by Kimberly | Jun 4, 2012 | Books
Another month, another stack of books. I always overshoot my reading abilities and time, but I’d rather do that than not be ambitious and then only get one – or none – read. With hub’s schedule this week I’ll have some evening to do some reading. And I have 20 hours in a car this month just counting one trip so I hope I can get some reading done then as well.
Here we go. You will see some similarities from last month.
Loving the Way Jesus Loves – Philip Ryken – Yes, I’m still reading this one.
From One Ministry Wife to Another – Susie Hawkins –
What Did You Expect – Paul Tripp – I’ve been reading this one for a while, hopefully I’ll polish it off this month – great book
Parenting by God’s Promises – Joel Beeke – liking prinicples of it, not necessarily agreeing with all the underlying theology
Bake in the Day Bakery Cookbook – Cheryl and Griffith Day – I love reading cookbooks and this one is no different. Cookbooks are about three things for me: writing, food, and photos. For it to be a good cookbook, all three have to be present.
Boyhood and Beyond – Bob Schulz – still praying through this one for Baby Campbell
Letting Go of Perfect – Amy Spiegel – This will be a great read because I’m always striving to live up to unrealistic expectations.
A Woman’s Wisdom – Lydia Brownback – I’m looking forward to finishing this before TGC’s Women’s Conference later this month. She is speaking and leading a publishing forum. Brilliant.
Girl Meets God – Lauren Winner – Autobiography for the month.
So, this month I have:
1 Autobiography
3 Christian Living
1 Cookbook
3 Parenting/Marriage
That’s a good spectrum for me. Now…gotta get to reading.
by Kimberly | May 31, 2012 | Books, Uncategorized, Women
Bandwagons. I don’t like them – ask my husband. So, I haven’t read any of the Twilight, Harry Potter, or Hunger Games series. So, when a friend asked me to write a blog post about 50 Shades of Grey, I said, “sure!”. I haven’t read Mary Kassian’s thoughts on this yet – but will get to it after I write my own thoughts.
I didn’t even know what I was looking for in the store, but I found it right away in my local Target store. I was truly appalled at the few bits that I read while I leaned against the store counter. I then made my way to the nearest Barnes and Noble to gather the trilogy in my hands and write this post.
I was really thinking about putting in some of those snippets but I will refrain – if I don’t want women to be reading this book, I don’t need to allow you to read it on this blog. And, I really don’t need to read those snippets again.
Here is some of the back of the book:
“When the couple embarks on a daring passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.”
Classification: Erotic Romance – Mature Audience
The tag line at the bottom: “Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.” Really…
Obsess you: There should only be one obsession in you life if you are a believer: Christ.
Possess you: The Bible I read already declares us to be possessions of Someone: Christ. He bought us with His own blood and sanctifies us. Women: this book will not aid your sanctification process.
Stay with you Forever: That is the unfortunate part. I can’t erase what I read in this book, I can’t go back to before I read it. It will stay with me forever. It is damaging. Don’t do it.
In this book these is sex, reversed gender roles, obsession, unbiblical habits that are brought out on every page, envy, anger, lust, need I go on?
So…this one is pretty easy. Don’t read it. I don’t know what good could come out of it. Since I’ve been married, what I put in my mind has changed. Before I could watch chick flicks or read Sweet Valley High (in high school) and Christian romance novels. But, honestly, now I can’t. I love my husband too much. I don’t want to bring any outside thoughts into our bedroom. I trust him too much to do that to him. He should be the one I fanticize about – not anyone in a book or on a TV screen. (Note: some friends might know that I loved the Mentalist – mainly because of Simon Baker – I don’t watch the show anymore for this very reason.)
How do you guard your mind and thoughts and engage the culture at the same time? What do you do with non-Christian books that invade culture? Well, whether its with Sci-Fi, teen romance that is all the rage – really, adult women falling in love with vampires – how do you keep your thoughts pure?
I seldom just say NO to cultural phenomenons. I want to judge for myself. And with some reads or movies I think you can engage them with a biblical worldview and your watching of it will not do any harm. But, there are some that won’t do any good.
One song from the early 90s I often sing (just because its stuck in my head) is “Free your mind, and the rest will follow.” I know that song doesn’t have really much to do with what we are talking about today – but the problem remains. If we “free our mind” from God’s laws and mandates that are made for our good – then pretty soon the rest will follow: our heart and then our actions.
Here is some of the best of what the Bible has to say about this:
Proverbs 4:23-27: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
Ladies: keep your eyes, feet, mind, and bodies pure. 50 Shades will not enable you to do that.
by Kimberly | May 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
Mercy Me always seems to put out stellar songs and the ones I am thinking of have solid biblical lyrics. Love it when a Christian artist can do that. Engage the culture and where people are without sacrificing the truth and depth of the lyrics. This is no less true for their new song, “The Hurt and the Healer“. Even thinking of the title reminds me of the book of Job or Paul’s prayer for the removal of the thorn.
We all face difficulties in life, in fact, Jesus says that if we are believers, we will face trouble. But, we have to take heart – for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). These difficulties may come in the form of sickness, financial troubles, relationship disagreements, forks in the road, death, etc. We never know what may come our way – but we do know the One who holds all things together. My Mom’s favorite song is I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. A favorite song I sang in high school was “Trust His Heart”. There are many songs out there that speak of hardship and knowing that God is still in control. My favorite hymn is It Is Well. There you go – another one that speaks to that truth of the sovereignty of God over all of our situations. We must claim that and believe that only with Jesus will we have peace through these storms.
The Hurt and the Healer – by Mercy Me
Why?
The question that is never far away
The healing doesn’t come from the explained
Jesus please don’t let this go in vain
You’re all I have
All that remains
So here I am
What’s left of me
Where glory meets my suffering
I’m alive
Even though a part of me has died
You take my heart and breathe it back to life
I’ve fallen into Your arms open wide
When the hurt and the healer collide
Breathe
Sometimes I feel it’s all that I can do
Pain so deep that I can hardly move
Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You
Lord take hold and pull me through
It’s the moment when humanity
Is overcome by majesty
When grace is ushered in for good
And all our scars are understood
When mercy takes its rightful place
And all these questions fade away
When out of the weakness we must bow
And hear You say “It’s over now”
Jesus come and break my fear
Awake my heart and take my tears
Find Your glory even here
When the hurt and the healer collide [x2]
I highlighted some of the lyrics above, so I thought I would expound on them:
Jesus please don’t let this go in vain – The Hubs and I are going through the book of James this year. As I re-read it almost daily, as I did with James 1 today, certain truths keep ringing loud and clear. In James 1, the outcome of the suffering (count it all joy, right?) is steadfastness, faith, crown of life, perfection and completeness. These will not come without trial. Believing that there is a plan and a purpose though to any trial you or I face is a tough faith thing. But, as it says later in James 1 – God never changes. So we must hold fast to the fact tha tHe is faithful and does all things for our good and His glory.
You take my heart and breathe it back to life – Some of you who are reading this may have just lost a loved one or your husband may be facing trials or you might be struggling with relationships or being in a place God has you for this time in your life. You might find that there are days when you would rather just not get out of bed (why does bed bring so much comfort?) Are we willing to let Jesus bring life back into our dead hearts? I’m reading through Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word and in one of the sections she talks about the difference and the difficulties when Christians who are filled with Light are struggling with darkness. Are we willing, as believers who trust in the Sovereignty of God over all events in our lives, to let Jesus have full control and lead us where He wants to take us (or keep us?)
Pain so deep that I can hardly move – Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You – This pain can be quite debilitating at times. But, where is our gaze? Do we constantly focus on the hurt, the pain, the weariness, the exhaustion, the quietness, the numbness, the tears? Or we will able to let go and look to Jesus. I love the Fernando Ortega song, “Give me Jesus“. This speaks greatly to our needs vs our wants in what will satisfy our deepest longings.
Awake my heart and take my tears – One of my sweet friends, Jill McCloghry, one one of her early projects, wrote a song about the grace and mercy of God in how He catches our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8) There are some days when I don’t think I have any tears left (pregnancy). But, I know they are not wasted. I know God sees each and every one of them that fall and none of them soak my shirt and leave marks where He doesn’t see them. My husband often wipes away my tears – but my Father God who is gracious to me keeps them and knows them and will not let them be cried for nought. He is tender and merciful to His beloved sons and daughters.
You may wonder why I chose this picture to go on the top of the blog? I have this knack and desire to find half dead flowers and take its picture. It reminds me that we who were dead have been brought to life by the breath and salvation of God through Christ. It also applies here. We who are made alive may (no, will) go through suffering and at times we see no hope. But, where there is death – there is life. Jesus is that life.
I pray that no matter where you are today or what you are going through, this song/video, and this blog post have been an encouragement to you and has enabled you to fix your eyes on Christ.
by Kimberly | May 29, 2012 | Bible
“Let every creature rise and bring, their grateful praises to our King.
Angels decend with songs again, and earth repeats a loud amen.”
Neil and Kate Robins – Sojourn, Advent Songs
Psalm 148:
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!
Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!
Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 148 ESV)
(Picture taken by Eric Campbell at the South Carolina Aquarium on 5/25/12 – Charleston, SC)
by Kimberly | May 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
(Today’s post is written by a friend of mine, Bekah Mason. Thank you Bekah for filling a need I had today and so spot on as well!)
The last few weeks have been an overwhelming blur. Every facet of my life is either ending (teaching school, coaching softball, end of a ministry year at church, writing deadlines) or beginning (new semester of classes I’m taking, new writing projects, opportunities presented weekly to do more and more) simultaneously. Some projects have ended but have brought no relief to my internal stress level because deadlines for others fly past me like I’m sitting still. I just can’t get caught up and I certainly can’t get it all done.
Some seasons of life are like that. Women in every walk of life can describe a time when life has just gotten out of control. It can lead to the desire to just stop everything completely. Rest becomes our desired goal, and leisure can become our idol. But in between the two extremes of insanity and nothingness is the place the Lord has been quietly teaching me about recently. I have been studying the Gospel of John along with my 9th grade Bible classes. In John 17 we find the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prays for himself, he prayers for his disciples, and he prays for us.
When studying this passage, I had intended to emphasize with my students the aspect of Jesus praying for us and for the unity he desired in his followers. Nothing will speak to the heart of a 9th grade girl, I thought, like knowing Jesus prayed for her and that he prayed that she would get along with others. But on the morning we arrived at this passage, that is not the section the Holy Spirit used to pierce my heart. It was, instead, a portion of the prayer Jesus prayed for himself.
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
John 17:4
That last phrase is what rang through my soul. The work that you gave me to do. For months I have been in permanent “Martha mode”, running around crazy trying to save the world and I have failed miserably. And more than once I have asked of God, “Why do you have me doing all of this if I can’t do it?” I seem to have thought that Philippians 4:13 means that I can do all things at the same time through Christ who strengthens me.
My Messiah complex has gotten in the way, and I have tried to meet every need I’ve come across, say yes to every opportunity offered to me.
The sad thing about that Messiah complex is that it deceives us into do more than even our Messiah did.
Jesus did the work the Father gave to him to do. Nothing more. Nothing less. As you read through the Gospels, you can see the “missed opportunities” in the ministry of Jesus. But when your goal is to do only the things the Father gives you to do, there are no missed opportunities.
When I am asked to do something, this is the question I meditate on before answering a request. I am committed to not taking on new projects if I haven’t finished an old project first. No more immediately answering, “I can get that done. No problem!” I’m praying through my answer instead of saying “Yes,” immediately and counting the cost later.
The problem with doing everything is that God didn’t call us to busyness. He called us to relationships. This is why Mary was doing the better thing by sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha was working away. This is why Jesus was in conversation with his Father the night before he died instead of desperately preaching on a corner outside the Temple.
When we do only the things that the Father has given us to do, it opens the door for us to be the women he has called us to be. The emphasis of the Father is who we are, not what we do. By focusing on the question Can Do v. Called to Do? I am reminded to be in relationship with him, to invite Christ into even the smallest daily decisions of my life, and to remember that we serve him best when we serve him only in the places and ways he has called us to serve.
In the end, the lesson I am learning is this: to do God’s work in your own way is to still serve self. And God shares his glory with no other. When I try to do everything, I am setting myself up as Savior. It’s a job at which I fail miserably every time.
