The Good Portion

I'm at a weird place. I guess you could call it writer's block. I've got a huge row of back burners on slow boil, but nothing up front. I'm hoping to post soon about Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio. I've got a book I received for free in exchange for a review on my blog. I'm hoping to start reading that in the next few days. I've got a few other books in process. Also, I'm still trying to decide on a regular study to focus on. Daily life has been really full. Our vagrant issue came to a head yesterday with Paul once again getting sworn at and given the finger, this time for the crime of sitting on our front porch on the most beautiful afternoon of the year thusfar. These are substance abusers who live in campers, eat at the soup kitchen down the street, and park in front of our house pulling out lawn chairs and getting drunk and doing drugs with all their visitors right there on the sidewalk, across the street from our front door. He decided that t...

As I believe I've mentioned before, I've decided to take a break from teaching in our church setting while I seek to grow for a while in my understanding of God's grace. I'm hoping for these truths to be more deeply established before I lead a group again. I had been scheduled to begin a new series this spring. The timing proved to be perfect for me to step back as there is another woman in our body who is gifted to teach whose time has come to step forward. Seeing God arranging all this is a great relief and comfort. It looks as if I won't be doing a study for six months or more. After that, if the Lord wills it, I intend to lead a study through Jonathan Edwards' Charity and It's Fruits. So, my point in bringing all this up is that my husband insists that during this interim I do some kind of study on my blog. He says he profits when I'm working on a study and would like for that to continue. So, my friends, do you have any suggestions? Is there a...

I feel like sharing a little more hope for sinners from C.H. Spurgeon "The way of loving trust in the Savior is illustrated by a lady who is the wife of the most eminent physician of the day. She is seized with a dangerous illness and is smitten down by its power. Yet, she is wonderfully calm and quiet because her husband has made this disease his special study and has healed thousands who were similarly afflicted. She is not in the least troubled, for she feels perfectly safe in the hands of one so dear to her and in whom skill and love are blended in their highest forms. Her faith is reasonable and natural; her husband, from every point of view, deserves it from her. This is the kind of faith which the happiest of believers exercise toward Christ. There is no physician like Him; none can save as He can. We love Him and He loves us. Therefore, we put ourselves into His hands, accept whatever He prescribes, and do whatever He bids. We feel that nothing can be wrongly ordere...

As much as I love my life - precious gift from God that it is - and my way of life, the truth is my lifestyle is my own, unique to me and my own family situation. You can't live the way I do, nor should you want to, nor should you try. You have your own dwelling place, likely very different than mine; your own husband (or wife - or lack thereof), in any case very different from mine; your own children (or none), your own parents, your own income level, your own degree of education, your own set of skills, your own manner of employment, your own besetting sins, your own history of suffering, your own shame, your own weakness, your own inability. I cannot ask you to do things my way, nor do I expect you to, nor do I encourage you to. Honestly, I can't see why you would want to. You've got your own life to live, and you answer to God for how you live it, not me. This is, in part, why I don't write much here about my lifestyle. I assure you that's not because I...

"There will be general lamentation, tearing of garments, and wailing, at the following statement, but it must be made. Spurgeon was not infallible. I will pause so that those currently experiencing shock, dismay and hopelessness, may recover their senses. Second amazing statement coming up. You can actually gain great edification from someone with whom you have disagreements. Again, a brief pause. It is a sign of maturity, in my opinion, to be able to analyze a writer of the past, thank God for his insights and testimony, while at the same time, recognizing differences of viewpoint and even belief. No one could turn a phrase like Spurgeon. The term "wordsmith" does not do him justice. The prince of preachers indeed. But I risk much to add that quite often the prince of preachers' exegesis of a particular text suffered in the service of over-all sermonic excellence. We all know that there are some great sermons out there that are exegetically atrocious. They seem t...

As many of you know, I've been focusing on God's grace for a while now. I hope you will understand even if this is all I ever speak of again. It is all I really have that is of any lasting value to offer you. It is God's grace that makes the Gospel truly good news. It is also the very idea of grace that I, like most people, am very inclined to resist. We are proud creatures; and that is not a good thing. We think we are basically good, and, at the very least, a lot better than a lot of people. We got our goodness by our upbringing and/or our bootstraps. We don't want something for nothing as if we were lazy and shameless. We not only want to earn our own way, we want to merit everything we have - well everything good that is. Everything good that comes our way, we want to be able to think it came to us because of what we've done right. We want the control over our futures; we want the credit for our successes. In short, we want the glory - we want our ou...

Way to go Duck Tape! Apparently there's not much you can't do with it and a creative and resourceful spirit. To prove it Duck Tape brand duct tape is offering college scholarships to the kids who can make the most wonderful prom outfits almost entirely out of their product. The contest is called "Stuck at Prom" and the results are absolutely delightful!

How do you feel about "dogma"? What is your reaction when doctrine is discussed. Boredom? Nervousness? Crawling skin, or raised hackles? Perhaps a more pleasant sensation, self-righteous pride. I think I've felt all of these at one time or another, depending on my fickle human moods. Well, apparently a distaste for firm doctrinal beliefs is nothing new. Jellyfish have been around for a long time. The following quote is from J.C. Ryle (1816-1900). It could have been penned yesterday. [Dislike of dogma] is an epidemic which is just now doing great harm, and specially among young people…. It produces what I must venture to call…a “jelly-fish” Christianity in the land: that is, a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or power. A jelly-fish…is a pretty and graceful object when it floats in the sea, contracting and expanding like a little, delicate, transparent umbrella. Yet the same jelly-fish, when cast on the shore, is a mere helpless lump, without capacity for movement,...

I was just having lunch with a couple of sisters in the Lord this afternoon. Both are raising small children. One, like me, already has grown children, and is relishing this opportunity to raise children in a godly home. We had a great discussion on what that means. When I got home, this e-mail from my pastor was waiting for me, so I thought I'd share it here. Your Child's Greatest Need by John MacArthur Adapted from What the Bible Says About Parenting: God's Plan for Rearing Your Child by John MacArthur. If you've been a parent for any time at all, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that your child came into the world with an insatiable faculty for evil. Even before birth, your baby's little heart was already programmed for sin and selfishness. The inclination toward depravity is such that, given free reign, every baby has the potential to become a monster. Original sin is the biblical doctrine that explains your child's sinful procli...

Ever get feel guilty for doodling when you "should be paying attention"? Ever find yourself totally checked out when you really do need to listen? Well this article may give you a new perspective. Now I don't feel so ridiculous for taking sermon notes even though I never, ever look at them again.

Let us pray that God will be honored in our nation and world, that human lives, created in the image of God, will be held precious and sacred. My heart grieves that such a thing as "surplus" embryos exist. I know God will care for the souls of those helpless ones that the ruthless ones are destroying. But let us love and pray for the souls of the ruthless ones. They are the ones most urgently in need the hope of the gospel.

Dear Mr. Ehrman, I've lived the last four years as a Christian, with Christ as my hope and the Scriptures my guide. They have been the source of all hope, joy, and meaning in my life. They have instructed my thoughts and attitudes. My faith has made me the person I am today. I listened to your interview on NPR on Wednesday morning with great interest, and a degree of distress. I am a person devoted to truth. I can think of no fate worse than to learn I've based my entire life on a lie; and that appeared to be just what you were trying to tell me. You are a textual scholar. I am not; but am also not entirely ignorant of Biblical textual criticism. The rudiments of it were explained to me two decades ago in Bible college (back when, much like your younger self I was a professing fundamentalist who'd had a teenage so-called "born again" experience and wanted to become a Bible scholar). And I read on the subject here and there even now. So I listened to hea...

Here's a nice bit of satire for a Thursday. Lord willing I'll be posting a bit of my own tomorrow. Friends, I've missed you all, but have been too busy making ends meet the last couple of weeks to spend much time visiting. (Denise - if you haven't given up on me by now - I'm back to my old cell phone #. Hope you still have it. I'm hoping to get to talk to you tomorrow, Friday.) HT goes to Tim at www.challies.com

It seems appropriate that during this time which I've devoted to growing in my understanding of the love and grace of God for His people (and me), that I should be "interrupted" in my studies by the wedding of two of my dearest and most favorite people - Bryan and Rachel. Friday, during the time I would usually be blogging, I was working on their gift. Saturday, yesterday, was the long and much anticipated event. It was quite a day! Every once in a while, you meet a couple so perfectly suited to each other that you can't imagine an unsuccessful marriage. This is one of those couples. Another reason I think these two strike such a chord with me is that they remind me so much of me and Paul. Only in our case the husband is the free-spirit and the wife the straight-laced one. We've both benefited so much from each other, and learned so much from each other. I'm so excited to see these two do the same. Fortunately for the happy couple, my brother-in-law (our pasto...