Anyways, let me tell you what I saw.  I saw bubbles that had formed around the rim of the cup shortly after a fresh pour.  They were all pressing in on each other, and as they pressed against one another, some of the bubbles started popping.   The proximity, or closeness of the bubbles to one another, put enough pressure on one another, that they could no longer hold their shape.  Within a minute or so, all of the bubbles had popped, and a smooth, single bodied coffee remained, dark, mysterious, caffeinated, delicious, and effective in the good work of making me alert and focused.

And then, as I do often these days, I began to think of how missional community, and ultimately our ability to follow Jesus, through the transforming power of the gospel was represented in that cup.

The bubbles from my coffee, represented the shape that we make for ourselves in this life.  We work hard to create a persona for ourselves so that others might perceive us in a certain way.  We would like to be perceived as smart, successful, well-adjusted, fun to be around, respectable people.  Several more adjectives could be used here.  The cup represented missional community, the rim, represents where we meet the world in mission, and the coffee itself, well, that represents the gospel.

Like the bubbles in my coffee, when we get together in missional community, over time, we will press in on one another, challenging the shape we have worked so hard to achieve.  If we are intent on bringing the gospel to bear on one another’s lives, so as to disciple one another towards Christlikeness, then  some of our “shapes” or “bubbles” will bust due to people pressing us in various ways.  Our attempts to compensate for our shortcomings and failures will give way to truly being known in our weakness.  It is really hard to maintain this persona we have worked so hard to build, when we come together around the mission of God.  When the “bubble” of our persona has popped, we have found our identity in the gospel, just as that bubble has found its place in the coffee.   As I stared into my coffee, I noticed some bubbles pop quicker than others, while a few resisted till the very end, when, due to the heat, and pressure, they too busted.

What is it that causes some to burst quicker than others?  I am no expert on the chemistry behind coffee bubbles, but for people, I have an idea.

Some people are more desperate for help, so they are quicker to “bust” and let people know the truth about their life.  They need change, and they know it.

They need it so bad that they are willing to open up and be read by everyone so that good counsel, correction, love and encouragement can flow….nourishing them with the power of the gospel for change.
For others, they resist “bursting” as long as they can.  They do not want to be known. They have worked too hard to construct the shape of their bubble and they are unwilling for everyone to know how dysfunctional they are, how unsuccessful they are in certain areas, how sinful they are.

This is called pride. The Bible speaks very poorly of pride.  In fact, the sin of Lucifer who became Satan, was pride.  When Eve, sinned, it was pride.  So from the very beginning, pride is considered especially bad, and yet it has its claws so tightly wrapped around some people, that many will resist being known till the very end. Maybe to the end of their marriage, to the end of their career, to the end of everything that matters. often, to the end of their life. They cling to the persona, the shape they have worked so hard to maintain.

How important is your persona to you?  Are you still finding your identity through the shape that you have worked so hard to build.  Wouldn’t it be so much better for you if you found your identity in the gospel work of Jesus, and then got worked over through specific, personal gospel application by a community in covenant with you for the sake of mission.  This is what a gospel-formed, missional community does.  God never intended us to develop as isolated disciples. He created us to be team players, working together for the goal of personal and corporate gospel change.  Think about it.

Last week, the plague of intestinal heaving descended on our house.  It was like something you see in a Steven King movie, where the ethereal green fog with menacing eyes moves with vicious intent towards an unsuspecting family having a picnic.  It started on tuesday and by Saturday evening, every member in our home of 7 had been struck by this force.  The most notable seizure of body and will was Tera’s.  She laid down pillows and a blanket next to the white porcelain fixture in our bathroom normally visited by our posterior.  It was horrible.  Balin was the funniest.  He had no comprehension for why his innerds would turn, leading to a spontaneous hurl wherever he happened to be standing at the time.  The look on his face, horrible as it was, was also funny.  It said, “what in the he** is happening to me?  Someone do SOMETHING!!!”

I have been doing alot of work in my shop lately, just trying to get it in really good ergonomic order.  I really enjoy building things, but if my shop is a mess and it is difficult to maneuver around, motivation fails me.  So, through several small purchases, and some well placed outlets and a good flow of work designed, it is becoming a real joy to work in.  This is the smallest shop area that I have for about 9 years, so organization is an essential quality.  The coolest thing about working in the shop is that Balin really wants to be with me out there.  He eats alot of dust, gets really dirty, and laughs alot.  It is priceless. Right now, I am engaged in several projects for some of our family members for Christmas presents so the shop has gotten good use.

My boat building has continued with Chris Cook, although this past Monday I was still suffering with remnants of the previous plague and I was only able to work half a day on the boat project.

I have also been busy on a large built-in bookcase/desk project in Smyrna in order to make a little Christmas dough for the kiddo’s.  Tera and I got each other an early Christmas gift when we took 6 months of intentional savings and got a mammoth flatscreen TV for our bedroom.  Maybe it means we are shallow, but Tera and I have always enjoyed a good crime drama so we got a TV for our room.  We got a really good deal on it, and we don’t have to squint to see it.

I am planning an overnight camping trip with the kids for next week, as long as it stays pretty dry.  We will do a little hiking (stress on a “little”), and then camp, hugging the fire.  I remember cold-weather camping with my dad when I was a kid so me and the kids will enjoy this soon as well.

Its weird, it really takes a while to disconnect from church stuff to be able to enjoy the sabbatical for what it should be, but we are in full-swing rest-mode at this point and it has been very good for our family.  Later today, we have a christmas party for Ander and Aowyn, both of which are in public school, so we are looking forward to hanging with our kids at their school.

I’ll write more later, when there is more of interest to talk about.  May all of you have a very, merry Christmas.

Our family has certainly been enjoying the rest.  I am able to be so much more involved in my children’s lives through helping with Aowyn and Ander’s homework, answering Athan and Malec’s questions throughout the day about their homeschool work, and following Balin around.  I am helping Tera with cooking and even doing a little baking.  Yeah…I know, ridiculous, huh?   I have been working on few projects for Christmas in my shop, and Balin loves being out there with me and eating sawdust.

On Mondays, I am building a boat with Chris Cook.  We are both building identical boats that are 14′ long and can seat my entire family.  It has been a really enjoyable experience and I can’t wait to get the family out in the spring for a day long float trip down the ‘Hooch.  I will provide pics as soon as my computer is returned from the Apple store.

Last week we were in Richmond, VA for thanksgiving and had a wonderful time visiting my last remaining grandparent and my aunt and uncle.  On the way back, we discovered Balin had a 103.5 degree temp signalling yet another double ear infection.  Athan had a day long bug as well, and Aowyn and Ander have unpleasant coughs.

Tera is doing okay, and don’t tell her I told you, but she is already contracting at 20 weeks.  She contracted in VA and a good bit Monday night.  She doesn’t want everyone to know, but we could use your prayers for this baby to stay put for another 16 weeks or so.  She has contracted early with most of our children, but never this early.  With Ander, she was in the hospital for a week at about 32 or 33 weeks.  There is a good possibility that some regular bed rest may be in the agenda for her and she is not good at slowing down, so pray for me to care for her well, and run a tight ship around here while she is resting.

We are going to Columbus later today to stay with John and Sue Batastini for a couple of days.  John and I will be planning our India trip in February but we’ll also have plenty of fun.  Tonight, we are going to the Callaway Garden light show thingy.  That should be fun.

I hope to take the boys on a cold-weather camping trip during the next month, maybe to Amicolola falls or Anna Ruby Falls in north GA.  We have been taking lots more pics than normal, so I hope to have some of those up for you soon, just waiting on my computer to arrive.

We are hoping that all of you are doing well.  We love you all.

Currently, there is a group or fan page for just about every ideal and person on the planet and by joining one of these groups, you can say alot, with very little effort.  Some of us are braver though.   There is a boldness that comes over us as we sit behind the computer screen that is not afforded to us otherwise, and we find ourselves saying things and getting into arguments over our preferences, and positions.  My concern in all of this, is that the gospel would be ignored, and rather than moderating our tone and being led by charity, we would allow ourselves to be drawn into arguments that are not helpful in the pursuit of following Jesus in community.

When the gospel gets ignored in our self-expression, we abandon the role of missionary that God has assigned to each one of us (John 20:21).  You may say say, I am free to say what I want, to which I would counter, if you are a christian,”you are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body” “on Facebook” (1 Cor 6:19-20).  Technoiogy can be used for good or bad, and I am challenging Christians to manage their “self-expression” with love.  In our churches, we can use facebook as an opportunity to take sinful stabs at people, or elevate our opinion into a cause that we can create division within the body with.  I love the diversity that we have at the Journey.  We have people who are all over the map politically.  We have proponents of different child-rearing strategies, different football teams, different thoughts on open handed biblical subjects, and different ideas about recycling.  It is a very healthy environment for people with differing opinions to live together in harmony.  What destroys harmony though, is when our opinions or preferences become a cause and a hill upon which to wage war against those who do not share our opinions on that subject.  This is when Facebook becomes a sword of division, rather than a helpful tool under the banner of love.  As Christians, the Jesus is our banner and the gospel is his story of how people from very different backgrounds and viewpoints can be brought together in his blood.  The gospel is the story about how divisions become strengths.  We can celebrate that we disagree on subjects, not simply sweep those divisions under the rug.  But if we are to be one under the banner of the gospel, then we must submit to the gospel’s implications for how we use facebook for “self-expression”.  Otherwise, with the click of a button, we can begin tearing down christian community because our preference has become a cause and we need to demonstrate our superiority on top of our self-righteous hill.

We are sinners, all.  I have been irritated by things lately that were expressed in the form of a cause on Facebook and I would waltz right in to a public forum and try to dismantle some else’s statement because I like demonstrating my righteous position.  Shame on me.  Some of you have done the same thing.  Some of you are allowing preferences to become a cause for you and you are willing to alienate people that the blood of Jesus was shed to unite.  May love bring us out from behind our computers to embrace those of other opinions.  Lay down Facebook the sword, and instead pick it up as a tool of encouragement and support.

To that end, I am suggesting that we ask a few questions whenever we want to express controversial subjects on Facebook or other public forums.   These questions may keep us from being perceived as an arrogant ass.

1.  Am I being overly dogmatic about this statement or position?

2.  Does what I am saying carry the potential to be inflammatory towards people of another position?  (Quoting Bible verses may be inflammatory, but they can take that up with Jesus, I am referencing sharing your opinions and preferences in this blog)

3.  What is my tone like in this post?  Could I say this in such a way that others would not be offended?

4.  Am I just grinding and axe, and is this the  proper place to do it?  (consider the missional implications)

5.  Is humility portrayed in this post?  Am I postured towards a fight, or an honest conversation?

6.  Am I trying to stir up unhelpful controversy?  This, by the way is just downright sinful.

We are sinners, so it is important that we examine our hearts before we use Facebook to “express ourselves”. The “self” you are trying to express may be better kept between you and God.

One more piece of gospel centered advice:  You don’t have to respond to arguments on Facebook.  You don’t have to right the wrongs being presented in ridiculous views.  This is hard for me.  I like to be right, and I like to win so it is an exercise in real discipline for me to refrain.  If, however, you do feel inclined to respond, send the person a private message, rather than demonstrating your brilliant intellect on the person’s public wall. And please, however you act on Facebook, for the sake of mission and the advance of the gospel, be propelled by love, and remember that if you are a Christian, you represent Jesus. You are not your own….you have been bought with a price, so quit trying to be so much of yourself.  Be His.

First of all, you need to run to Jesus everyday to be your savior that day.  The gospel is the power of God to free you from your self-absorbed life.  You need to dutifully pray and read your Bible, all the while pleading with God that your duty will be turned into delight.  Look for any motivation you can get to pray and read the Bible.  One of the reasons why we don’t pray and read the Bible is that we are always looking for the highest of motivations, when lesser ones will do for awhile.  We all want to devote time to Jesus because we love him with a passionate love that is intimate, and shaping but sometimes lesser motivations are all you have.  You know, motivations like, fear.  ”God will whack me if I don’t pray”.  Not the best motivation, but it will do for now.  How about, “If I don’t read my bible and pray, and teach my children, they will grow up to be serial killers,… I see the way Johnny tries to torture the cat”.  Use these motivations.  Jesus will use your lesser motivations to move you towards delight in your relationship with him.  Continue to plead with Jesus, and he will deliver himself to you in ways that you can’t imagine.

Second of all, you need to be intentional, and no matter how disorganized you are, you need to get organized in this regard.  If you do not intentionally sit down and plan out what you are going to do to pastor your family this year, then you will see another blog like this next year, and want to kick yourself in the middle cause you didn’t listen to this one.  So, look at the average week and ask a couple questions:  1. What do I want to teach my kids?  2. How can I engage my wife spiritually?

I would humbly suggest that the answer to number one should be the Bible.  It is a good book, fairly popular, with neat stories about murder, mayhem, and oh yeah….Jesus.  It is an interesting book and holds the attention of children.  Look for ways to find Jesus in every story.  I would strongly suggest the Jesus Storybook Bible if you have younger children http://www.amazon.com/dp/0310708257/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=3353373687&ref=pd_sl_35i6yh8pld_e.  I have never seen a better resource for teaching young children and it will even teach you how to see Jesus as the point of every story in the bible.

As an answer to the second question, I would suggest first of all, that you quit being a jerk to her.  When you are praying with your eyes closed, she may be thinking of ways to harm you.  Just sayin’.  Seriously though, the best way to engage your wife spiritually is to start praying with her first.  Admit to her as you start this, that you have been lousy at a lot of things, but you really want to work on this.  Ask her for her help.  Not to preach at you when you forget, but to lovingly hold you accountable to lead in this regard.  Let me just say, this is harder than it sounds and your wife will think, “We’ll see how long this lasts”.  Your wife knows you, the real you,  and you can’t pull this off on your own.  You have to believe the gospel to get past the awkwardness of this.  Believe that Jesus has actually forgiven you for your outbursts of anger, the porn that you used to look at, and your past failures to lead your wife and children well.  If you start dwelling in the truth of this, then prayer will seem far more natural.  If you are not dwelling in this truth, You will often feel like a hypocrite as you try to get your wife to pray with you.  You yelled at her earlier, and she hates you because you won’t pick your underwear off the bathroom floor.  Life happens, you are both sinners, and prayer with your wife will be hard at times. Do it anyway.  It will get better.  Jesus wants you to pray with your wife, and your wife, whether she says it initially or not, wants you to engage her in this way.  Most christian wives are starved for this, because we have been married to our own selfish desires for too long.

After you have got in the habit of prayer, things will soften so that gospel conversations with your wife will feel less “preachy” to her, and more like you are engaging her as a lover, with the most romantic story every.  Start getting real honest with her about where you want to see transformation in your own life, and sooner or later, she will open up to you more as well.  The two of you will start working together towards transformation. Guys, THIS is making love to your wife.  Notice I did not say sex, and this is not a prescription to get more action.  Although,…this can’t hurt your chances.

There will be more to come on this later, but here is a template for how I am shepherding my family this year:

Sundays: Morning–Before we go to church, we get quiet in the midst of what is for a pastor’s family, a hectic morning.  Then we pray.  Asking God to help us see him in community with other believers.  Evening–After the day is over, we gather together and thank God for a wonderful day of rest and worship.  My kids are in bed by 8, which leaves Tera and I some time to unwind with each other, talk about the day, talk about people and things we need to pray for, and then we pray.  Sometimes,…and this is cool, our talking to each other seamlessly slips into prayer.

Mondays: Morning– Prayer with Tera and the Kids.  Evening–6 pm we have a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible and have some crazy deep discussion.  My kids are stretching me. After Kids are in Bed–Prayer with Tera.

Tuesdays: Morning–prayer with Tera and the Kids.  Evening–Family time between 5-7 and then my oldest, Athan, gets the small systematic theology, “Christian Beliefs” by Grudem http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310255994&QueryStringSite=Zondervan and we look through a few pages and talk about it.  He absolutely covets this time. I do as well.  After that, kids are in bed, and Tera and I have an hour to repeat what we did on Monday night.

Wednesdays:  Morning–prayer with Tera and the Kids.  Evening–This is a crazy night because we have a mid-week gathering at the Journey and my kids are learning great stuff.  After we all get home, we pray, and everyone goes to bed.

Thursdays: Morning–prayer with Tera and the Kids. (Take time to teach your kids forms of prayer during these times like ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication).  Evening–I play legos with the kids and we talk about “Jesus’ building blocks”.  During this time we discuss character issues.  I usually take an episode from earlier in the week, and use it to teach about Jesus’ example in something similar, showing my kids that Jesus has already been what we need to be for us.  At 8 the kids are in bed, and Tera and I have an hour.

Fridays:  Morning–prayer with Tera and the Kids. Then I take my only little girl on a daddy date to Starbucks. We usually color some pictures and I engage her heart with the gospel in some way.   Evening:  Free time. We might watch a movie, go out, or something creative around the house.  Then we all pray before bed.

Saturdays: Morning–prayer with Tera and the Kids.  We do different stuff together all day, but we are soon to implement time every other weekend at least, where we have identified a need that my whole family can be involved in meeting.  Evening–We get the kids together and count up the money they made during the week, talk to them about our stewardship of what God has given us, and they sort out their tithes, in secret, otherwise it gets competitive.  We pray after this, and the kids get ready for bed.  I am usually quiet on Saturday evenings after this, and kind of keep to myself.

Throughout the week, I look for opportunities to show my kids pictures of the gospel.  I am oblivious a large portion of the time to what is going on around me, but I am trying to get better to seize these opportunities.

This is my plan.  While yours should have similarity (bible, prayer, etc…), it should work for your family, and your schedule.  You just cant place a lower priority on your family’s spiritual formation than you do the rest of your schedule.  One other thing we keep in mind.  This is a flexible plan.  If we need to change something up, we just do it, with no regrets.  Also notice, that we try to bookend the days with prayer as well as filling the middle up with gospel opportunities as well. Deuteronomy 6:7 makes it pretty clear, that the day should be focused by our attempts to teach our families the gospel. This schedule simply provides Tera and I and the kids opportunities that we can look forward to.  I have never done anything as a father that has been so popular as this.  In the past, I pastored my family, but I am able to do it far better now because of the intentionality of a plan.  Your kids, will not let you forget.  They will cherish the opportunity to sit next to you (they will fight over priority of seating) and approach their heavenly father.  If you will do this, you will love it.  Listen, your family deserves a husband and father that will put time into surrendering his family to the reign of Christ in real, tangible ways.  Don’t throw another year of potential formation for your family away.  Man up.  Do this.

Case in Point:

A couple of weeks ago, I preached a message on prayer.  I entitled it, “Coming into God’s Delight”.  My central point is that christians are to be a people who continually pray, “God search me and know me….and reveal any wicked way in me.”  We pray this because we are supposed to be repenters, which in short, means that we are always turning from sin in our lives to Christ and the freedom of his gospel.  The truth is, that some sin hides, and so we must ask God to show us who we are and where we need to be cleaned up.

My oldest son, Athan, who is 11, was one of a few who stayed in the auditorium after the service to pray.  He prayed for almost 15-20 minutes by himself, sobbing the whole time.  This may sound bad, but I believed I knew what was happening with him, so I simply left him to stew in his despair all day long.  I told him we would talk later that night.  He was unusually quiet all day long.  None of my kids are quiet, ever,….I think they take after their mother.  Those of you who know me and my wife realize that was funny.

Later that evening, after our community group was over, I invited Athan into my office to talk.  I asked him, “so what was happening with you this morning and all day today”?  He answered, “God showed me who I am.  You told us to pray that God would search us and show us who we are, and he did.”  ”Well, what did he show you”, I asked.  With tears now steaming down his face and my joy rising in me like a geyser, he said, “God showed me that I am horrible….  hat I am a sinner and that if I don’t ask Jesus to save me, there is no hope for me.”  At this point, I must be honest, my eyes became faucets, literally.  You have seen the cartoons with the projectile tears….yeah, that was me.  I then led my son in crying out to God in his own words to plead for forgiveness and to trust Jesus with his salvation and acceptance before a God who loves, unconditionally, believing sinners.

My son’s despair was my joy, and it became his joy as well.  He is now a child of the most high God. Although he never really knew himself as anything other than a christian, he had now chosen the faith of his father to be his own faith.  Don’t worry, calvinists, God chose him first.  I am aware.

Sometimes we swoop in too quickly, for the evangelistic kill.   We never let people get to despair, much less wallow in it for any length of time.  I would encourage you, if you are sharing your faith with others, let them stew in their despair for awhile so that the full effect of sin’s gravity can help them to see the beauty of the cross and the glory of Jesus.  Become an evangelistic sadist and your joy will be made full as others are translated from darkness to light.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what your philosophical or religious background is; shame will push you into corners of darkness that seem inescapable.  There is, however, good shame and bad shame.  Good shame is that which leads us to the recognition that we have done wrong, and we need to confess and ask forgiveness to those we have wronged.  It is good shame that leads a person to the foot of the cross, with their head bowed, seeking the kindness of a savior who gives generously to those who approach in humility and even despair.  I am thankful for the way that God works in our lives through shame before we have become followers of Jesus.  It is shame that leads us to despairing of believing that we have any device or scheme that will atone for our sins and put us in right standing with God.  This is a leech that drains us of confidence in ourselves.  It drains us of any hope that we can do enough.  The darkness of that place has us craving the light of love and forgiveness.  I had an encounter with a man a couple days ago that showed me the value of God sent shame.  He was so burdened beneath the weight of his own depravity, that the message of the cross was indeed, good news.  Were it not for the shame he labored under, he would not have understood his need for a savior.  Because of this weight, he bowed his head to Jesus, and surrendered everything.  Control, authority, direction,…everything.  There is an old song that simply says, “I surrender all.  All to Jesus, I surrender”.  Thank you, O Lord, for the shame that leads to surrender.  Through surrender, comes serenity in Christ and the removal of guilt and shame.

As good as shame can be, it can also be a wicked instrument of Satan to destroy our confidence in Christ and His finished work on our behalf.  I have known quite a few Christians who were spiritually “bedridden” because they could not get past the strongholds of shame in their life.  They were not believing the truth of God’s word about them, but rather believing that how they felt about themselves, due to the ravaging work of Satan through shame, was their reality.  This is a leech that robs us of vitality and destroys our will to persevere.  Many people begin despairing that Christ can deliver them when He already has.  They are simply choosing to  believe the accusers lies, rather than live in the glorious truth of resurrection.  Romans 8:1 says “There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  This is the truth of every follower of Jesus.

Shame that does not lead to repentance, but rather drains us of the will to obey, can only be disarmed through believing and trusting the weight of our daily sin to the grace of God to be more than sufficient for us.  What are you laboring under?  How hard are you trying to “do better” and yet you are lonelier and more despairing than ever?  The answer to this is trust.  Can you trust Jesus work on your behalf as enough for you?  Enough to bind the accuser?   Enough to live free.

I played missional golf today with a dude that I am hoping will get involved in life at the Journey.  I had the opportunity to drink a beer, and smoke a cigar with a guy while playing golf today which was a freakin’ good time and through this opportunity got to know him alot more and have the chance to begin building a relationship with him.  After the ninth hole, which was when the Philippine type monsoon set it, we went and had lunch and we both got real with each other and talked about some heavy stuff in life.

In life, we have the chance to do something worthy of our maker.  Are we taking advantage of the way that God has naturally geared us?  Are we redeeming our hobbies and our interests so that God may be seen as glorious through them?  Maybe you need to do some missional four wheeling soon, or maybe some missional barbecueing, or my personal favorite, missional paintball.  Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God and so that the glory of God might be seen.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to know that God worked through your intentional efforts at building relationships with people who are lost and disconnected to draw people into relationship with God.  What a lofty thing to reach for.  Sola Deo Gloria!

1Cor. 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1Cor. 14:40 “But all things should be done decently and in order….”

1Cor. 14:33 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”

Okay.You will have to follow me here, but I believe that their is merit in my thoughts.

First of all I understand the context that all of these verses were written in, and I know that the context is not referring to one’s sexual appetites. There is though, principles in each of these texts that transcend their context and they tell us something about God and something about us.

Some of the older church confessions ask, “what is the chief end of man?” What is our purpose? To which we answer, “To Glorify God”. I usually define God’s glory as His revealed goodness. Example: creation reveals the glory of God in that it reveals or demonstrates that He is pretty freakin’ amazing. I mean,….look what He can do, right? Or the cross demonstrates the glory of God in that it reveals that God is love, amazing love, and this is good. Okay,… got the picture?

Well, the massive question that the Bible is written to answer is, how do we “glorify” him? How do we “show” or “reveal” that He is good? I believe that the answer to this is the lynchpin in my argument. We “glorify” God, or declare His goodness as we choose to live in pursuit of His will and His way for us. We are, in fact, surrendering our will (or propensity towards this or that, gay or straight), to His wisdom in designing a way that is good for us.

If God, as creator and the determinate designer of morality and the distinguisher of right from wrong, has said that straight (rightly practiced) is good, and that gay is wrong, then He has designed “order” for us. At this point, I look to the heavens and declare with Isaiah that His ways are higher than mine and His thoughts higher than my thoughts. I do not have the reason “why” He ordered our sexual morality the way that He did, but I do know that He did, and since He has given me order, then to glorify Him means to surrender to His order. I do not have to understand God and His design in order to accept it, otherwise we are throwing out every major doctrine of Christianity, such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection.

We should do all things in “order” because God is not a God of “confusion”. The latter two texts above, are written in contexts that give lots of instructions for the church because God has designed that things should work in a certain way and that surrender to this order brings him glory. He has designed order and I live to celebrate Him, not myself. To offer my sexual direction to the “confusion” of this present age is for me to decide that my way is better, which, if we remember back, is what Eve decided to do. God had designed “order” and she rebelled against that order. Just as straight people disregard the divine design of their straightness by confusing the steps to engaging in sex, (marriage, then sex with your spouse), so gay people, who may be born with this propensity, confuse the revealed “order” that God has given us that governs our thoughts and practice on this issue. We know that God is a God of “order” and that we are prone to “disorder” or confusion because of the fall. We should, in all that we do, give glory to God as the designer of our world and the architect of our salvation. Sola Deo Gloria

This lady, is beyond amazing.  She has these little stuffed animals laying all around the living room with the little voice boxes inside them so that when you pull their arm or rub their belly or scratch their butt, they start singing some song that is usually incredibly annoying, but my kids love it, and Mrs. Ellen just starts getting giddy.  She finds such joy in my children causing these animals to make noises while my wife and I are about to lose our minds.

She is an awesome witness to us about the joy that is to be had in Christ.  She is sitting there with a brace on her knee because she fell recently and now has to use a walker around the house. She is so independant and hates using this walker, but simply refuses to complain about anything.  She looks forward with expectant anticipation for Jesus to come back soon and to give her a new body so that she can feel as young as her heart is again.

I want to encourage anyone who is a part of the Journey, to go by and see Mrs. Ellen sometime.  She adores children and will let them pull the strings, or whatever else may cause that sucker to sing.  You will benefit for having been there,  I promise.