IDOP

Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I am convicted that I need a special day in order to remind me to pray. It is sobering to remember that in other parts of the world, there are Christians being physically beaten because they claim Christ. Parents are ostracizing their children who convert. Governments pass laws making it illegal to convert to another religion. I am so thankful for the incredible security I experience in the United States. I hope that today will be the beginning of a habit to pray for my brothers and sisters who are experiencing Christ's sufficiency in a way that I might never know. All praise be to the God who sustains them day by day and every hour. Their sacrifice is a sweet offering of praise to him.


"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17


If this concept intrigues you, check out the website for an awesome ministry called The Voice of The Martyrs. I have been reading their monthly magazine for a few years, and it never ceases to humble and amaze me. They also have lots of super practical ways you can get involved! And there is a really neat map that shows all the restricted nations. 

Books, Books, and More Books

Last year, after lots of friends asking me for book recommendations, someone suggested that I start a book review blog. So after a long delay, it's here! It's just short summaries and opinions on books to read (or not to read). So if you're interested, go follow it! I love to read, but feel like school takes that away from me. Hopefully over Thanksgiving and Christmas I'll be able to get caught up on my never ending list. Happy Weekend!
Here's the link: Turning the Page

Happy Reformation

So Monday may've been Halloween. But don't forget that it was also Reformation Day! If honor of this day, some friends and I watched the movie Luther and made Toll House cookies. I am fully aware that this sounds extremely lame. But I am a self proclaimed theology nerd, and it actually beat dressing up! Last November I wrote this post about Martin Luther. So if you need a refresher on Reformation history, go read that. But this week has renewed my appreciation for God's faithfulness to preserve the accurate passage of his Gospel throughout the centuries, and for the men he used to do so. As I was watching the movie, (which I highly recommend by the way) I was struck over and over again by Martin Luther's staunch adherence to truth. He feared God more than he feared men, and was not going to compromise what Scripture taught in order to make people happy or even to save himself.
"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10
Let us not take for granted the things Luther, Calvin and Knox, etc. fought for. Because of their faithfulness to the Word of God we understand that salvation is completely a work of grace and not based on anything that we have done! What liberating truth! Praise be to God for not leaving me in my sin.

A Wise Woman Once Said

Here are some quotes from Elisabeth Eliot, a woman who has walked with God many years. She has been a blessing and an encouragement to generations of Christians. Happy Weekend!


If my life is surrendered to God, all is well. Let me not grab it back, as though it were in peril in His hand but would be safer in mine! 


Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process. 


Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender, and loving. If we, His stupid and wayward sheep, really want to be led, we will without fail be led. Of that I am sure. 


God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. 


When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable) "toward the goal of true maturity" (Rom 12:2 JBP). 

Hilarious, But Sadly True

American Egocentrism Cartographically Displayed

(Click on it to make it bigger!)

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it." Ezekial 16:49-50
Sound familiar?

Eyes Heavenward

This Sunday we had an RUF Hymn Sing at a family's home in Auburn. It reminded me of how much I love hymns. There is something incomparable about the rich and raw lyrics. I love thinking about how Christians for centuries have been struggling with the same emotions, singing the same words, and praising the same God. The Lord was so gracious to use this time to remind me that the reason I love hymns is because they point straight to HIM! As I sang the truth of the Gospel in so many beautiful ways, I was once again knocked off my feet by it. The God of the universe loved me enough to pour out his wrath against sin on his own son, and impute that son's perfect record to me! Wow! Christ's work on the cross made it possible for us to spend eternity worshipping Yahweh. I felt like I got a little shadow on Sunday of what it will be like to do so. What is so incredible is that in glorifying him, we actually have inexplicable joy! As John Piper always says, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. An eternity of bliss awaits those of us who belong to the Lord, because He is the only source of true joy. Everything we experience on earth is but a mist. One of my favorite characteristics of hymns is that more often than not, the last verse points heavenward. Each ends with a focus on where my eyes should be looking more often than they do. Here are some of my favorite heavenward verses, as we wait with glad expectation for what the blood of Christ has already accomplished for us.

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.

-The Love of Christ

O I am my Beloved's

And my Beloved is mine!

He brings a poor vile sinner

Into His house of wine

I stand upon His merit - 

I know no other stand

Not e'en where glory dwelleth

In Emmanuel's land

-The Sands of Time are Sinking

Haste thee on from grace to glory,

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.

Heaven's eternal days before thee,

God's own hand shall guide us there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission, 

Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,

Hope shall change to glad fruition,

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

-Jesus I My Cross Have Taken

The golden evening

brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful

warriors comes their rest;

Sweet is the calm

of paradise the blessed.

Alleluia, Allelu

-For All the Saints

Day By Day and Every Hour

Several weeks ago I made this canvas for my sweet camp friend Easter Tweester for her birthday. I realize that I haven't really blogged about camp at all. I learned so much this summer, and will probably continue to see the impact of my time at Pine Cove as the months go on. One thing we said repeatedly at camp has really transformed my thinking. There were so many times when I really did NOT want to get out of bed. Or I did not want to walk up the hill to the ropes course, or I did not want to bake in the hot sun, or I did not want to play the same games and do the same Bible studies that I did every week.... You get the picture. As fun as the camp environment is, at times I wanted nothing more than to get back to Auburn. The staff constantly reminded each other of Nehemiah 8:10 - that the JOY of the Lord is our strength. This verse doesn't simply say that we're going to make it through the day, but that the Gospel is enough to provide us with sustaining joy for every second of every day. God was so good to give me not only endurance, but enthusiasm! At the beginning of every week, right before welcoming a new group of campers through the gate, we sang a short song. At the end of the song we repeated the line "The Lord is my strength, the Lord in His power is my strength day by day and every hour." I have found myself coming back to this refrain even these past few weeks as my crazy schedule overwhelms me. My God promises me what I need for each day - and that's all. As the Israelites were dependent on manna each morning, so I have to start each day with the sustenance he has given me in His Word. And as he promises, his mercies are new every morning. May joy in the God of my salvation uphold me every minute of every hour.