our ebenezer

several years ago, we began the tradition of having a family "ebenezer" time (1 Sam. 7:12) when we are all together over the holidays. it has been such a blessed reminder to be able to share what the Lord has been teaching and working in our lives throughout the year as well as praying and singing with one another! we had our gathering this past saturday and the following are some thoughts and prayers that have risen in my mind from that time (as compiled from our quiz material - 2 Cor. 2-5):

gram - 2 Cor. 3:2 - thank you God for allowing us to be in the family of this faithful woman.
dad - 2 Cor. 5:18 - thank you for reminding us to view life through the lens of God's sovereignty!
mom - 2 Cor. 5:15 - thank you for your selfless example - may Christ receive all the glory!
uncle paul - 2 Cor. 5:20 - thank you for representing Christ well wherever you go!
aunt lois - 2 Cor. 2:4 - as sarah reminded us, your letters were such a reminder of your love :) thank you!
bean - 2 Cor. 4:8-10 - know that we are standing with you on our knees - He will not give you more than you can handle. may Christ's life be manifested through you even in this difficult time!
joey - 2 Cor. 3:16 - we pray for your turning - O Lord, remove the veil.
jason - 2 Cor. 3:12 - i began to pray this one for you as you shared - praise God for hope, praise God for boldness!
brandyn - 2 Cor. 4:13 - it's a blessing that you feel so free to share with us - and such faith to speak... may the baby within you grow to be God's mighty servant!
levi - 2 Cor. 5:7 - way to go learning your verse! may this truth guide your life, little priest :)
layla rose - 2 Cor. 4:17-18 - we never knew you, but we celebrate the wisdom of our God... you already know the glory far more than we do!
baby boyd - 2 Cor. 4:15 - may God's grace extend to you - increasing our thanksgiving and His glory!
ryan - 2 Cor. 3:5 - Christ IS your sufficiency. amen.
sarah - 2 Cor. 2:14 - your joy is a constant reminder of our triumphal procession, may it continue to spread the knowledge of Him.
julia - 2 Cor. 4:6 - may the light of Christ shine in your heart!
matt - 2 Cor. 5:17-19 - as a new creation in Christ, may you be an agent of reconciliation!
becky - 2 Cor. 5:11 - welcome to the family :) hopefully the time together has helped you to get to know us a little better.

hitting the nail on the head

after much anticipation, when i finally got the new thrice cd, beggars, 2 weeks ago, my first listen left me a little disappointed. but a crazy thing has happened, it has not left my player since! and i love it a little bit more every time it plays. much of this appreciation has to do with dustin kensrue's lyrics... great stuff! very biblical stuff like this from "all the world is mad":

We can’t medicate man to perfection again;
We can’t legislate peace in our hearts.
We can’t educate sin from our souls, it’s been there from the start.

But the blind lead the blind into bottomless pits,
Still we smile and deny that we’re cursed.
But of all our iniquities ignorance may be the worst.

Oh, what little light we have!
It only serves to show
The snares and seeds of wrath
We have already sewn on every path.

Praise God for Jesus Christ - the only remedy to our situation! "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

for the sake of His name

key:

what God will do

why God will do it

"thus says the Lord GOD: it is not for your sake, o house of israel, that i am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. and i will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. and the nations will know that i am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you i will vindicate my holiness before their eyes. i will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. i will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. and i will give you a new heart, and a new spirit i will put within you. and i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. and i will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. you shall dwell in the land that i gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and i will be your God. and i will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. and i will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. i will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. it is not for your sake that i will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. be ashamed and confounded for your ways, o house of israel.

thus says the Lord GOD: on the day that i cleanse you from all your iniquities, i will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. and the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. and they will say, ' this land that was desolate has become like the garden of eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' then the nations that are left all around you shall know that i am the LORD; i have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. i am the LORD; i have spoken, and i will do it.

thus says the Lord GOD: this also i will let the house of israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. then they will know that i am the LORD." Ezekiel 36:22-38

just another reason i love thrice

thrice - "in exile"

catching up via some mental images

several things that i have seen or heard over the past few weeks that have caused me to stop and think:

- standing behind a girl in line at the cafeteria, and reading the tattoo on the back of her neck: "trust no one." wow - what pain lies behind such a statement? what a hopeless credo to live by! praise God for surrounding me with people that i love and CAN trust... and even moreso, that even when these people fail me (cause CAN i really trust them or even myself 100% of the time?!?), i can ALWAYS trust God!

- hearing our pastor's young son (just turned 1) calling out from the back of the sanctuary just as we were closing the celebration of the Lord's Supper: "hi dada." and mark's reply of "hi benjamin." the significance that this meal represents the fact that we can approach the King of all creation, the Lord of heaven and earth with simple confidence as our "dada" through the death of His Son - the body and blood broken and shed for our sins. sweet communion!

- the preparations of an elderly christian man for the day of his funeral, assuring that the gospel would be spoken clearly even when he is gone from this lifetime by requesting that the first question of the heidelberg catechism be read as part of the ceremony:

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death? Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.