I have a great deal of admiration for Mary, the mother of our Lord. I do not pray to her, or through her, or any such thing. That is idolatry. But I admire her like I admire Sarah or Elizabeth or Abigail. One of the striking things about Mary is her courageous loyalty. Consider her famous response to the angel Gabriel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
Mary’s first allegiance is to the Lord. She submits to the angel’s message, calling herself the Lord’s handmaid. And this is no minor thing. She has been greeted in a startling way with startling news. And no sooner has the angel departed than she “arose” and went “with haste” to her cousin Elizabeth. She obeys quickly, loyal to God and to His messenger. She is teachable, responsive to God’s leading, loyal to His command.
Later she is loyal to her husband Joseph who is himself a loyal man, faithful and responsive to God. He is “raised from sleep” and “did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife” Continue reading ‘Mary’s Loyalty’
This morning at worship my husband taught us the difference between looking at Advent as a season of preparation as opposed to a season of penitence. Some Christians view the Advent season as a time to “give up something” like they do for Lent. But if we give up facebook for Advent, and then tell all our friends about it, this is not a biblical fast. When we fast, or give up something, no one but God should know about it. (We should keep it to ourselves and not announce to everyone that we are giving up chocolate or coffee!) Jesus made fun of the Pharisees for letting everyone know when they were fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). “They have their reward.” Of course fasting can be spiritually healthy when done in a God-honoring way. Penitence means repentance, and that is something we should be eager to do all Continue reading ‘Advent Expectancy’
Canon Press is pre-selling The Chestnut King which is the third book of N.D. Wilson’s (okay, so that’s my son Nate’s) 100 Cupboards, a new fantasy adventure that follows the magical exploits of Henry York and his cousins. (And it is wonderful, I’ve read it!)
Pre-order now and they will send you a free *author-signed* bookplate with a card to put under the tree for Christmas. Only 200 bookplates are available! Books ship January 26th, 2010.
And, they have other cool stuff on sale for Christmas as well. Go take a look!
In case you have never read Pilgrim’s Progress, here is a nudge from me to put it on your reading list for 2010. I’ve read it maybe five times, which is a pitiful showing compared to Charles Spurgeon who read it 100 times. It is considered among the top half-dozen books in the English language, and it has been translated into 120 languages. Dr. John Owen, the great Puritan theologian, was asked by Charles II how he could stand to listen to an illiterate tinker preach (Bunyan was a mender of pots), and Owen answered something like, “Could I possess the tinker’s abilities for preaching, I would willingly relinquish all my learning.” Next to the Bible, Pilgrim’s Continue reading ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’
Today we had the good fortune of worshiping with and sitting under the preaching of our good friend Dr. David Field. He and his wife Sue are visiting our community from London. He used Isaiah 40 as his text, and I simply must give you a couple of tidbits from his sermon. Don’t expect this to even give the context of all of his remarks. (It’s rather like giving you a spoon full of the mashed potatoes without the rest of the meal, and without the British accent.) But here are a couple of things I thought were particularly practical and convicting.
We as a people are not good at waiting. We get tired of waiting, and we begin to think the Lord has forgotten us. This is true whether we are waiting to be married, waiting to have a child, waiting to find a job, waiting to be healed, or any other number of Continue reading ‘Strength Renewal’
I know I’ve busted out this recipe before, but I feel compelled by Holiday cheer to share it with you again. I think the last time I posted it, they were all pastels and it was Easter, so I assume that makes it fair game to repeat. We had the Christmas Ladies’ Fellowship last night, and it is now a little tradition to decorate cookies together. Anyway, this frosting is a charm to work with, and we put it into those little squirt bottles z9you can buy in cake decorating sections) to make the whole process easier, cleaner, and consequently more fun! If you get busy with multiple colors and some toothpick dragging through the wet frosting (move fast or it might start getting crunchy spots on you) – it is even more fun to play with. Either way, these cookies freeze well, and the frosting keeps well, making it very easy to use multiple days as an Advent surprise (ask me how I know). Continue reading ‘Christmas Cheer’
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