children from what we are (sinners) into what we are becoming by his power (Christ-like). The famous Newton hymn uses the best word possible, maybe the only word big enough, for that grace—amazing.Read the rest here.

Relationships

I've been thinking a lot about relationships lately, specifically in a Christian context. Personal relationships are one of the most difficult, and at the same time, the most rewarding aspects of life.

This post isn't going to be well thought out and cohesive, because my thoughts are not that way right now.

Here are a couple of questions I've been asking myself.

1. Why are we so quick to assume we can correctly gauge others' motives and intents? When in reality we can barely get a firm grasp on our own personal motives and intentions.Jeremiah asks this question in Chapter 17 vs 9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

He then answers his own question in vs 10: "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins..."

I know I need to fall on my face before the Lord and pray as David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked [NASB says hurtful] way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.2. Why does it hurt so bad when people make wrong assumptions about my motivations and intentions?When I'm doing something I feel right doing, and someone criticizes me for it, why do I want to lash out in defense? Why is my natural flesh reaction to immediately assume I know their heart and their motives behind their criticism of me?

Isn't the best way (maybe the only way) to get to know someone's motives and intentions to establish relationship with that person. The deeper the relationship goes, usually, the more clearly we can see their hearts.I'm not sure if this is Biblical here, but I really make an effort to assume people's motives are good until I have strong reason to believe otherwise. It's proven very beneficial in my relationships to remember how diverse our experiences are as Christians. Our Sovereign God has taken all of us down very unique paths. We exist in the body of Christ to share those experiences with each other and to refine each other in the journey.

That process is a painful one sometimes, and sometimes it's a beautiful one.

My call here is for us to recognize that process as it's happening and not neglect to be thankful for it in all it's difficulty and beauty. We are called to Love one another, but let's remember that Love is not exclusively about good feelings. It's about making choices that are for the good of others, not necessarily ourselves. God loves us enough to discipline us, not just hold us when we cry.

Peace & Love