Hi everyone! Here are more student bloopers...enjoy!
Without the Greeks we wouldn't have history. The Greeks invented three kinds of columns---Corinthian, Doric and Ironic.They also had myths. A myth is a female moth. One myth says that the mother of Achilles dipped him in the River Stynx until he became intollerable. Achilles appears in "the Iliad", by Homer. Homer also wrote "The Oddity", in which Penelope was the last hardship that Ulysses endured on his journey. Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name.
Then camethe Middle Ages. King Alfred conquered the Dames, King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, King Harold mustarded his troops before the Battle of Hastings, Joan of Arc was cannonized by Bernard Shaw, and victims of the Black eath grew boobs on their necks. Finally, Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women
Spritual Mothering is a book that, once on your hands, you must read, evaluate, and apply. Honestly, I can't say enough good about this book. From beginning to end it is biblical, careful, practical, convicting, convincing, and simple. Do you want to know how to live the gospel and impact the world around you as a woman? Read the Bible and then read this book that will come alongside you, and show what this can look like and why Spiritual mothering needs to happen.
As the author, Susan Hunt puts it: Not every woman can give biological birth, but every Christian woman can enter the high calling of spiritual reproduction and motherhood.
In this book we are given to principals that are foundational to spiritually mothering a younger woman.
1. God is our reference point, the model for all of life.
2. We are created to glorify God. This life purpose is the driving force of our spiritual mothering.
Spiritual mothering is when a woman possessing faith and spiritual maturity enters into a relationship with a younger woman in order to encourage and equip her to live for God's glory. She will train this woman to be able to apply the word of God to areas of our lives that are uniquely feminine.
In the book, after defining Spiritual motherhood and who is to be training younger women, she goes on to show us how to invest time and energy into someone younger. After every chapter there are questions and homework. When I say homework,I don't mean write a paper and pat yourself on the back. It is "life" homework. She has you doing things such as choosing a woman to pray for, writing a thank you note to a godly woman, approaching a godly woman and asking them to meet with you. She tells you to write to a younger woman a note of encouragement; another assignment is go and ask a younger woman if you can come and help her cook dinner, or come pray with her, or babysit so she can go out with her husband. She actually tries to get you to do some of the stuff she talks about in the book.
She weaves in practical biblical application and testimonies throughout the book. As you read about sound doctrine being essential to helping a younger woman submit to her husband, you will read a testimony from a woman about how another woman touched her life. She uses real life stories from women who had someone come alongside of them and helped them biblically deal with loneliness and singleness. Sometimes in the stories you will read of rocky marriages and woman coming alongside and equipping them to persevere for sake of the gospel. You will read stories of tired moms with young children learning to serve their families and enjoy them, and have sweet communion with God, because a godly woman came alongside to equip and encourage like she should.
You will be surprised that it is not about the bold, well- known, gifted beyond belief, unattainable, unapproachable woman. Most of the women you will read about inspiring, encouraging and equipping, are the meek, kind, understated women. You will read about an 18 year old on fire for Jesus helping a 16 year old who grew up in church but had no desire for God. You will read about an elderly single, quiet women praying for and babysitting for some young moms in her church. You will simply read of regular women, leading normal everyday lives; cooking, cleaning, caring for the needs of her family, but doing so for Jesus, having great impact for the Kingdom one woman at a time. For me, this was encouraging.
There was a time when women simply lived life together. They sewed together, cooked together, helped deliver babies and care for a newborn together; but that, my friends, is no longer the case. We must be more intentional. We have to see that God set it up so that we would care for one another, and you as a woman are set apart to influence the younger women around you. But that will not happen without working at it, because we live in a time and culture that makes it more difficult. We are independent of one another and frankly would rather allow tv, magazines and books tell us how to live, what it means to be feminine, how to raise kids, change a diaper, love a husband, and impact the world, then the mature seasoned woman sitting next to us in the pew. And then, sometimes, even if we would love for a godly woman to help us, they are nowhere to be found because they are to busy and unavailable.
This book caused me to reflect on the women who have come alongside me in various ways and grow me in my appreciation of them. I can see how valuable the advice of several who have encouraged me to enjoy the baby crying because someday it is a sound I will miss. I appreciate the hope they inspire in me when I talk to others whose husbands have been without proper employment and see how they have come through that. I have benefited greatly as I see women who will take the time to pray with me and encourage me to stay focused on what my duties are now because I have young children, and stop worrying about what I can't do right now. They encourage me to glorify God in the here and now, and actually enjoy my children and not see them as a hindrance.
Thank you, ladies.
May God raise up many who will affect this world for Jesus one woman at a time.
As the author, Susan Hunt puts it: Not every woman can give biological birth, but every Christian woman can enter the high calling of spiritual reproduction and motherhood.
In this book we are given to principals that are foundational to spiritually mothering a younger woman.
1. God is our reference point, the model for all of life.
2. We are created to glorify God. This life purpose is the driving force of our spiritual mothering.
Spiritual mothering is when a woman possessing faith and spiritual maturity enters into a relationship with a younger woman in order to encourage and equip her to live for God's glory. She will train this woman to be able to apply the word of God to areas of our lives that are uniquely feminine.
In the book, after defining Spiritual motherhood and who is to be training younger women, she goes on to show us how to invest time and energy into someone younger. After every chapter there are questions and homework. When I say homework,I don't mean write a paper and pat yourself on the back. It is "life" homework. She has you doing things such as choosing a woman to pray for, writing a thank you note to a godly woman, approaching a godly woman and asking them to meet with you. She tells you to write to a younger woman a note of encouragement; another assignment is go and ask a younger woman if you can come and help her cook dinner, or come pray with her, or babysit so she can go out with her husband. She actually tries to get you to do some of the stuff she talks about in the book.
She weaves in practical biblical application and testimonies throughout the book. As you read about sound doctrine being essential to helping a younger woman submit to her husband, you will read a testimony from a woman about how another woman touched her life. She uses real life stories from women who had someone come alongside of them and helped them biblically deal with loneliness and singleness. Sometimes in the stories you will read of rocky marriages and woman coming alongside and equipping them to persevere for sake of the gospel. You will read stories of tired moms with young children learning to serve their families and enjoy them, and have sweet communion with God, because a godly woman came alongside to equip and encourage like she should.
You will be surprised that it is not about the bold, well- known, gifted beyond belief, unattainable, unapproachable woman. Most of the women you will read about inspiring, encouraging and equipping, are the meek, kind, understated women. You will read about an 18 year old on fire for Jesus helping a 16 year old who grew up in church but had no desire for God. You will read about an elderly single, quiet women praying for and babysitting for some young moms in her church. You will simply read of regular women, leading normal everyday lives; cooking, cleaning, caring for the needs of her family, but doing so for Jesus, having great impact for the Kingdom one woman at a time. For me, this was encouraging.
There was a time when women simply lived life together. They sewed together, cooked together, helped deliver babies and care for a newborn together; but that, my friends, is no longer the case. We must be more intentional. We have to see that God set it up so that we would care for one another, and you as a woman are set apart to influence the younger women around you. But that will not happen without working at it, because we live in a time and culture that makes it more difficult. We are independent of one another and frankly would rather allow tv, magazines and books tell us how to live, what it means to be feminine, how to raise kids, change a diaper, love a husband, and impact the world, then the mature seasoned woman sitting next to us in the pew. And then, sometimes, even if we would love for a godly woman to help us, they are nowhere to be found because they are to busy and unavailable.
This book caused me to reflect on the women who have come alongside me in various ways and grow me in my appreciation of them. I can see how valuable the advice of several who have encouraged me to enjoy the baby crying because someday it is a sound I will miss. I appreciate the hope they inspire in me when I talk to others whose husbands have been without proper employment and see how they have come through that. I have benefited greatly as I see women who will take the time to pray with me and encourage me to stay focused on what my duties are now because I have young children, and stop worrying about what I can't do right now. They encourage me to glorify God in the here and now, and actually enjoy my children and not see them as a hindrance.
Thank you, ladies.
May God raise up many who will affect this world for Jesus one woman at a time.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Chapter 9 of Bookends of the Christian Life
Chapter 9 is about Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance. For me, the information provided by the authors was an answer to prayer. I have been asking the Lord to show me why I am so stressed out all of the time, eventhough I have given up my job and have no kids at home.
The authors explain that the cousins of self-reliance are self-confidence, self-sufficiency and self-esteem. The "world" admires people who have these traits. I don't know about you but, I was taught from little on that I needed to do things for myself and that no one else cares about the things I need or desire, unless it matters to them personally. My parents taught me that I could accomplish anything if I just worked hard and believed in myself.
I developed a type of legalism in my life when I was very young. I told myself that I needed to succeed at anything I did. I about made myself crazy trying to live up to my standards. When I was in grade school my teachers used to tell my parents year after year that if I didn't relax I was going to have a heart attack by the time I was 20. In High School I continued to be uptight about everything. I told myself that I always had to get an A and that I always had to win 1st Place in any of the swimming events I competed in as a member of the Swim Team. I really beat myself up if I didn't meet those standards and I believed that my parents expected perfection also.
The authors explain that if we are self-reliant in our daily lives that we shouldn't be surprised when we discover that we are also self-reliant toward God. Being self-reliant toward God is dependence on our own power instead of depending on the Holy Spirit. It is sin. Romans 14 says "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin". The authors say that we shouldn't be self-reliant about anything! They say that self-reliance is an illusion, a lie. This was so eye opening for me. I know now that the pressures I put on myself so that I could succeed were against God's word. The Bible says that we should come to Jesus when we are weary and heavy laden and He will give us rest. He tells us to take up His yolk and follow Him because His yolk is easy and His burden is light. We were never meant to carry our many burdens alone. God knows that we will eventually be crushed by them if we don't give them to the Lord.
Self-reliance toward God also causes people to think that they can earn their way to Heaven, instead of simply trusting in the Lord for salvation. It is also impossible to live a life pleasing to the Lord in our own strength. Our strength is imperfect but the Holy Spirit's strength is flawless. I think that God gives us abilities and gifts to be used for Him not so that we can rely on ourselves. 1 Corinthians 4:7 says "what do you have that you did not receive?" This is so true! We are born with nothing and we can't take anything with us when we die except for salvation by faith in Christ. No one makes themselves successful, or rich or poor or anything else. God gives everything to us. It must hurt Him terribly when we go about our lives and forget Him. Instead of being thankful for what He provides for us, we become boastful in what we think we did for ourselves.
The book made the very true statement that our very existence is dependant on God. We cannot cause our hearts to beat or our lungs to breathe air. We should be thanking and praising the Lord for every minute of life He gives us. Out of thankfulness for all God does for us, we should desire to use our lives to serve Him. He is our "all in all" like a song says.
The chapter goes on to say that sometimes God takes away our self-reliance and self-righteousness by revealing our sin to us. When we realize that we aren't relying on the Holy Spirit for our strength everday and for everything, we need to repent and make it a point to change our thinking. We can't do it alone though, we need the Holy Spirit's help. God also frees us from self-reliance in ways not directly related to sin. One example is Paul's "thorn in the flesh". He said it was given to him so that he would not boast in himself. Eventhough he begged God to take it away, He didn't and told Paul that His grace is sufficient for him because His power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Paul embraced the source of strength that the Holy Spirit provides and we should too.
I never looked at my way of living my life as sin. I knew that salvation is by faith in Christ alone but I figured that He wanted me to use my brain, my strength, and my talents to get through everyday life. I now know that I don't need to place demands on myself to always be the best in my own strength. I feel free now to rely on the Holy Spirit for help in everything. I don't have to get so stressed out anymore. God wants me to give all of my cares to Him. I recommend that you do also.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Gospel Spoken
Here we are in Louisville, KY and we are so close to getting settled in. Just one more week (Lord willing) and we should have all of our books, tools, and even the kitchen utensils within our nice new apartment. You never really know what you have and how much you need it, until you have to live without it. Take, for example, flower vases. I own them, but because I left them packed in my storage unit when we moved into our temporary apartment, they are entirely useless to me. So although I have a lovely silk floral arrangement to brighten the spirits of all who enter my house, it sits hidden away on top of the refrigerator in a pile because my vase is still packed away in storage. This is a great picture of our lives too!
I was saved from a life of rebellion and pride. In my heart I practiced and delighted in every evil way. I was destined for wrath and judgement and, quite frankly, if I had continued down the road that I was on, I probably would have ended up in a hopeless life filled with desperation. But the amazing thing is that while I was living this awful, self-centered, repugnant life, Jesus opened the door and walked into my life bringing with Him His wonderful life-giving light and the Holy Spirit to change me and quicken my heart and soul! He opened my eyes to see the good news that Jesus died for my sins and actually took them from me and bore them (every filthy one of them!) upon His own pure body! He filled my heart with love for this gracious God who would leave the beauties of Heaven to live a humble servant's life, so that He could purify me and make me His bride and present me holy and blameless to God the Father who's plan this was from before time! He died the perfect death, satisfying the penalty for my sins, and rose from the dead three days later because God the Father accepted Jesus' sacrifice as good and right and perfect. Then He went back up into Heaven and He is getting a special place ready for me there, so that I can live there with Him someday! And Jesus says that He didn't just do this for me, but that He did it for every one who believes on Him! This is the best thing to ever happen to me. In fact this is the biggest most valuable treasure that I could ever possess!
Yet... all too often I pack up this treasure in a cardboard box and stuff it into the back of my "storage unit" where it collects dust and is entirely useless. Just like my lovely flowers that are just waiting to show forth their beauty and bring a smile to those who will see them, so too this "gospel of the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ" is ready to burst forth and bring life and light into the lives of people that God has providentially put in my life. But just as I hinder the "work" of beautiful flowers by not displaying them, so too, I hinder the work of the gospel by not speaking it! God's word says in Romans 10: 17 "So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ". It says that God will effectively work out His will through the speaking of His word in Isaiah 55:10-11 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Just as God sent Isaiah with a message to His people, He has sent us with a message of hope to the world. God will save! God will redeem! What a wonderful message of joy and reconciliation we have within our hearts! And what a shame when we store it up and do not display it's beauty for all to see. We must speak the good news so that people will hear and will be changed by the Holy Spirit and come to Jesus!
Oh that the Holy Spirit would cause us to be filled with boldness and that the overflow of the joy that we have in knowing Jesus as our Savior would fill our lives and our mouths everyday, so that God's magnificence is displayed through us; and in others as well!
I was saved from a life of rebellion and pride. In my heart I practiced and delighted in every evil way. I was destined for wrath and judgement and, quite frankly, if I had continued down the road that I was on, I probably would have ended up in a hopeless life filled with desperation. But the amazing thing is that while I was living this awful, self-centered, repugnant life, Jesus opened the door and walked into my life bringing with Him His wonderful life-giving light and the Holy Spirit to change me and quicken my heart and soul! He opened my eyes to see the good news that Jesus died for my sins and actually took them from me and bore them (every filthy one of them!) upon His own pure body! He filled my heart with love for this gracious God who would leave the beauties of Heaven to live a humble servant's life, so that He could purify me and make me His bride and present me holy and blameless to God the Father who's plan this was from before time! He died the perfect death, satisfying the penalty for my sins, and rose from the dead three days later because God the Father accepted Jesus' sacrifice as good and right and perfect. Then He went back up into Heaven and He is getting a special place ready for me there, so that I can live there with Him someday! And Jesus says that He didn't just do this for me, but that He did it for every one who believes on Him! This is the best thing to ever happen to me. In fact this is the biggest most valuable treasure that I could ever possess!
Yet... all too often I pack up this treasure in a cardboard box and stuff it into the back of my "storage unit" where it collects dust and is entirely useless. Just like my lovely flowers that are just waiting to show forth their beauty and bring a smile to those who will see them, so too this "gospel of the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ" is ready to burst forth and bring life and light into the lives of people that God has providentially put in my life. But just as I hinder the "work" of beautiful flowers by not displaying them, so too, I hinder the work of the gospel by not speaking it! God's word says in Romans 10: 17 "So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ". It says that God will effectively work out His will through the speaking of His word in Isaiah 55:10-11 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Just as God sent Isaiah with a message to His people, He has sent us with a message of hope to the world. God will save! God will redeem! What a wonderful message of joy and reconciliation we have within our hearts! And what a shame when we store it up and do not display it's beauty for all to see. We must speak the good news so that people will hear and will be changed by the Holy Spirit and come to Jesus!
Oh that the Holy Spirit would cause us to be filled with boldness and that the overflow of the joy that we have in knowing Jesus as our Savior would fill our lives and our mouths everyday, so that God's magnificence is displayed through us; and in others as well!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Noticing Small Blessings
As Christians, we are daughters of a loving Father who takes great pleasure in heaping abundant blessings on His children. Unfortunately, too often we have very lofty views of what a blessing is and we miss all of the small blessings that are showered on us daily.
I think this is rooted in our lack of comprehension of who God is, of who we are, and of what He has done for us. If we are living in the gospel, if we are reminding ourselves every day that God saved us while we were wretched, loathsome, dead creatures who despised the very One who could give us life, our lives never seem as ‘bad’ as they did before. If we truly see our salvation, the gospel, God as the ultimate and all-encompassing gift then we are much less likely to take blessings from God for granted.
When I drove to Parkside every morning, I passed a long stretch of the lake. I was continually amazed at how different it always looked! Every day was beautiful and unique. I found myself looking forward to that vision each morning, which is saying something since I’m usually pretty grumpy for the first hour or so that I am awake. One day it hit me: God created this lake to glorify Himself. The lake glorified God by its very existence. I was also created to glorify God and I do this by being utterly satisfied in Him. This lake was a blessing. God didn’t have to create it in such a way that it was a unique sight each day. God didn’t have to create it to be beautiful to look at. God didn’t have to have me live in an area that I got to drive past it every day. And here I was, daily enjoying God’s blessing and never once praising Him for it.
It was a true breakthrough for me. Every good thing is from above but so very often we forget to thank God for the good and instead only turn to Him in times of trials and hardships and need. I’ll pray my little heart out if I think I might be late for work but it is not my first thought to thank Him when traffic is good and I arrive safely half an hour early. I might pray for good weather if I wake up to a cold and drizzling day but forget to thank Him when I wake up to sunshine.
Ladies, let us take our joy in our Lord. Let us see all blessings as from His hands.
I think this is rooted in our lack of comprehension of who God is, of who we are, and of what He has done for us. If we are living in the gospel, if we are reminding ourselves every day that God saved us while we were wretched, loathsome, dead creatures who despised the very One who could give us life, our lives never seem as ‘bad’ as they did before. If we truly see our salvation, the gospel, God as the ultimate and all-encompassing gift then we are much less likely to take blessings from God for granted.
When I drove to Parkside every morning, I passed a long stretch of the lake. I was continually amazed at how different it always looked! Every day was beautiful and unique. I found myself looking forward to that vision each morning, which is saying something since I’m usually pretty grumpy for the first hour or so that I am awake. One day it hit me: God created this lake to glorify Himself. The lake glorified God by its very existence. I was also created to glorify God and I do this by being utterly satisfied in Him. This lake was a blessing. God didn’t have to create it in such a way that it was a unique sight each day. God didn’t have to create it to be beautiful to look at. God didn’t have to have me live in an area that I got to drive past it every day. And here I was, daily enjoying God’s blessing and never once praising Him for it.
It was a true breakthrough for me. Every good thing is from above but so very often we forget to thank God for the good and instead only turn to Him in times of trials and hardships and need. I’ll pray my little heart out if I think I might be late for work but it is not my first thought to thank Him when traffic is good and I arrive safely half an hour early. I might pray for good weather if I wake up to a cold and drizzling day but forget to thank Him when I wake up to sunshine.
Ladies, let us take our joy in our Lord. Let us see all blessings as from His hands.
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