fast falls the eventide

there can't be many better ways to finish a day of worship than to sit reading on the front porch on a warm spring evening - reflecting on the providence of God and the lessons He is teaching me through time spent in His Word and the living of life in His world... tonight i took two light, enjoyable reads out with me (ones that i would highly recommend): Spiritual Birthline by Stephen Smallman and The Tapestry by Edith Schaeffer...

Spiritual Birthline is one that i picked up to read in conjunction with my preparation for teaching a sunday school class for the next term on regeneration (using primarily John Piper's Finally Alive)... so what are the chances that the chapter i would read tonight would make heavy reference to the 8th chapter of Acts and the story i just preached from this evening at church... even reinforcing many of the points i was making? well, i'd say 100% knowing how frequently God uses repetition to communicate truths that He is trying to teach me!

The Tapestry is the autobiography of Francis and Edith Schaeffer and the underlying theme throughout the book ties in well with the idea of being sensitive to how God is working in lives - mine and those around me... resting secure in the knowledge of His plan and trusting Him for guidance...


as i reflect on the past week, i praise God for what He has done... as i look ahead to the week to come, i ask for wisdom, direction and strength - may i be a vessel in the Lord's hand to do His will...

"The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands." Psalm 138:8

"a graduation from and a commencement of... ! ... an ending and a beginning! How incredible it is that Christianity gives us that to look forward to. We don't have to watch the sand run out of the sandglass of life's time for ourselves or for our loved ones without realizing that really, truly, actually, without any vestige of doubt, cruel though separation is, and hard though the contemplation of change is, we are moving toward a graduation which is also a commencement." edith schaeffer

abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, o abide with me.

swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around i see;
o Thou who changest not, abide with me.

i need Thy presence every passing hour;
what but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
through cloud and sunshine, o abide with me.

i fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness,
where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
i triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:
heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, o Lord, abide with me.

another one of those days for question 1

today we said "goodbye for now" to the dear lady who taught me (and hundreds of others) in the nursery class in sunday school... never was any doubt that she was a Philippians 2:3-4 woman. who knew that one of the neighborhood kids she used to go and pick up to bring to church would turn out to be my foster brother?!? O God, raise up others like her in the church!

my thoughts can't help but turn again to the beginning of the heidelberg catechism:

Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

jingle, jingle, happy bells!!!

good will hunting?

various thoughts while sitting in Isaiah 53 on this Good Friday...

• Jesus was intimately familiar with the Scriptures... i can't help but think that Isaiah 53:10 was on His mind as He prayed in the garden "yet not what I will, but what You will" - "it was the will of the LORD to crush him; He has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hands."
• the incredible contrasts of crushing/prospering, anguish/satisfaction in verses 10-11 - this interplay ties in well with Hebrews 12:2 "who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame"
• the repeated explanation of the "why": "for our transgressions," "for our iniquities," "the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all," "stricken for the transgression of my people," "an offering for sin," "make many to be accounted righteous," "he shall bear their iniquities," "he bore the sin of many," "makes intercession for the transgressors"
• my mind is drawn to the Ethiopian eunuch sitting in his chariot, reading these same words when the Holy Spirit sends Philip to the Gaza road - "do you understand what you are reading?" "how can I, unless someone guides me?... about whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or someone else?" "then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus." - am i prepared to share like Philip? am i praying/looking for eunuchs? God, use me!