2 Timothy 4:17-18

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. - 2 Timothy 4:17-18

Delighting & Dying in Different Seasons

Let me explain these three posts that appear almost simultaneously on my blog.

I copied and pasted two posts (one; two) I wrote as notes on facebook from 2009, before I started this blog in April of 2010. They both were written around excerpts from the book Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit. If you read them first, this post will have more context. I want to make a connection between the two and my current season of life.

~ ~ ~

I like the role God has been giving me these past several years at our church. I have been one who is always here in Lancaster. Many of my friends come and go and come back again. I get to support them, praying with them and sending them out, then get to help them connect and settle back into life when they come back. I get to watch it all, and I feel like I'm living in the hub of our church "home" in a sense. I'm delighted to be part of that hub.

This is actually much like my job too. People come in and out of the church office, but Teresa and I are always there. It is very much like my home. The pastors work out of the office too, but it can be more like a base of operations for them (home base in a sense) - for us it is everything, we hardly ever come and go. Because we are so stable, we can have our "ears to the ground" and supply helpful information because we are living life in the middle of the hub.

These two hats I wear - 1) being a young adult who is "always here" and living vicariously through her friends' life adventures, and 2) being a church secretary who is tied to her desk, at times fighting against dullness to keep productive. They quite delight me in how they are connected to something I very much desire in my future: to be a wife and mother. I love the picture that Mark Chanski paints in his book Womanly Dominion of a mom being the hub of the home. It reminds me of my mom and fans the flame of my own ambition to be used by God in the same way some day. But also, in a very currently applicable way, it encourages me in the roles I find myself right now in this season of life.

Just as the first quote from Chanski highlights the delight to be found in this role, the second excerpt highlights how dying to myself is required. As my life revolves around the activities going on in other people's lives, and my own life seems to stand still, I can either be bitter that I am called to die to myself to serve others, or I can be thrilled at the generosity of God to allow me to play a small part of his work in their lives. If bitter in my service, I need to turn to see my Savior laying down his life for me and repent, finding it instead a great joy and honor to proclaim his salvation by following in his footsteps. If thrilled to have a hand in the hub of so many lives, I need to remember in humility that God does not need me, but instead be overflowing with awe and thankfulness that he delights to include me in his great story of salvation being worked out in many lives.

What a joy to make gospel connections with the nitty gritty of life's seasons, roles, and opportunities!

photo: Conestoga House & Gardens, summer 2010

Motherly Greatness

As appears on my facebook:

Motherly Greatness

by Sarah Sensenig on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 10:53pm

I have been really enjoying reading Womanly Dominion [more than a gentle and quiet spirit] by Mark Chanski. I commented to my mom tonight that I think it would be so beneficial for me to read at least one book on biblical womanhood each year or so. If I go too long without a biblical reminder and encouragement for the role of women, the weeds of my heart and culture slowly and surely gain ground without me even knowing, and I start to not only believe lies but act on them. Chanski has been a breath of fresh air, reviving my desire to walk in the role of a godly woman. Practically, I have seen an increase in faith for tackling my everyday tasks at my job, allowed my desire to be a wife and mother be fed and grow in new ways, and increasingly grown much in appreciation for my own mom. I want to share an excerpt from chapter 7 that describes sooo well my mom, and what our family is like because of her. She really is the “soul of our home,” and the “hub” from where all the spokes come and go. Reading Chanski’s description of his wife helped me realize that the fruit that I see God bringing from my family is a direct result of my mom’s full-time commitment to us. It’s almost hysterical how closely he describes our family and mom! I am so grateful for how my mom stayed at home, not only while we were all little and homeschooled, but also throughout our teen years and mixed schooling experiences (home, private, public, cyber, college, you name it!)

During the summer of 2006, we had everybody home for the last time. Twenty-two-year-old Jared was home from architectural school and working for a design firm. Twenty-year-old Calvin was doing an internship with a local brokerage firm and working a second job in the evenings. Eighteen-year-old Austin was working almost full time delivering truck tires. Fourteen-year-old Abigail and twelve-year-old Nathan were busy with swarming summer activities. An ignorant onlooker might have suggested, “Surely there’s no need here for a stay-at-home mother.” Oh so wrong!
These were Dianne’s most demanding hours, as each child was passing through a crucial season of life involving a new girlfriend, or a complicated situation with and old girlfriend, or a vocational selection crisis, or an academic preparation issue, or a health problem like a broken leg and an emergency appendectomy with its related recovery time, or a peculiar spiritual/emotional trial. Dianne would make sure to rise early in the morning in order to be in the kitchen when each one ate breakfast and gathered their things to head out into the world. She’d ask them questions about where they were last night and with whom, and to whom they talked on their cell phones, and what their plans were during the day, all the while taking their spiritual pulses and administering words of wisdom in season.
She’d inform me of the development of each, seeking my counsel. Then, she’d often have follow-up contact with them during lunch, or later in the afternoon when they’d return from work and be off to some other social or work activity. She was a maternal air traffic controller, directing and nurturing the lives of her offspring who were now making crucial decisions that would determine the courses of the rest of their lives. Both the stakes and the stress levels were higher than they’d ever been.
She would talk to me in the evenings. I’d follow up sometimes with long late-night walks and talks with them about themes on which I’d been briefed by my helpmeet informant. Without her maternal perceptions and observations, I’d have been clueless. With them, our parenting labors were on the stretch as never before. We spent many nights crying out to God in prayer for their long-term prosperity. It was my wife’s finest hour as a mother. I shudder to think of the present condition of our children’s lives had their mother’s summer input been basically reduced to a dim sliver of light at the bottom of a door.

I definitely recommend this book to you, especially my young adult girl friends. :-) Let it combat the world's definition of womanhood in your heart and mind, and allow it to inspire you to lean on God's grace to wholeheartedly embrace His high calling on your life for the sake of proclaiming the gospel.

He laid it down on crucifixion day, so that you’d look good on judgment day.

Here is the second, as appears on my facebook:

He laid it down on crucifixion day, so that you’d look good on judgment day.

by Sarah Sensenig on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10:08am

I read this Thursday evening, and it completely met me where I was at and so graciously led me to the cross. I was not expecting to identify much with this chapter currently, seeing as it's titled "Child Rearing - Part 2," but it blew me away how precisely it addressed my heart and softened it to the precious treasure of my Savior's sacrifice in how "He laid [his life] down on crucifixion day, so that [I'd] look good on judgment day."
Below is the excerpt from Womanly Dominion:

Every morning, she faced dirty diapers, runny noses, food messes, temper tantrums, discipline problems, clothing piles, and kitchen clutter. Another son was born. Claustrophobic with cabin fever and boredom doldrums, she sighed, “Any twelve-year-old could wash these dishes, wipe these fannies, mop that floor, and pour these Cheerios onto this high chair tray.”
Her mind often drifted back to her high school and college years. “Back then, I was the center of my world. I decided what I wanted to do formyself. My decisions were based on what would please and broaden me. People applauded me on the stage, commended me for my well-delivered speeches, and discussed with me my future goals and aspirations in life. I enjoyed expressing my creativity in the classroom, discussing profound literary themes with my students, and checking offmy responsibilities on each day’s challenging to-do list.
“But it’s not about me anymore. Now, I watch my husband every morning escape out into the wild blue yonder where he meets exciting people, he goes out for lunch, and he checks off challenging tasks, and he enhances his career and his potential. Then he returns home to this less-than-immaculate house and is puzzled about what I did all day, why dinner’s not ready yet, and why I don’t make a fuss about his return.
“Though I’ve given up everything for my husband and my children, I get no applause or atta-boys. I’ve lost center-stage preeminence and become a back-stage nobody.”
Her years in the feminism-infested current had given her glamorous dreams of personal glory. And now those dreams were dashed. Diana was downcast and heavy. She felt trapped. This was her lot for the rest of her life. She was grieving the death of her youthful dreams.
“I basically spiraled down into deep depression. I resented my husband’s success and my children’s thanklessness. I questioned if all of this self-denial was really necessary. It just seemed as if it was asking too much of me.
“Theoretically and theologically, I held to the biblical role of selfless wifehood and motherhood. But internally and emotionally there was deep-seated resistance in my heart. Feminism was like fluoride in the water of my youth, and now I was feeling its poison in my soul. Why must I give up my life to make my husband and his children look good? What about my aspirations, my abilities, my yearnings for influence and significance? What am I, chopped liver? Have I become my husband’s medieval slave? I want to be somebody. I want to be recognized. I want to be applauded too.”
Years later, Diana, who now has five children, admits, “I was in mild rebellion against God. And I stayed there for a while, until I saw those wants for what they really are – the display of my idolatrous, selfish, sinful pride. It was only when I took those deep personal longings and put them on the altar of consecration to God that I began to make spiritual headway.”
Meditations on her Savior burned away her rebellion and brought peace to her soul. In the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus looked into the appalling cup of self-sacrifice that His Father had poured for Him. He staggered at the thought of drinking it down to its last painful dregs. Instead of resentfully protesting, “What am I , chopped liver?” He submitted saying, “Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42).
It’s my understanding that every biblically committed wife and mother must pass through a personal Gethsemane of sorts, needing to come to grips with the cup her Father has poured for her.
Think, dear sister, how the Lord Jesus selflessly served you. He laid it down on crucifixion day, so that you’d look good on judgment day. He was spat upon, beaten, scourged, mocked, stripped, spiked, hung, and forsaken. Then He breathed His last so that you wouldn’t forever weep, wail, and gnash your teeth in hell. He was born, lived, and died with the sole object that you would look good forever. Could it be that this wifehood and motherhood thing is calling you to higher ground, conforming you more to His glorious image? 

Whether Working or Waiting

I wanted to post two items that have been highlighted to me this week.

1. I have found the words of John Murray, quoted by C.J. at Next 2010 (and here), to encourage, humble my heart, and motivate me in my endeavors, as well as call my soul to praise the Lord. I want to keep them in front of me:

The more persistenly active we are in working, the more persuaded we may be that all the energizing grace and power is of God.

2. Mark Altrogge's post on Why It's Good to Wait For God is also water to my soul. I am especially thankful to be reminded that as God calls me to wait on him,

He helps us to treasure him above the things we are waiting for. He teaches us to find our contentment in him. He is our portion, not anything in this world. Only Jesus can truly satisfy us. No person or thing we wait for can satisfy us like Christ.

How wonderful to have all I need, and ever will need, right here in this moment in Christ. As I look to the future and as I look at the present, I find that there is no joy in either, apart from Christ. Just as heaven would be nothing to me if all the blessings of God were there but He was not (which I think is an impossible scenario anyway), my life here on earth is empty without the presence of my God.

The greatest blessing God gives is his presence. - Charles Spurgeon (more of his
quote here).

Whether working or waiting, all points to Christ.

photo: Hamburg, Germany 2007 - city of Arche Church

2 Timothy 2

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." 2 Timothy 2:19

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

I'm so thankful that I do not pursue righteousness in my own strength or alone, but God has given himself and his people to me. May I grow to love my Lord and his church even more.

photo: Italian Alps in Bolzano, 2007

Pursuit of Holiness

A call to be holy as God is holy - that is on my life.

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16

How do I live in the reality of God's sovereignty and my responsibility? How do I live by faith, through grace, and in humble repentance?

If I am sharing the gospel with an un-believer, I will desire them to see how they really are accountable to God and responsible for their sin. The wrath of God is set against them. Their only hope is to repent and receive the blood of Christ as their salvation. But when God saves me and gives me his Spirit, it is not a sign that he is no longer requiring me to become holy as he is holy.

The past few days have been dark days in my soul, and how thankful I am for the light of Christ breaking through with the fresh water of the gospel! "Tormented," "not at peace," "depression," and "winter" are words and phrases that hung heavy on me. Oh, but thanks be to God our Father who by His Son and through His Spirit can make truth break through to my heart and not just sit in my mind.

In addition to other things, I have been listening to the audio book The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, which is free to download at ChristianAudio this month. This evening I ate up chapter 7 and typed a full page of quotes.

What good does it do, you may ask, to be told that the war with sin was won by Christ in his death on the cross if I am still harassed and often defeated by sin in my heart? To experience practical everyday holiness we must accept the fact that God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit to allow this daily battle with indwelling sin, but God does not leave us to do battle alone. Just as he delivered us from the overall reign of sin, so he has made ample provision for us to win the daily skirmishes against sin. "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." Romans 6:10-11; Col 1:11; Eph. 3:16, 20.

We have all known the awful sense of hopelessness caused by sin's power. We have resolved scores of times never to give in to a particular temptation, and yet we do. Then Satin comes to us and says, "you might as well give up; you can never overcome that sin." It is true that in ourselves we cannot, but we are alive to God, united to him who will strengthen us. By reckoning on this fact, counting it to be true, we will experience the strength we need to fight the temptation. Only as we reckon on these twin facts, that I am dead to sin and its reign over me and that I am alive to God united to him who strengthens me, can I keep sin from reigning in my mortal body.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones: "To realize this takes away from us that old sense of hopelessness which we have all known and felt because of the terrible power of sin. . . . I lose my sense of hopelessness because I can say to myself that not only am I no longer under the dominion of sin, but I am under the dominion of another power that nothing can frustrate. However weak I may be, it is the power of God that is working in me.

. . . To count on the fact that we are dead to sin and alive to God is something we must do actively. Practically speaking we do this when, by faith in God's Word, we resist sin's advances and temptations. We count on the fact that we are alive to God when by faith we look to Christ for the power we need to do the resisting. Faith, however, must always be based on fact, and Romans 6:11 is a fact for us. . . . He has given us his Holy Spirit to live within us. . . . It is he who gives spiritual life and the strength to live that life (Romans 8:9-11). Phil. 2:13; 1 Thes. 4:7-8. He is called the "Holy Spirit", and he is sent primarily to make us holy, to conform us to the character of God. . . . Why do we have the Holy Spirit living within us to strengthen us toward holiness? It is because we are alive to God. We are now living under the reign of God who unites us to Christ and gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit strengthens us to holiness first by enabling us to see our need of holiness. He enlightens our understanding so that we begin to see God's standard of holiness, then he causes us to become aware of our specific areas of sin. . . . (Rev. 3:17). . .

The natural result of seeing God's standard and our sinfulness is the awakening within us of a desire to be holy, this is also the ministry of the Holy Spirit as he works to make us holy. We are sorry for our sin with a godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Cor. 7:10). We say with David Psalm 51:2,7. Paul said Phil 2:13.

Before we can act, we must will. . . Here then is another distinction we must make between what God does and what we must do. If the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to show us our need and to stimulate a desire for holiness, then doesn't it follow that we must be in God's Word on a consistent basis? Should we not go to the Word, whether to hear it preached or to do our own study with the prayer that the Holy Spirit would search our hearts for any sin in us (Psalm 139:23-24)? . . . To live by the Spirit is to live both in obedience to and dependence on the Holy Spirit. There is a balance then between our wills, expressed by obedience, and our faith expressed by our dependance.

Also, on Sunday my pastor Doug Plank gave a wonderful sermon on John 20:19-23, which highlights the peace Christ brings us.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! - Romans 7: 21- 25

photo: Conestoga River, 2010

1 Peter 5:10-11

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

photo: Burano, Italy 2007

Groveling in Sin

This week has afforded me some time at work for podcast and sermon listening, due to the combination of a fairly empty calm office and compiling 2010 giving reports, which is a long and monotonous project in need of less brain activity than usual. The up side to reducing my mind to dull machine-like operations is that I can actively listen to some audio.
I re-listened to a couple sermons from the 2010 Pastors Conference: John Loftness on "The Advantage of the Small(er) Church" and Kevin DeYoung on "The Prayer of Exasperation." These are excellent, and I'm so glad I got a second listen. You can find them here.

Kevin's message spoke to me powerfully this fall, and once again brought much conviction and encouragement. There is so much I am thankful for about this message, but I'll share one particular. He described being grounded in your sin versus groveling in your sin. Being grounded in a sin is like running full force into a brick wall, realizing it hurts, and doing it over and over again. Groveling in your sin is running full force into a brick wall, then sagging down and wallowing over the fact that you crashed into the wall. While you are moping and whining there, God is calling you to get up and move away in a different direction.

That is a somewhat lame attempt at relaying his illustration, so you will just have to check it out for yourself. But basically, I can identify so much with groveling over my sin. And it is not a humble, mature, or godly thing to do. God's grace offers repentance. The blood of Christ is powerful; is it precious to me? Oh that it would be, ever increasingly precious and sweet to my soul.

photo: Bolzano, Italy 2007

Grace Unmeasured

Benefitting from the Worship God Live CD this morning...so many rich songs.

Grace Unmeasured

Grace unmeasured, vast and free

That knew me from eternity

That called me out before my birth

To bring You glory on this earth

Grace amazing, pure and deep

That saw me in my misery

That took my curse and owned my blame

So I could bear Your righteous name

Grace paid for my sins

And brought me to life

Grace clothes me with power

To do what is right

Grace will lead me to heaven

Where I'll see Your face

And never cease

To thank You for Your grace

Grace abounding, strong and true

That makes me long to be like You

That turns me from my selfish pride

To love the cross on which You died

Grace unending all my days

You'll give me strength to run this race

And when my years on earth are through

The praise will all belong to You

c. Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Faith, Obedience, and Two Circles

Today I listened to a 12 minute CCEF podcast called Does God Really Love My Children?
David Powlison talks about two "nested circles," and I'm half quoting half paraphrasing him below:

In the very big circle are all the things we are concerned about and want to turn out a certain way. We know these things are in God's control and not our own. The little circle is within the big one. This holds the things I'm actually responsible to do, how I'm called to live, etc.

We often wish the little circle was as big as the big one, and that there was something we could do to guarantee outcomes in health, money, loved ones, etc. But the little circle is always way smaller than the big circle. This is a major call to your faith: how to live with uncertainty. We are a morning mist. How do you live well with huge things you don't control?

That large circle is where we need to simply trust that God is in fact good. He is way bigger than we are. This is his universe, his kingdom, and he is weaving together a tapestry. Parts of it look ugly to us, and we don't understand how those can be there. But it is his universe and kingdom, and we are not the kings and queens. We are not called to know or control the future. We are called to trust. In the little circle, we are called to do everything that it means to live by faith and obey him.

So that is what I'm called to focus on - living by faith and obeying my king. For God is God, and there is no other.

...for I am God, and there is none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, 'My cousel shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

Isaiah 46:9-10

photo: bridge in Potter County, PA 2008

The Love of Christ Is Rich and Free

The love of Christ is rich and free; fixed on His own eternally;

Nor earth, nor hell, can it remove; Long as He lives, His own He'll love.

His loving heart engaged to be their everlasting Surety;

'Twas love that took their cause in hand, and love maintains it to the end.

Love cannot from its post withdraw; nor death, nor hell, nor sin, nor law,

Can turn the Surety's heart away; He'll love His own to endless day.

Love has redeemed His sheep with blood; and love will bring them safe to God;

Love calls them all from death to life; and love will finish all their strife.

He loves through every changing scene, Nor aught from Him can Zion wean;

Not all the wanderings of her heart, can make His love for her depart.

At death, beyond the grave, He'll love; In endless bliss, His own shall prove

The blazing glory of that love which never could from them remove.

Words by Williams Gadsby; Music by Sandra McCracken

My Role and God's Love

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. . . . But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galations 6:9-10).

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . . There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4: 7-11; 18-19).

Pray for Ian

If you have never checked out the Pray for Ian blog, I urge you to do so.

Although we had many mutual friends beforehand, I met Ian in the spring of 2006, when he and his friend David came to our church young adult meeting at the Plank home. Then in May, he lead my "family group" at New Attitude (the first one I had been at). I still remember many of the people in that group, and it was one of the best family group experiences out of the five I've had. Much of that was because of Ian's leadership and infectious zeal for Christ. During that summer he interned at Haverstick Films, and we got to know him here in Lancaster. He attended Crossway Church while away from his home church in Indiana, PA.
Then one October day that same year, my friend Kiera gave me a call - I can remember exactly where I was. Ian had been in a severe car accident and they were asking everyone for their prayers. I remember walking around Millersville University campus in shock early that week. He was on the very verge of death. God chose to spare his life. But life changed from that moment on for Ian, and so many of his family and friends. God's weaving a beautiful story in their lives, one that points heavenward to the treasure of Christ.

So again, I strongly urge you to go to their blog. Follow it from the beginning. It could undoubtedly be published as a book one day. Ian, Larissa, Steve, Mary, and their family, friends, and church family are a blessing to the broader Church of Christ. They have opened up their lives in the blog these past few years, sharing with us the anguish and joys of enduring faith through trial after trial.

How sweet it will be to rejoice along with them by our Savior's side!

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

photo: David & Krista's wedding, 2010

Reading

I'm growing to love books more and be overwhelmed by them less. Rather than feel burdened by the ever increasing list of ones I'd like to read and don't keep up with, I'm choosing to focus instead on just cultivating a habit of reading in general, indefinitely. I'll never reach the end of my "to-read" to-do list. I can't keep up with them, and it's true that I have many un-finished on my shelf. This might not be worded the best, but it's helped me to realize that the books exist to serve me and not enslave me in debt to them. They are resources available as I have need, and that is not a wrong way to view them. They are not people, nor the Bible itself.
That being said, I do have far to grow in the persistence and discipline of sticking out a book start to finish.
I counted around seven books by my bed that I'm part way through and have out for easy access (there are more on my shelf only partially read or not even started).

With that background, I want to share my anticipation for reading a new book to my collection - CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet by Michael R. Emlet (fyi - We currently have them at our church bookstore at a great price. And thanks, Joy, for the Christmas gift!) I've just read the introduction, so we'll see if my anticipation persists for the last hundred pages when I'm halfway through it.
At the end of his introduction (p. 8-9), Emlet summarizes the book's purpose as follows:

Put simply, the overall goal of this book is to help you live a biblically rich, Christ-centered life in community with fellow believers. It will equip you to make more sense of the details of the Bible and the details of people's lives. It will equip you to see how the diverse writings of Scripture have a cohesive, kingdom-centered thrust. And it will help you discern life patterns, themes, and plotlines that underlie the details of people's experiences. Ultimately, it should equip you to more carefully read the story of the Bible and the diverse stories of the people you know and to make meaningful connections between the two.

Very appetizing, don't you agree?

photo: Christmas 2007

Focus.

Inspiration. Emotion. Feeling. Substance. Discernment. Listlessness. Purpose. Sensitive. Fickle. Fanciful. Grounded. Focus. Meaning. Growth. Love.

There are so many things of which I don't know and many more of which I have not experienced. How deep the depth of the human heart and how broad the scope of humanity.

Diverse. Complex. Detailed intertwining. Gray matters. Irksome unknowns.

This information age has opened floodgates of options to think and form opinions on things all over the map.

Analyze. Discern. Judge.

How do we do this?

Objectively. Detachedly. Bluntly. Blindly. Insensitively. Erratically. Emotionally.

Do I find myself mired in foggy details more often than stable on overarching truth? Look for the rock in each tempest, calm, and bog. Gospel connections will lead my heart home, as a lighthouse on the rock.

Weak. Teetering often. Believing lies. Immersed in sin. Prone to wander. Worldly unsatisfying lusts. Prodigal.

I know my frame. Feast and graze upon truth, unoriginal and repetitive as it may be. And yet, he knows my frame more than I know my own. He is the Father of his prodigal child; the one who runs after me . . . again, and again, and will do again.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19