Tuesday, January 24, 2006

everything

We've been talking about the idea of treasure with our teens over the last few weeks. Coming out of Matt. 6:19-21, "where your treasure is, that's where your heart is too." So last Wednesday night I'm in Junior High kicking around some ideas with these 6th-8th graders & I asked them how much would they pay to go to Heaven? If God where to say that they could buy a ticket that would ensure them a one way trip to heaven, how much would they pay to buy that ticket? One kid says, "Everything I have!" Another says, "All the money in the world!" Which led me to ask,
"How much are you willing to give God?" One good church answer came back, "10 percent." Then one after another they started saying that they would give God everything.

So, I pushed them a little. I know. It's not fair to be this way to Jr. Highers. But after many said they would gladly give God everything, I asked them to do it. I cleared off the stage & asked them to place everything they had on the stage & that we would give it away to those in need. One girl said, I don't have anything, obviously ignoring the warm coat she was wearing, the cell phone she was carrying, the money that was in her expensive purse. I said, you guys have plently on you tonight. I pointed out some of these things, & asked them to give tonight whatever they would to God. Not much made it to the stage. A few kids, trying to be funny, began to throw some trash up on stage. Then, all of a sudden, Samantha came up. A 6th grader. And stood on the stage. Letting all of us know that she would give "everything."

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18.3

Thursday, January 19, 2006

heavy


I love our thursday morning get togethers at Cafe Baba's. It's something I look forward to every time we do it. Mostly we hang out, talk & enjoy coffee. But we also take just a few minutes to share a verse or 2 & a prayer before the day starts. This morning we shared in Psalm 8. And we talked a lot about God's glory.

Glory has always been a difficult word for me to really get my mind around. I mean, what is it? How do we get it? How do you define it? What does it look like? What is God's glory? Now I still don't have it all figured out, but I have to say that one thing I learned in my Hebrew (language) class last semester was the meaning of glory. In Hebrew, the word means heavy, weight, or significance. So God's glory would be His weight, the sum of all the greatness that He is. It's His significance...His meaning-full-ness. So if God is significant, we are insignificant. If God is meaningful, we are meaningless. If God is infinite, we are finite. If God is heavy, we are lite. If God is great, we are small.

God's glory defines who He is in so many ways and reveals who we aren't. Psalm 8.5 says that God has crowned us with glory & honor. All that we aren't God redeems to make us who He wants us to be. He re-defines who we are by crowning us with His glory. And all that we are becomes evident in the light of His glory. Praise Him.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

baby t

Well, it's been killing us to keep such a big secret for so long! Alisha & I found out we were going to have a baby back in Decemeber, & we just made the big announcement last night to everyone. We're very excited! Alisha is 10 1/2 weeks along. Our due date is set for August 6th. Everything is going perfectly so far. We're thankful for that. And we're thankful for you. For all our friends & loved ones who continue to surround us, support us & love us. We humbly ask for your prayers. We'll keep you posted as the journey continues. For now, you can check out the first photo of our baby. This is only the first of many pictures to come!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

i praise you

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you percieve my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out & my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

You hem me in--behind & before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night all around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in a secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139.1-18, of David