Article by John Piper for the Ladies

This is an excellent article for us ladies. You will LOVE all the ministry ideas, at the end, if you don't already have some in mind.

1.That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.
2.That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.
3.That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.
4.That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.
5.That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.
6.That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.
7.That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.
8.That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.
9.That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.
10.That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.
11.That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.
12.That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.
13.That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.
14.That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.
15.That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood

Complementing a man's life as his wife

Ministries to the handicapped

hearing impaired
blind
lame
retarded

Ministries to the sick:

nursing
physician
hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
community health

Ministries to the socially estranged:

emotionally impaired
recovering alcoholics
recovering drug users
escaping prostitutes
abused children, women
runaways, problem children
orphans

Prison ministries:

women's prisons!
families of prisoners
rehabilitation to society

Ministries to youth:

teaching
sponsoring
open houses and recreation
outings and trips
counseling
academic assistance

Sports ministries:

neighborhood teams
church teams

Therapeutic counseling:

independent
church based
institutional

Audio visual ministries:

composition
design
production
distribution

Writing ministries:

free lance
curriculum development
fiction
non-fiction
editing
institutional communications
journalistic skills for publications

Teaching ministries:

Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
grade school
high school
college

Music ministries:

composition
training
performance
voice
choir
instrumentalist

Evangelistic ministries:

personal witnessing
Inter Varsity
Campus Crusade
Navigators
Home Bible Studies
outreach to children
Visitation teams
Counseling at meetings
Billy Graham phone bank

Radio and TV ministries:

technical assistance
writing
announcing
producing

Theater and drama ministries:

acting
directing
writing
scheduling

Social ministries:

literacy
pro-life
pro-decency
housing
safety
beautification

Pastoral care assistance:
visitation
newcomer welcoming and assistance
hospitality
food and clothing and transportation

Prayer ministries:

praying!!!
mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
helping with small groups of prayer
coordinating prayer chains
promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils

Missions:

all of the above across cultures

Support ministries:

countless jobs that undergird major ministries

Behold the Coming Kingdom!

I just L.O.V.E this chapter in Isaiah. Must post it so that you can L.O.V.E. it too. :-)

Isaiah 35

1.) The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; th desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2.) it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. 3.) Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4.) Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." 5.) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6.) then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For the waters break forth in the wilderness, and the streams in the desert; 7.) the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackels, where they lie down; the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8.) And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9.) No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10.) And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

As Spring break is here it is so good for me to remember that first, the day of the LORD is coming (!) and second, that now is the time to be strong in the Lord and to not fear the world. For sure the Lord is coming soon and I must be found both ready and unashamed. And as these last and busy days are here this chapter and also the verses in Colossians 3:15-17 will, by God's grace set the tone for the rest of this semester (and the rest of my life). Basically this is not afraid but working and anticipaiting the day when the Lord will take us from here, by the awesome power of the cleansing blood of Christ. Yay!

(In case you don't have time to look up Colossians 3:15-17 I will just write it for you. :-))
15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

Chorus:
This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the victory cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the power of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us
What a love! What a cost!

We stand forgiven at the cross.

Thinking tonight about the great sacrifice that Christ made for me. Seriously I can't remember it enough!! Love like that is impossible!! Forgivness like that is impossible outside of God! It blows my mind... It really does.

So great a sacrifice. So great a gift. Such great mercy has been poured out on us.

Just thought I would pass this song on. What a great day to know and to serve the Lord! Hope that you are blessed today with the joy and refreshment that comes from the presence of the Lord. God bless y'all.

All good things must come to an end

So I had to get off of facebook recently and I told everyone that it was because I am going to be super busy this summer and the rest of this semester. Here are the reasons in particular. Judge me fairly. LOL. :0)

I did add an eight week course to my course load, so school work is taking my attention every evening, and most mornings. I am doing a lot more Bible study and memory work, because I really really need it. It is essential for my life. :-)(Like you didn't know that):-) I am training for a 10-K and I hope to run it this Fall. There isn't really a good reason for this except for motivation to stay in shape. Because between school and my job I sit or stand around all day! I am going to be getting training for an EMT and a CNA licence this summer. That should be pretty fun. I am working about thirty hours a week now because they have changed the hours around at the bank. Though I don't mind the money ;-) I would prefer to spend my time on other things. Alas, money is forcing its way into my wallet. I just can't stop it. :-) Not a bad problem to have, right? I am studying to take the Nursing Entrance Exam again... because wouldn't you know it, I took the wrong one. Argh. Praying a lot about nursing, and taking it a semester at a time. Hopefully will be able to share the gospel and lead a Bible study with young girls at Juvenile detention center this summer, with either my Church or a group that works specifically with Juvenile detention centers. Also will be going to the nursing home too with my Church. I am pretty excited about that. So my schedule is pretty tight this summer, and for that I am grateful. All these "plans" of course are subject to change, but yeah... this is the plan.

So those are the reasons I am "too busy" for facebook. My other reasons for getting off of facebook are these: You know I thought and thought about it and though I don't watch TV or movies (very rarely) it is pointless if I am spending that same time on facebook. So yes, I was an addict. Regrettably so. I don't think facebook is bad in anyway, I think it is a great way to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ, and challenge those who don't know the Lord. I also think it is super fun to keep up with hundreds of your friends from all over and share your pictures with them. So don't get me wrong on this. I condemn no one for using facebook often, it is just that I know I could get a lot more done without it this semester and I needed to get my priorities straight. Besides all those debates discussing Christian Liberty and Holiness were way too attractive. I wanted to write pages on those, but that would keep me from actually living what I was writing about, hence the "No more, Grace".

Do I miss it. Yup. Because I miss seeing your pictures and hearing how you are doing. But I will say in not knowing how you are, I pray for you a lot more. So that is good. I really do also more particularly appreciate and enjoy your blogs. And the answer is no, it doesn't take more time to read the blogs(or write blogs for that matter) than I spent on facebook. :-) So that is it in a nut shell. Embarrassing? Yes. True. Yes... :-)

Hope that you have a day full of the joy of the Lord!

State of the Heart Address

Wow! I just heard Ken Ham's State of the Nation address, and it was life changing. He spoke about the state of the church's heart and mind and how that it has affected or rather stopped affecting the state of our nation and our culture. He spoke about how we have removed reminders that would have reminded us of God's faithfulness, holiness, justice and mercy. He spoke about how we as a church have forgotten the Lord and compromised His Word by adding to it things that are more acceptable by the culture. We have not esteemed His Word as the ultimate authority. It is not the "end all". We rather treat it as a "good suggestion" or one of the many ways that one might come to the right conclusion. Kenn Ham spoke about how that we as Christians have lost the debate against evolution, abortion, and all other cultural abominations because we have accepted a neutral position on these subjects. We are being called to repentance and a complete reformation of our way of thinking.

Compromising and forgetting GOD's Word:

Matthew 12:30 "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. "

Basically that means that if we are Christians who are "riding the fence" so to speak, in cultural and spiritual issues we are decieving ourselves. The fence is on the side of God's enemies, and so are we. We try so hard to relate to the world in order to explain our position. But the only way we can possibly relate is by laying down Christ and His Holy Word... which we do. And by doing this we are siding with the world who are doing all they can to forget God or pretend that there isn't a God. We cannot be nuetral. To be nuetral is to side with the world, beacause nuetrality is a rejection of God's authority. Rejection of God's supreme authority is rebellion.

NOT KNOWING THE WORD:

Romans 8:6 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

Another way we lose the debate is by not knowing the Word of God. Generally speaking most of us can't explain to others why we do or don't do what we do. We, and I totally must include myself in this (ahhh!) do not know how to answer those who ask us about what we know is truth. Yes, I know that abortion is wrong and sodomy is wrong. I know that it is not right or pleasing to God that I should commit fornication or speak or think of men in a lustful way. How do I know? Bible verses. When I am tempted,those verses come to mind and the Holy Spirit strengthens me to resist these temptations. But when the girls at work ask why I don't flirt or "go after" guys I don't answer "Oh well the God says in 1Cor 6:18 to flee fornication, because it is an offense to Him. He says that He delights in steadfast love, not lust, in Jeremiah 9:24." But that is why I don't, so SAY it for crying out loud! When we don't know where God stands on current and relavent issues, when we say "Oh the Bible doesn't really say anything about this and so", what we are really saying is that we don't know what God says about it. God says that He has provided for us "all things that pertain unto LIFE and GODLINESS, through the KNOWLEDGE of HIM" (1 Peter 1:3). So we can't say that God doesn't have an opinion on this or that subject. We must KNOW what His opinion is through the study and submission to the authority of His Word.

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."

Amos 5:21 " I hate, and despise your feast days and I will not smell your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the nose of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment and run downas waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."

Pretty rough stuff. But praise God for the grace to repent! Praise God for the revealing of sins and for The Way (Christ Jesus) to restore our relationship with God! Praise God for forgiveness, and this sanctification.

I was talking to a good friend afterwards and we both just were overwhelmed with conviction and the desire to repent and to be changed by the Holy Spirit. Yet we knew that in our own strength we were powerless. But both she and I know that it is "God that worketh in you both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13) And we got pretty excited because we know that the Lord will change us as we commit ourselves completely to Him. (Ephesians 3:20)

You know, there are rough times in a Christians life. A lot of them. And it is easy to get discouraged these days, by persecutors, by the culture in general, by the oppression of authorities, or even by other Christians. God continuously allows extreme difficulties that reveal to us our sin or try our patience and build our faith. But being a child of God is amazingly wonderful. And I wouldn't/couldn't trade even one of my difficulties for knowing the Lord and being loved by Him. Not one. He truly is the best part of my existance and the crown and glory of my life.

One of my favorite chapters in Scripture is Isaiah 12. I can't write it all in here, because it is late and I have a midterm for which I have to finish studying. But read it, because it is like first aid cream to a repentant heart. His anger has been turned away from us, His children, through the appeasement that Christ supplied at the cross. Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. Just. Saying.

A poem based off of Psalm 91

Hail gracious source of every good,
Our Savior and defense,
Thou art our glory and our shield,
Our help and confidence.

When anxious cares disturb the breast,
When threatening foes are night,
To Thee we pour our deep complaint,
To Thee for succor fly.

Blest tower of strength, exalted rock,
Whence living waters flow,
Jesus our Lord, the only hope
Of fallen man below.

To Thee we heavy laden come,
To Thee our sorrows bring;
Oh hear! And save us from the storm,
Beneath Thy sheltering wing.

Written by Harriett Auber in 1829, Our Own Hymn Book

Absolutely beautiful poem. Don't you think? :-)

"Looking to Jesus until glory doth shine"

My piano teacher is teaching me to play hymns and one of the ones she is teaching me is called "Moment by Moment". If you haven't heard this song you should listen because it is really something else. :-)

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;
Living with Jesus a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He doth not bear,
Never a sorrow that He doth not share;
Moment by moment, I'm under His care.

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love
Moment by moment I've life from above
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

For those of you who don't have an instrument to practice, you should pick one! The times I get to practice piano have been some of the best times of worship. On that poor tired piano I have banged out more confessions of sin and thanksgiving and pounded in more truth of the Word than you would expect if you heard me play. :-)There are so many beautiful songs with beautiful words that help you to "look to Jesus" and worship Him in TRUTH.

This particular song helps me to remember to thank God that He does know my circumstances and He does care. I have forgotten that a lot lately. This song reminds me that my life is in Him now, and that my own way is not what I am supposed to want anymore. It reminds me that I have a new life from God and it is surrendered to Gods way, timing. His will and pleasure is where I will now find the joy of living. I will not find joy in pleasant circumstances. I will not find joy in pleasing myself.

Side note: I am sure you will not be sorry if you learn to play or even just set aside some time to sing or listen to good sound worship music. Steer clear of the junky stuff! ;-) Remember that worship isn't about you, it is about God. :-) Some people learn to play an instrument and just use it when they are by themselves to worship the Lord, but it is also really good to learn to play good songs before others and with others. This will both encourage them in Truth and also to encourage them to focus intently on Christ until we are called to be with Him in heaven.

In these last days with all of the intense distractions, it is a great thing to encourage our brothers and sisters in looking intently on the Lord. So if we can help by sharing music, testimonies, and above all the gospel and God's Word, that will be time well spent. And that is why I say you will not be sorry. End of Side Note. :-)

"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." -Psalm 40:3

"Oh God, my exceeding joy, singing thy praises uplifts my heart, for thou are the fountain of delight, and dost bless the soul that joys in thee. But because of my hearts rebellion I cannot always praise thee as I ought; Yet I will at all times rest myself in thy excellences, goodness, and loving kindness. Thou are in Jesus the object of inexpressible joy, and I take exceeding pleasure in the thought of thee." -Valley of Vision *That is what I wanted to say only someone else said it better. :-)