Archive for November, 2008

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Imbibe

To my emails, I have been attaching a thought I had the other day, “When we talk, we have to take a breath to utter words. When we read scripture, we pray to imbibe His word.”

Someone just asked me about “imbibe.”  Imbibe means to drink, take in, absorb. And thus to receive nourishment….  In a social  sense, when we’re talking with a friend it feeds our soul to have our soul connect or touch his.  Giving and taking information, feelings, and dreams we learn more of the other and receive something back for our lives when we connect with that friend.  It helps us to move forward another day when we can make sense of what we’re feeling and why that failed relationship so many years ago still hurts so much or why my relationship with my wife is so amazingly fresh after 13 years.  It is in those patterns of relationship that we learn more about ourselves and develop hopes and dreams for the future.
Prayer is one of those lost arts which we need to help us make sense of our spiritual lives.  And really not only of our spiritual lives but of the rest of our lives as well.  It is in prayer that breathe out and in of God’s Spirit and come to know him better.  Ultimately, however, we learn about God through reading his word.  When we read God’s word we must read it with a prayer on our lips so that our soul touches His.  In this connection we reframe our lives in terms of his and learn about ourselves in the process.  Yes, we learn we’re failures and fall short.  Yes, we learn we’re not all that we once were.  But we also learn of God’s grace and his power to bring us from a position of stagnation to a place of movement toward eternity.  I wonder if one component of our sin is a human attempt to bring movement to a stagnated soul?  If we would but wait on God, we would learn that this is not stagnation.  God will provide for us a release that will propel us toward the ultimate focus of our souls: life in God.
So we drink deeply of God through breathing his word in and out of our soul: imbibe and live.

Ebbs and Flows

The world has not stopped spinning, a new degree was not award by a dean, nor was there even a flap of a butterfly wing at last night’s events. But I believe God is smiling with head up and eyes closed this morning at the thanks I offer him now for a woman who is greater than any President, King, Dignitary, or Scholar.
My wife and I just wrote her resignation letter for her job. This marks a significant day in our lives because four years ago she went back to work so that I could complete seminary. At that point it was a very painful, shameful, and depressing thing for me. We had worked very hard to get her home with our children and I simply did not want to ask her to go back to work. I thought I was a failure because I couldn’t do it all. But God had to teach me one more lesson.
We tried to do it with my working full-time and her working part-time but I didn’t have enough time to do what I needed to do. So without my asking, she graciously offered to go full-time in her job. She did that and now she has worked seven-on-seven-off for four years. The stress and hours have taken a toll on her health, but she has not complained. The kids have had to be without their mom and put up with a dad that doesn’t always handle things well but they have survived. I am truly honored to be her husband and to have benefitted from her life. She epitomizes what Proverbs 31 is about and she inspires me to continue in this thing of ministry. I really don’t know how I would function without her. She keeps me sane, loves me when I’m wrong, finds new ways to help our kids, and elevates others above herself. She is simply incredible.
In the next few weeks she will quietly resign a post that she has poured her heart and soul into – as she does everything she does – and will give up any career aspirations or goals she might have so that she can stay home and raise godly little people. The pundits will grind on in their cynicism of Christianity, the atheists will whine in their crass accusations against Christians, and vile heathens will rail against God himself. But if they would just cast their eye on the quiet Saints like my Tracey, all their pustules would shrink and their profanity would become empty. Godliness, Christ-likeness, and Love are summed up in a brilliant woman stepping away from her accomplishments to pour herself into her children. This is the summation of the Gospel.
I know I cannot repay the love she has shown me and it would be a poor epitaph to try do so. My pedestrian thoughts or thanks cannot begin to attain the heights of the love and dedication to me and the Kingdom she has given. So I ask God to reward her for her deeds. His is a sure and lasting reward. But what I can do is say, “thank you” and “I love you.” Tracey, you mean more to me than words can possibly say and I thank God for you. “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

Generation

My friend, David Freeman, and I went to The Generation last night at Gardendale’s FBC.  Andy Heis did a great job bringing the word while Dave and I pumped at the worship and message!  Awesome job, Andy!  He challenged us to deal with our envy and work for the kingdom within the constraints (and abilities) that we have.  But to realize that anything we do we do it for GOD and that HE is the one who will bring about our success.  SO – it is GOD who deserves our praise.  What an awesome night.  Check out http://www.generation145.com/.  

David Freeman – aka DFREE – leads worship and can be found at www.davidfreemanworship.com.
David and I have a heart to reach the next generation of people who are coming up.  We are praying for a great work of God to begin in Trussville. 
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More about me...

I am a singles minister at FBC Trussville. I benefitted greatly from a vibrant singles group earlier in my life and my desire to try to foster that here. This blog contains perspectives on scripture, life, nature, and God.