The Way Things Are

Have faith that He knows all, sympathizes with all, can rectify what is amiss in all! Have faith in the outworking of His beneficent purpose: that the ruin will become a magnificent pile; the desert will blossom into a garden. Have faith in God. Keep close to Him - His side, His will - and He will teach us the true thing, the right way. Have faith that God knows, and we shall know by and by, why things are as they are.

Springs In The Valley, Mrs. Charles Cowman

The Best Place

With infinite care and forethought God has chosen the best place in which you can do your best work for the world. You may be lonely, but you have no more right to complain than the lamp has, which has been placed in a niche to illuminate a dark landing or a flight of dangerous stone steps. The master of the house may have put you in a very small corner and on a very humble stand; but it is enough if it be His blessed will. 

Springs In The Valley, Cowman

Successful Christianity

I hope that you are as profoundly disturbed as I am by this new definition of "successful" Christianity. Do you get the uncomfortable feeling that God is being used? The self-centeredness of our culture spawns a self-centered religion. The most common question in evangelism today is, "What can Jesus do for me?" Potential converts are told that Jesus can make them happier, better adjusted and more prosperous. Jesus quickly becomes the supreme product, attractively packaged and aggressively sold to a consuming public.

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning

Rescuing women from sexual exploitation in Atlanta

In the state of Georgia alone, approximately 250 girls are recruited into prostitution on a monthly basis. Many of these girls end up in Atlanta which has a significant sexual exploitation industry. But Redeemed Love, an Atlanta based organization, is working to stop all that. Dedicated to rescuing women and girls out of prostitution, their mission is to provide victims a new life free of sexual exploitation.

One driving force behind Atlanta's sexual exploitation industry lies in the transient nature of the city. As one of the busiest airports in the world, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport draws in many "buyers" of sexual services. Another factor contributing to the rise of sexual exploitation in Atlanta is the number of major events and conventions held in the area. 

Read More Here.

Rest

What is rest? To step out of self-life into Christ-life; to lie still, and let Him lift you out of it; to fold your hands close, and hide your face on the hem of His garment; to let Him lay his cooling, soothing, healing hands upon your soul, and draw all the hurry and fever from its veins; to realize that you are not a mighty messenger, an important worker of His, full of care and responsibility, but only a little child, with a Father's gentle bidding to heed and fulfill; to lay your busy plans and ambitions confidently in His hands, as a child brings its broken toys at its mother's call... to cease to hurry, so you may not lose sight of His face; to learn to follow Him, and not to run ahead of orders; to cease to live in self and for self, and to live in Him and for Him; to love His honor more than your own; to be a clear medium for His life-tide to shine and glow through. This is consecration, this is rest.

Springs In The Valley

Choosing Gratitude

Even in the most turbulent waters, choosing gratitude rescues me from myself and my runaway emotions. It buoys me on the grace of God and keeps me from drowning in what otherwise would be my natural bent toward doubt, negativity, discouragement, and anxiety.

Over time, choosing gratitude meanings choosing joy. But that choice doesn't come without effort and intentionality. It's a choice that requires constantly renewing my mind with the truth of God's Word, setting my heart to savor God and His gifts, and disciplining my tongue to speak words that reflect His goodness and grace - until a grateful spirit becomes my reflexive response to all of life. 

Choosing Gratitude, Nancy Leigh DeMoss

This Week

Try as I might to come up with something, I am fresh out of blog material. Or maybe I just don't have the energy to sit and write write write these days. There are a lot of things I am pondering over and meditating on that I could translate into article form, but I am just struggling with doing so right now.

I have been reading a lovely new book Choosing Gratitude that I would highly recommend. I will comment more on it later or post a review, but in the meantime, if you need something convicting or something to help you refocus, it is a great book.

The Journey of Our Lives

The journey of our lives is a double journey. There is an outward journey into external confrontations, discoveries, and relationships, and there is an inner journey into self-knowledge and the discovery of what constitutes my individual self-expression, self-fulfillment, freedom, and contentment within. For the Christian, the outward journey takes the form of learning to relate positively and purposefully to the world and other people (to all God's creatures) for God the Creator's sake, and the inward journey takes the form of gaining and deepening our acquaintance with God himself and with Jesus the Son.

In God's Presence, JI Packer

Finding Favor With Children

It is common these days to hear parents say that their children, especially during the teenage years, do not like them. It is considered normal for adolescents to be mad, huffy and rebellious toward their parents and often it is expected as a normal phase of family life.

With all the emotional and physical changes kids endure during their adolescent years, maybe bad attitudes or unhappiness from teenagers is inevitable, particularly when they do not get their way or what they want. But for some families, the teenage years are so difficult that it is hard for parents not to feel as though God has left them on their own to struggle through. 

I often wonder if this period of family life is at times worse than it needs to be. Is it just the way things are with teenagers or have parents missed something that could help prevent or dull their negativity and defiance? 

Read More Here.

On Duty

Every Christian is called to be on duty twenty - four hours every day in 'the king's business.' Your office, your school, your kitchen, your drawing room, your factory, all are a mission field. Jesus still says, "Give the hungry something to eat."

Plenty For Everyone, Corrie Ten Boom

God Weighs The Motive

Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You are what you are, and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God's sight. If you consider well what you are within, you will not care what men say about you. They look to appearances, but God looks to the heart. They consider the deed, but God weighs the motive.

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis

Pat Robertson seems to have forgotten the verse "Do Unto Others."

During the Sunday evening service, my church asked for donations to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Turns out, my church has been involved for a number of years with ministries in Haiti and as a result already has relationships and partnerships in place that will be able to quickly bring aid to those in need.

I did not hear any words of condemnation or any insinuation that Haiti was being judged or punished by God at my church last night. The only thing that mattered was that there is a desperate need for aid in Haiti and the people sitting in the audience should help financially if they could. It was a far cry from the words spoken by Pat Robertson this past week about the devastation in Haiti.

Read More Here.

Fellowship With God

If fellowship with God is our first concern, then we can have fellowship with Him in the kitchen, in sickness, in any kind of trying and difficult situation. Whatever lies across our path to be done, even the most irksome chore, is there to be done for God and for His glory. Gone will be the former striving, bondage and frustration. We shall be at peace with our God and ourselves.

We Would See Jesus, Roy and Revel Hession

The Atlanta Examiner

My new article, "Listening to President Obama is like listening to an alcoholic," is up at the Atlanta Examiner if you want to check it out!

God Is Love

Every single thing that happens to the Christian expresses God's love and furthers God's purpose for him. Thus, so far as he is concerned, God is love to him - holy, omnipotent love - at every moment and in every event of everyday life. Even when he cannot see the why and wherefore of God's dealings, he knows that there is love in and behind them and so he can rejoice always; even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong, he knows that the true story of his life, when known, will prove to be "mercy from first to last' - and he is content.

In God's Presence, JI Packer

Book Review: Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade

It is hard for many of us to imagine, but there is a slave trade that is alive and thriving all over the world. In almost every major country, human trafficking is occurring. The poor and vulnerable, widows and orphans, and at times entire families are being lured and trapped into a life of servitude and slavery. 

David Batstone, in his book Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade, chronicles the rise and return of the global slave trade as well as the hot beds for slavery around the world. The book is full of statistics, thoroughly researched, and includes real life accounts by former victims of their time in slavery as well as how they escaped in places such as Thailand, Uganda, Europe, and the USA.   

The victims stories are chilling and tragic, but Batstone also profiles the every day people and heros who have dedicated their lives to rescuing slaves. Not For Sale is an excellent resource for readers to learn about modern human trafficking and how they can help stop it. 

My Stack 2010

As I have stated in previous posts, I have a little bit of a book problem. Meaning, I love books, so I read a lot, particularly when I should be doing other things, like sleeping.

This is what my bedside table looks like.

These are some of the books I am looking forward to reading this year...

On Writing
The Israel Test
Deep Survival
Choosing Gratitude
Baby Wise
What's So Amazing About Grace
The Importance of Being Foolish
Patched Together
Superfreakonomics
Wrapped in Rain
The Mission Of Motherhood
Master And Commander
Master Your Metabolism
The Shaping Of A Christian Family
Homeschooling For Excellence
Experiencing God Through Prayer
Springs In The Valley
My Grandfather's Son
The Defector
Boundaries With Kids
HMS Surprise
Post Captain
The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune Of War
Praying
Dear John
Jayber Crow
Parenting by the Book
Not For Sale
Louder Than Words
The Road
Crazy Love
Moscow Rules
Potluck
Churchill
The King Must Die
Getting Out Of Our Kids Faces and Into Their Hearts
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbor
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Fat Smash Diet
The Remebrant Affair
Ragamuffin Gospel
The Ministry of Motherhood
What Is A Family
Toddler Wise
Child Wise
World War IV
Tinkers
Queen Elizabeth
Guilty
Damaged But Not Broken
Cool It
The Butterfly Garden
The Last Days Of The Romanovs
The Afghan Campaign
The Discipline of Grace
Raising Great Kids
The Bin Laden Family
Christ of the Indian Road
The Help
Traitor To His Class: The Story Of Franklin D Roosevelt
Twelve Christian Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy
Jesus Creed
The Scarlet Letter
The Second World War
The First World War
A History of the Jews
The 4:8 Principle
Grace Based Parenting
Ruthless Trust
Liberal Fascism
The History Of The American People

The Ministry of Small Things

The unglamorous and little publicized words of mercy, the ministry of small things, feeding and sheltering, visiting the sick and incarcerated, educating, correcting, speaking a healing word, bearing wrongs, listening creatively, counseling, washing dirty feet, praying with people, are all ways of living the life of compassion. This is no minor matter. When Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48, "Be perfect... as your heavenly Father is perfect," the same commandment is translated in Luke 6:36: "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning

The Purpose of Sorrow

When sorrow comes under the power of divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul and unknown capabilities of experience and service. Gay, trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the little meanness in their nature. Sorrow is God's plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests.

Streams in the Desert, January 20

Growing in grace through Christ centeredness

There are several external signals that indicate a believer is growing in his relationship with God. A greater faith, deeper humility, and a willingness to accept insecurity are all indicators a Christian is walking with God. But one other important indicator is the Christ centeredness found in a believer's life.

While the term "Christ centeredness" can refer to a variety of characteristics in a believer's life, it is a desire for the Savior that best defines Christ centeredness. A Christ centered believer desires to...

Read More Here.