suziebeezieland

paula

A few days ago when I was urging you to get involved in a local God-glorifying, gospel-believing church if you aren't already, one of the things I forgot to tell you about church, is that church can break your heart. 

My church lost a very dear friend yesterday.  Paula was hospitable and funny and talented and wise, and she loved her family (so do we), and she loved her friends. She loved visiting suziebeezieland, and enjoyed all you creative ladies. For Paula, people were where it was at. When she talked to you, she looked at your face and used your name, and when she asked you a question, she listened to the answer.

Most of all, Paula loved God.  She was vulnerable about her own struggles in life because she knew this glorified God's grace and work in her life. (One of the many things she said that has stuck with me for a long time was on the subject of why she was active in Moms in Touch. She said, "I know my own limitations as a parent, and I need as many Godly women as possible praying for my kids.")

If you met Paula at the bus stop, or in the vegetable section of the grocery store, or at the hairdressers, or anywhere, she probably told you about Jesus, and then invited you over for tea and knitting, and made you a friend. And she would sew or knit you neat things. And she would pray for you, all the time, even though she was the one who was so very ill for so long. 

Scotty Smith recently posted A Prayer About Friends Finishing Well in the Gospel (excerpted below in italics), which I have thought about this week as I've prayed for Paula in the hospital, and now as I mourn her death. 

Paula finished well in the Gospel. She did not allow her disappointments, pain, and the harsh difficulties in her life to knock her off the path. She used these things to testify to God's lovingkindness and goodness.

And so even though church can break your heart, we wouldn't want it any other way. We rejoice in being part of this body of Christ, where such love is even possible:

I’m so very grateful for the friends you’ve woven into my life. Being an introvert, the journey of investing my heart in long term relationships has required, and still requires the work of the gospel in my heart—a grace work you’ve been faithful to provide.

I’ve already gripped the handle of a couple of friend’s caskets and [my friends will] do the same for me one day. More than ever, I want us to finish well together in the gospel. What does that look like and what will it require, Jesus?

My temptation is to treat my easiest friendships like a broken-in pair of Birkenstocks—I just enjoy these relationships without much thought or effort. It’s a great gift to have a few friends who can finish each other’s sentences, endure one another’s jokes, appreciate each other’s quirks and accept one another’s weaknesses. Surely, this is a gospel-gift.

Yet, Jesus, we’re still foolish [people]—capable of acting out in very destructive ways, prone to wander, easy targets for temptation. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. With all of my heart, I believe in the “final perseverance of the saints,” but I equally believe that it’s the saints who will finally persevere. Your Word is very clear—continuance in the gospel is a sign of being rooted in the gospel. That doesn’t scare me, but it does humble me.

Help us know how to hold each other accountable for believing the gospel. Help us to take each other’s heart-struggles seriously. Don’t let us confuse flattery with encouragement. Help us never to minimize nor marginalize the hardening power of sin. Help us know how to preach the gospel to our own hearts daily and to each all the time, until Today gives way to the Day. 

So very Amen, I pray, in your all glorious name.

the duties of parents: #8

Slowly but surely, we're making our way through JC Ryle's little book The Duties of Parents. (You can find previous the previous posts under the category "Current Series", listed in the sidebar.)

Today we're looking at duty #8:

Train them to a habit of faith.

By this Ryle means that we should train our children up to believe what we say. He writes:

You should try to make them feel confidence in your judgment, and respect your opinions, as better than their own. You should accustom them to think that, when you say a thing is bad for them, it must be bad, and when you say it is good for them, it must be good; that your knowledge, in short, is better than their own, and that they may rely implicitly on your word.

This is solid Biblical wisdom. Proverbs 1:8-9 says, "Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck."

I believe Ryle assumes that we're taking our previous Duty #2 to heart: Train up your child with all tenderness, affection, and patience. Our kids are going to have trouble trusting us if we are emotional loose cannons. If they're never sure what they're going to get when they approach us, or if our mood dictates how patient we are, or if we berate them in front of other people and shame them, we can say "blah blah blah" all day, and our kids might comply outwardly, but it's going to be a case of "sitting down on the outside but standing up on the inside." We build distrust when we are not steady and reliable.

Remember that with all of these duties, our ultimate goal isn't that our kids will outwardly conform to certain behaviors, although sometimes that is the short-term effect. Ultimately, we're guiding them toward Jesus, with the hope that their hearts will be changed.

So what about kids asking "why?" when you ask them to do something? Are we supposed to always take the time to explain "why" to our kids? Ryle writes,

I have heard it said by some, that you should require nothing of children which they cannot understand: that you should explain and give a reason for everything you desire of them to do. I warn you solemnly against such a notion. I tell you plainly, I think it is an unsound and rotten principle. No doubt it is absurb to make a mystery of everything you do, and there are many things which it is well to explain to children, in order that they may see that they are reasonable and wise. But to bring them up with the idea that they must take nothing on trust, that they, with their weak and imperfect understandings, must have the "why" and the "wherefore" made clear to them at every step they take, this is indeed a fearful mistake, and likely to have the worst effect on their minds.

As our kids get older, there are more opportunities and reasons to give them more "whys". But our children should trust us whether or not they know the "why" all the time. We'll talk about obedience in an upcoming "duty", and we'll see that this issue of trust is closely related to the issue of obedience.

I think this trust in us and in what we say comes when our kids see us consistently living lives of integrity in front of them. In his (excellent) book Shepherding a Child's Heart, Tedd Tripp talks about "bringing integrity to your interaction with your children". He notes:

You model the dynamics of the Christian life for your children. You must let them see sonship with the Father in you. You should show them repentance. Acknowledge your joys and fears and how you find comfort in God. Live a shared life of repentance and thankfulness. Acknowledge your own sin and weakness. Admit when you are wrong. Be prepared to seek forgiveness from sinning against your children. The right to make searching and honest appraisal of your children lies in willingness to do the same for yourself.

Again, some of this is more appropriate or will increase in frequency as our kids get more mature. You don't want to burden a five-year-old with your biggest fears. :) But even with a five-year-old, you can apologize to him or her if you lose your cool or model something ungodly to them. 

When we expect our kids to trust us, we are showing them what God expects of His own children. That's why it's so important that we are trustworthy parents! Proverbs 2:1-15 gives a clear picture of the value of God's children trusting Him. 

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 

Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

Ryle concludes,

... a day will come when [your children] will see the wisdom of all your training. But in the meantime if you say a thing is right, it must be enough for them. They must believe you, and be content.

And again, how clearly I see myself and my own relation to God as His child in this! :)

masterpiece theatre spring schedule

Here is the remainder of the Masterpiece Theatre Classic Season (on PBS) for 2011. If you click on it, you can see it in its original size. (You know, for those of us in our forties and up who are grabbing for our reading glasses an awful lot lately. Ha.)

ps I saw this The 39 Steps when it first aired, and I quite liked it. :) I didn't like that horrid version of Persuasion that Rupert Penry Jones was in one bit, but I liked this a lot.

heart + soul weekly roundup

Hi!

Every Friday, I'm going to give you links to the best blog posts I've read during the week from that list over there in the sidebar under "heart + soul." (Obviously, "the best" is my own subjective judgment.)

I'm doing this with the hope that it will be an encouragement to you as you grow in your faith in Jesus.

For those friends who do not follow Christ, maybe you'll find some of the links to be of interest, anyway.

 

William J. Stuntz (1958-2011) at Between Two Worlds
Piece on Harvard Law Professor and follower of Christ who died last week from colon cancer at age 52.
That is our God’s trademark. Down to go up, life from death, beauty from ugliness: the pattern is everywhere. 

Have you Considered God's Patience? at Between Two Worlds
God’s patient kindness is meant to lead to repentance. 

We Confess at Kevin DeYoung
Jesus is Lord ... The language is so familiar to many of us that we don’t understand the magnitude of the confession. We forget that when the first Christians spoke of Jesus in this way, they were speaking of a man they had seen and smelled and touched. 

Consider the Lilies: Fujimura on The Four Holy Gospels (Part 4) at Desiring God
... we benefit much from the artist’s observation and depiction of the outer and inner worlds ...

Laying the Bricks in Your Marriage at The Blazing Center
A marriage doesn’t become beautiful in a day and a marriage doesn’t fall apart in a day.

I Can't Forgive Myself at The Blazing Center
You’re worse than you thought you were. But there’s a Savior who’s greater than we know.

Their Own Mothers Will Pimp Them Out at Carolyn McCulley
Recent Wall Street Journal interview with Jennifer Moses about early sexualization of girls via fashion and media.
... scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We're embarrassed, and we don't want to be, God forbid, hypocrites. 

The Christian Parallel Universe at Gospel Driven Life
We follow the One who was a friend of sinners, who took on flesh and blood as he entered a world in which there was nothing but defilement.

the winner!

 

The winner of our drawing for the book The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos is our Valeria! Congratulations, Valeria.

That's pretty funny, because Valeria lives down the street from me. :)

(If you are trying to figure out how the drawing worked, there were fifteen women who entered to win. Your number is based on which comment you were, after removing my own comments! Then I had Random.org generate one number from 1 to 15.)

We'll have more book drawings later. Hooray!

mommy's nose is scary

roast beef sandwich

Here is a roast beef sandwich I like to make for special, like when somebody I love comes over for lunch. I got this from my sister, who is a delicious sandwich maker. So is my mom.

Here is what you'll need:

• bread (I use San Francisco International Sheepherder's Sliced Bread, and pull the longest slices out of the middle. It's a round loaf. Sweet Hawaiian is good for this, too.)
• thinly sliced lean roast beef
• a red onion
• leaf lettuce or romaine
• Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese Wedges (I use Light Garlic + Herb)

Spread one cheese wedge over two pieces of bread, then layer with roast beef (lots), one big lettuce leaf, and a few thin rings of red onion. If you don't like red onion you could use tomato, but red onion gives it some zing. :)

I like to serve this with the deli broccoli salad from our local Ralph's, which is really good. And a few Kettle Brand Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper Chips. (I eat chips rarely these days.*)

If you used whole wheat bread and served it with fruit, instead, it would be pretty healthy. :)

*I've lost 16 pounds so far, since January 31, if you're keeping track. :D I still can't tell by looking at me, but I've gone down a size, which has been exciting. I may have also lost a chin or two. I'm not sure. :) I have a lot to go, but so far, so good. An also-losing-weight friend at church passed on some pretty clothes to me in my new size (she's now smaller, hooray) and that has been fun. It's nice not to spend money on a size which I hope to pass through in a couple months. I hope this info is encouraging to any of you also losing weight, or wanting to. You can do it! Hooray! :)

the duties of parents: #7

We've been slowly working our way through J.C. Ryle's little book The Duties of Parents since autumn. (The last post on it links to all the others before it so far.)

Today we're looking at duty #7:

Train them to habits of diligence, and regularity about public means of grace.

That means, show and tell your kids how important it is to attend church regularly. :) You may recall from some previous duties of parents that it is kind of futile to teach something to your kids if you, yourself, aren't doing it. 

If you are not a believer in Jesus, the habit of attending church is not going to earn you any points with God. :) Nothing you do can earn you points with God. However, if you attend a gospel-centered church, you will hear the gospel, and see it in action, and that is never a waste of time. In fact, it is a very good investment of time. It is one of the best investments in time you can possibly make.

If you are a believer in Christ, there is no substitute for being a part of the body of Christ. No book, weekly Bible study, Christian friend, online community, recorded sermon series, or personal devotional life can replace worshipping, serving, and growing in God together in a church. 

Hebrews 10:24 and the beginning of verse 25 says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another ..."

Romans 12:4-5 says "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

1 Corinthians 12:22-31 talks extensively about "one body with many members" and reminds believers, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Ephesians 4:11-6 gives a really clear picture of our purpose in coming together in church:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 

Get yourself to church, girlfriend. :) You need to find a gospel-centered church that teaches the whole counsel of God. If you do not know where to start in finding such a church, I encourage you to consult the Gospel Coalition Church Directory and the 9 Marks Church Search.

I know "9 Marks" sounds like something weird. It's not. It refers to the "nine marks of a healthy church," according to the Bible. "According to the Bible" is a really important idea here. :)

D.A. Carson writes,

Sooner or later Christians tire of public meetings that are profoundly inauthentic, regardless of how well (or poorly) arranged, directed, performed. We long to meet, corporately, with the living and majestic God and to offer him the praise that is his due.

Here are nine marks of a healthy, profoundly authentic church:

1. Preaching: Your pastor should open God’s Word, take the main point of a biblical text, make it the main point of a sermon, and apply it to life today.  That's called "expositional preaching." Expositional preaching is important because God’s Word is what convicts, converts, builds up, and sanctifies God’s people (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; John 17:17). Preaching that makes the main point of the text the main point of the sermon makes God’s agenda rule the church, rather than the preacher’s agenda.

2. Biblical Theology: Your church needs to have sound doctrine. "Sound doctrine" is thoughts and beliefs about God that are in accordance with what the Bible says about God. You should be hearing what God says about God, rather than simply how someone wishes God were. (John 17:17; 1 John 1:1-4) 

3. Gospel: Your church needs to be centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 1-4 contains one of the fullest explanations of the gospel in all of Scripture. If you want to read a succinct summary of the gospel, try 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

4. Conversion: Your church needs to have a view of conversion that acknowledges that God must act, and people must act. A biblical understanding of conversion recognizes that only God can save, and that He saves individuals by enabling them to respond to the gospel message through repenting of sin and trusting in Christ. (Mark 1:15; John 3:1-8; Romans 6:1-23)

5. Evangelism: Your church should evangelize. Biblical evangelism means (1) sharing the message about Jesus’ death and resurrection with non-Christians and (2) calling them to repent and believe.  (Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 10:14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-16)

6. Church membership: Your church should recognize that church membership isn’t just names on a list or an emotional attachment to your childhood church. It’s attending, loving, serving, and submitting to a congregation of people.  

7. Discipline: Your church should look and act differently than the world, and should practice church discipline. In the broadest sense, church discipline is everything the church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin. Preaching, teaching, prayer, corporate worship, accountability relationships, and godly oversight by pastors and elders are all forms of discipline. In a narrower sense, church discipline is the act of correcting sin in the life of the body. With discipline, we will, by God’s grace, bear peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:5-11).

8. Discipleship: Your church should exhort its members to grow in holiness and help others do the same. Christians learn by instruction and imitation, which means that churches are where both should happen.  (2 Peter 3:18)

9. Leadership: The Bible teaches that churches should be led by a plurality of godly, qualified shepherds. The Bible calls them "elders". (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)

If you have any questions about these marks of a healthy church as according to the Bible, there is more information here, including further scriptural references describing each "mark". (I gave a sample of Bible references, but not all.) You are also free to email me with any questions or concerns.

So back to our kids. :) Ryle writes,

...there are some who say that it is useless to urge children to attend means of grace, because they cannot understand them. I would not have you listen to such reasoning. I find no such doctrine in the Old Testament ... And when I turn to the New Testament, I find children mentioned there as partaking in public acts of religion as well as in the Old.

He gives lots of examples from the Bible, including Exodus 10:9, Joshua 8:35, and Acts 21:5.

He also points out that even the disciples, who were adults, did not seem to have understood everything Jesus said at the time He said it. (John 12:16) Ryle continues:

Be not cast down because your children see not the full value of the means of grace now. Only train them up to a habit of regular attendance. Set it before their minds as a high, holy, and solemn duty, and believe me, the day will very likely come when they will bless you for your deed.

In their book How People Change, Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp write:

My work with teenagers has convinced me that one of the main reasons teenagers are not excited by the gospel is that they do not think they need it. Many parents have successfully raised self-righteous little Pharisees. When they look at themselves, they do not see a sinner in desperate need, so they are not grateful for a Savior. Sadly, the same is true of many of their parents.

So that's something to think about, ay? Are we showing our kids why we ourselves need the gospel so desperately? And not just telling them that they do? If you already take your kids to church, do they know why they're going?

I could write a whole lot more about the blessing and immeasurable value of being a part of the body of Christ, and of teaching your kids to also regularly attend church. But I pray that you get it.

"s" to the "i" to the "m" to the "p"

If there is one thing the three of us here in the Bailey household can always agree on, it's that we love Phineas and Ferb.

We also love their music.

We also love singing to their music, lip-synching to their music, and dancing to their music.

Yes. All three of us love this. ("Forty-five seconds of pure genius," Bob says of Backyard Beach.)

In no particular order, here are ten of our very favorite Phineas and Ferb songs. (Except for "Izzy's Got the Frizzies," they, plus sixteen more songs, are all available on the Phineas and Ferb Soundtrack.)

knit your own royal wedding

"With a cast of characters including the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla, Price Harry, the Archbishop of Canterbury, a variety of wedding guests plus, of course, the happy couple themselves - and even a corgi - this is one wedding souvenir that will be a must-have for any keen crafter."

Thanks, our Michele V., for sending this! :) Look at those corgis ...

spring cleaning

Yay to our Kristina over at Two Happy Mamas Blog Design Studio, who made the pretty new banner and sidebar titles and cute little green frame with the birdie "happy art" for the sidebar.

She is so, so nice to work with.

Thank you, Kristina. :) You knew exactly what I wanted. How did you do that?

"the organized heart" drawing,+ our struggles with perfectionism, busyness, possessions,+ leisure

How many of us, two weeks ago, could have foreseen the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the resulting problems with the Fukushima reactors? Or the violence in Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen? If you have even glanced at a news source lately, you may have come away with a sense that the whole world is falling apart around us. 

Decorating, organizing, and recipe blog posts can seem pretty weak-sauce -- not to mention insensitive -- in the midst of such grief and chaos. Are you really going to complain that your closet is too small for all your shoes and that your spice cabinet is a mess when people are watching their homes and loved ones swept away?

But the thing is, those have NEVER been topics to build a life on. Even on "quiet" news days, our hearts weren't designed to grow and thrive on a diet of materialism.

Creative and joyful homekeeping and crafting is a great blessing, and a delight for women to share with each other, but it has never been the main thing, and it has never been enough, for anyone, anywhere.

We are spiritual creatures, made to worship a living God. 

Isaiah 46:5-7 gives some sharp, almost sarcastic imagery of people worshipping idols instead of God:

To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike? 
Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith,
and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship! 
They lift it to their shoulders,
they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. 
(Isaiah 46:5-7 ESV)

Then they fall down and worship! They create a god themselves, and then they fall down and worship it. How dumb it is to worship created things rather than the creator Himself. Will our etsy purchases answer us or save us from our troubles? Will our foolproof organizational methods come to our rescue when our house floats out to sea? Will our super duper recipes nourish us when we have lost our loved ones?

No, they will not.

But although I know this to be true, I find my heart having idols big and small all the time. I make things that God never intended to be ultimate, ultimate.

Imagine my surprise this week when I read a review for a new book about organization that treats disorganization not as a problem requiring a new system in place, but rather as a problem of idolatry. Yep. You read that right: disorganization as a heart issue, a sin issue, and an idol.

I downloaded The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos by Staci Eastin onto my Kindle as quickly as you can say "this idea sounds disconcerting but rings true and I must read more", and read the whole book in a couple hours. I found the author to be very transparent about her own struggle with organization, winsome in her writing style, and solid in her knowledge of God.

It kind of smacked me in the head. I know I am frequently talking about books just "smacking me in the head", but honestly, that is often the reaction I have to books (or friends) that speak Biblical truth to me in a new way. I kind of get knocked over. It's because I tend to make everything a lot more complicated than it actually is, and when people cut to the chase and say, here's the problem and here's the solution, kablooey, just like that, it always flabbergasts me.

(I am pretty sure that's the first time I've used the word "flabbergasts" in suziebeezieland. I was so embarrassed by that word when I was a little girl, because it sounded like a mixture of "flubber" and "blabber" and "gas". I totally remember the first time I ever learned it, too. We had those Sally, Dick and Jane readers in school, and Sally was doing a handstand, and Father was flabbergasted that she knew how to do one.)

I've been so unhappy lately about my busy schedule and my time management (lately = forever), and actually, my disorganized head has been a grievance to me my whole long life. And this book was extremely convicting, and very good.

The author says,

This book will be different than any other book on organization that you've probably read. I have no schedule to offer you, I won't tell you what day to mop the kitchen floor, and you don't need to buy a timer. Your standards for an organized home and a reasonable schedule will vary with your personality, season of life, and the needs and preferences of your family.

What I hope to do is to help you examine your heart and discover things that may be hindering your walk with God. My goal is not necessarily for you to have a cleaner home or a more manageable schedule -- although I certainly hope that is the case. Rather, my hope for this book is that it will help you serve God and your family more effectively, more fruitfully, and with greater peace and joy.

As I read it, I felt like the author had been spying on my own life:

The disorganization in my life was not due to lack of knowledge or skill and it was not due to a problem in my childhood. Rather, it's a broken belief system: a heart issue, a sin issue. At the end of the day, it's idolatry.

That may sound awfully harsh. You want this book to help you organize your life, not lay more guilt and shame at your feet. Being disorganized may be unhandy, but it's just your personality, right? It's certainly not a sin. 

Or is it? Disorganization steals your joy. It causes you to go through your life frazzled and stressed. It causes friction with your husband and makes you snap at your children. It makes you perform ministry tasks grudgingly. It prevents you from developing friendships, because you're always rushing from one task to the next. You don't feel like you're doing anything well, let alone to the glory of God.

Hey, how did she know? And I am willing to bet money that if this sounds to me a whole lot like me, it sounds to at least one of you a whole lot like you.

If you would like to win a copy of The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos by Staci Eastin, please sign up here in comments by midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday, March 22. I'll announce the winner next week, and the book will ship to you direct from Amazon.com.

Here is the official Amazon description of the book, which is from Cruciform Press:

Disorganized? You don’t need more rules, the latest technique, or a new gadget. The fight against chaos is universal, whether it be the outward chaos of disorder and frenzy or the inward chaos of fear and self-criticism. Even if we already know how to do better, something falls apart between our good intentions and getting it done. Most books on organization just add more rules to your life, whether it be another plan, another calendar, or another method.

This book will show you a different, better way that is grounded in the grace of God. The Organized Heart focuses on four areas of common difficulty for women: Perfectionism, Busyness, Possessions, and Leisure.

Jesus taught that true change doesn’t come by the addition of more rules, but from the inside out, with a change of the heart that only the gospel can bring. When you identify the heart problems behind the chaos in your life, lasting change can happen. This will not only reduce the stress in your life, but help you be more effective in your service to God.

asian access matching gift pledge

Someone gave a $1,000,000 matching gift pledge to Asian Access for the Japan Tsunami Relief Fund I mentioned earlier this week. Here's what the Asian Access website says about it:

Asian Access received a $1,000,000 matching gift pledge to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of those who have been impacted by the devastating earthquakes and tsunami last week. This gift and the funds given to match the pledge will help us achieve our mission for Asian Access/Japan "to unite the church" and "extend the transforming power of the gospel."

Asian Access is working with our vast network of churches across the country (400 pastors and 1800 churches - approximately 20-25% of the congregations in Japan) and with CRASH--a ministry of Grace Church which has grown into the largest Christian coordinating agency--to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of several communities across the nation.

We estimate there are nearly 300 churches in the tsunami-impacted areas and Asian Access has already launched a disaster response team for CRASH to set up a relief base in the affected areas. A few churches are already serving as shelters and are receiving those who have been left homeless.

Help us provide relief to the people of Japan by giving to this special matching pledge! Your gifts will double the impact of the relief efforts.

To give financially, mark your check "Japan Matching Grant" and send to Asian Access, PO Box 200, San Dimas, CA 91773 USA

My friend Tim has updated his blog a couple times since the earthquake and tsunami. He notes things we don't hear about on the news here in the U.S.

enjoy your shamrock shakes

the real patrick

I am a servant of Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Patrick)

There is an interesting article over at the Resurgence website about St. Patrick. (Not for kids! It specifies the debauchery of the Celts so the reader can better understand what Patrick was dealing with as he told the tribes about Christ. It squashes some of the current romantic notions about apple-cheeked, hard-drinking, rough-but-harmless barbarians. In reality, they were wretched brutes, utterly lost, and given over to total depravity. Individual conversions within their ranks demonstrate mightily God's goodness and the power of Christ's work on the cross to redeem even the very wildest of the lost.)

The article is pretty short and is worth your time to read. Look for the phrase "funky monk mullet." :D 

war

You will not know what prayer is for
until you know that life is war.
One of the great obstacles to praying
is that life is just too routinely smooth for many of us.
The battlefront is way out there,
but here in my tiny bubble of peace and contentment all is well.
O may God open our eyes
to see and feel the needs around us
and the great potential of prayer.
(John Piper) 

south pasadena

Today my sister and a friend and I went to lunch in South Pasadena. We browsed in a store called Zinnia, where I've never been, and they had the neatest painted floor. And a shop cat! Claire and I have both always wanted a shop cat.

That whole area right there around where they have the South Pas Farmer's Market is so cute. Next time I'll bring my camera (I just had my phone today) and show you some of the neat houses. I've been meaning to do that for years. But not when I'm out with friends, because the photo taking gets kind of obnoxious then, I think. And I end up missing what we're doing, and missing out on enjoying each other because I'm too busy taking pictures.

It's weird how anti-social technology can be, or how wonderfully social, depending on how you use it.

Half the people at the grocery store are on the cell phone. I haven't seen anyone's face in a year or so at the grocery store. Just the tops of bent-over heads.

If you come to California, I'll take you to South Pas. :)

asian access japan tsunami relief fund

My college friend, Tim Clark, has served with Asian Access for the past 21 years. He and his wife Wakako and their sons live in the city of Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan.

(Their staff profile, which is great, is here.)

(And some of their newsletters are here, and their blog, which I love because it highlights their day-to-day life in Japan so well, is here.)

Wakako is a dear and Godly woman. She was working for OMF in Japan before she met Tim. (Wakako's sister introduced the two of them.) I look forward to the Clarks' newsletters. When Tim was single, his newsletters were always great, but they're even better since he's gotten married, and include Wakako's perspective on sharing the Gospel in her culture. I am convicted by Wakako's faithfulness in accounts such as this and this. I also love her thoughts on God's timing in their adoption and pregnancy, here. 

I have known Tim for 26 years, and he remains one of the most committed, focused, honest, and hilarious Christians I have ever met. You can read a little of Tim's perspective on their lives and ministry here.

We still laugh about Claire at their wedding, which took place here in Pasadena in 2008. Claire was young and impatient during the bilingual ceremony, and leaned over to ask us quite loudly, "When do we get to the cake part?"

I learned about Asian Access back when Tim first went to work for them. Asian Access began in 1967 in Japan, and has worked with hundreds of churches there. The organization partners with national leaders to start and strengthen churches. Asian Access is a well-established presence in Japan, and has the ability to distribute earthquake and tsunami aid through their extensive network of Japanese churches.

I endorse the Asian Access Japan Tsunami Relief Fund. :)

summer with matthew mead

Matthew Mead has another "bookazine" coming out soon for summer. Yay! It's available for preorder here. (It will only be available from his website, and you'll receive it in early May.)

how long, o lord

This past weekend, I downloaded onto my Kindle a book called How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil by D.A. Carson, and have been reading it since. It was recommended to me by a few different friends, and because I have read other books by Carson and appreciated his wisdom, maturity, and scholarship, I quickly bought it.

It is a thorough book that does not flinch from examining some of the Bible's most difficult passages on evil and suffering. Carson focuses on Biblical truth and God's character.

It's not the type of book where you will sit and nod your head excitedly and rush to the end. It's the type of book where you'll read a little bit, have an initial reaction (sometimes negative), think about it all day, go to the Bible a few times and read the context of the verses, think about it again, pray, then go back and read some more. I wouldn't want less from a book on such a difficult topic.

Carson himself acknowledges that he is "not primarily addressing unbelievers who think the problem of evil and pain so intractable that it calls into question the very existence of God." (If you find this describes you, you might consider reading A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, which is the book that inspired both versions of the movie Shadowlands.)

I recommend How Long, O Lord if you know Jesus, are committed to the truth of God's sovereignty (even as you struggle to understand it), believe in the infallibility of scripture, are committed to your own spiritual growth and maturity, and have a genuine desire to understand the presence of pain and evil and suffering in the world.