My Testimony

I was reading the Bible today and I found my very own testimony in it...

At one time I too was foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. I lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating others. But when the kindness and love of God my Savior appeared, he saved me, not because of righteous things I had done, but because of his mercy. He saved me through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who he poured out on me generously through Jesus Christ my Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, I might become an heir having the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying.

-Titus 3:3-8

Dublin Horse Show

My husband, good man that he is, took me to the Dublin Horse Show last weekend. I grew up riding horses and continue to love them. I started taking lessons when I was 4 and competed in horse shows until I moved up north around age 12. I competed in English and western pleasure, jumping, western games and I even started learning a little bit of dressage on my mom's old dressage horse just before I stopped riding. I use to go to horse shows with my mom at the Washington County Fair Grounds and the in the Colosseum at the Minnesota State Fair. I particularly remember watching the dressage shows at the Washington County Fair Grounds as a little girl with the most beautiful horses. I still love watching dressage and went to the Dublin Horse Show to see some dressage. The show was mostly show jumping, judging of different horses, and a very small bit of dressage. It was not even in a dressage ring but was rather a short demonstration to show how dressage is related to show jumping. The announcer described dressage as "the bit between the fences" and showed how show jumping riders use dressage- the collected canter and counting of strides- between jumps. It was interesting enough but I wanted to see some flying lead changes for crying out loud! (I did at least get to see some extended trots where the horses look like they are dancing on clouds). The Highlight of the Dublin Horse Show has to be the Puissance Wall which is a jump that gets built higher and higher as the competition goes on. Ten horses were involved when the competition begun. The wall went from 5 and half feet in the first round to 6 foot 3in the second round to 6 foot 11 in the third round and to 7 foot 2 in the fourth round. By the end of the fourth round there were only 2 horses left, one from Belgium and one from Ireland. The fifth round the wall was raised to 7 foot 4 and was bested by the Irish horse and rider. It was quite exciting and nerve racking to watch! An American horse and rider took third in the wall so we were proud. Here are some pictures from the regular jumping, the dressage demonstration and the Puissance Wall.

To see some real dressage check out this youtube video. It is absolutley amazing what horse and rider are able to do- I MEAN GLORY TO GOD, PEOPLE!

Quote on Justification

An excellent quote I came across recently in my studies on the epistle of Paul to the Romans.

"If God announces the gift of righteousness apart from works, why do you keep mourning over your bad works, your failures? Do you not see that it is because you still have hopes in these works of yours, that you are depressed and discouraged by their failure? If you truly saw and believed that God is reckoning righteous the ungodly who believe on him, you would fairly hate your struggles to be 'better'; for you would see that your dreams of good works have not at all commended you to God, and that your bad works do not at all hinder you from believing on him, but that justifieth the ungodly!
Therefore, on seeing your failures you should say, I am nothing but a failure; but God is dealing with me on another principle altogether than my words, good or bad, a principle not involving my works, but based only on the work of Christ for me... God, in justifying me, acted wholly and only on Christ's blood shed on my behalf.
First, I know that Christ is in heaven before God for me, and that I stand in the value before God of his finished work; that God sees me nowherelse but in his dead, buried, and risen Christ, and that his favor is toward me in Christ, and is limitless and eternal.
The work of the Holy Spirit in me, my attitude is a desire to be guided into truth, to be obedient thereto, and to be chastened by God my father if disobedient; to learn to pray in the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, and to be filled with a love for the Scriptures and for the saints and for all men.
None of these things justify me! I had justification from God as a sinner, not as a saint! My saintliness does not increase it, nor praise God, do my failures decrease it!"

-William R. Newell on Romans 1938

Beautiful Germany!

After reading the biography of the Martin Luther and after visiting Germany I have to take pride in my German ancestry. I really enjoyed our trip there last month and would go again in a heartbeat. The people are friendly, the food is good (although some of it can be... an adventure) and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. I have to confess I did not expect Germany to be so. I don't know about the whole of Germany but the Rhine River Valley is breathtaking. It is a land of fairytale castles and enchanted forests- a land where you think you may actually see a unicorn! Riding along the river on the train as we did many times is neat but to see this area of Germany rightly you must float down the river on one of the big river cruisers and watch the castles and vinyards appear before you in all their splendor. If any of you are intersted in going let me know- you won't have to twist my arm!

Fun in Deuschland!

Here is the first of two slideshows from our recent trip to Germany where we spent four days in the Rhine River Valley. This is wine country and we stayed in the little wine town of Bacharach. Our hotel, the Kranenturm, was part of the medieval city wall of Bacharach and we actaully stayed on the top floor of the tower that they used to load wine onto ships from. The tower we stayed in was over a thousand years old. Each day we climbed over 100 stairs to reach our room! We also climbed many other stairs and trails through the enchanted forests of the Rhine River valley to tour a number of the amazing castles which you will see in my next slide show... But for this slide show feast your eyes on some of the great German food, wine, and beer we had while there. My favorite had to be the Martin Luther beer we found at the Mainz beer festival. The Luther beer stand was a large barrel which had nuns inside serving the Luther and Katerina beer- as Luther and his wife brewed their own beer at home. The beer stand is extra fun to see if you know the story of Luther and his wife. In his lifetime Luther had helped some nuns eascape from a convent by smuggling them out in beer barrels. He found husbands and married off all of them except one whose husband-to-be died. Her name was Katerina Von Bora and she was the lucky woman who married the great Reformer. To my delight the Luther beer was dark!

P & P Video

While looking up this song tonight I found this great video someone put together and uploaded into youtube. This is one of my favorite movies and it goes great with the lyrics of this song. Whoever did this, well done! ENJOY!

West Coast Road Trip

Last month I headed off on an overnight road trip with some girlfriends to see the west coast of Ireland. We rented a car and drove across to Galway and then up to Clifden where we stayed the night in a hostel. It was my first time staying in a hostel. The four of us girls were lucky to get a private room for four with bunk beds but we still had to share the bathroom with everyone else. It wasn't too bad but I doubt I would ever stay at a hostel again on purpose! Clifden was a cute little town and we went out for a drink to hear some local music. The next morning we headed out and drove Sky Road. This road is up on hills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and was absolutely beautiful. Then we headed to Kylemore Abbey which is a big beautiful castle in the side of a mountain, on the end of a long lake, where nuns still live today. The place was amazing! I decided to wait to tour the inside and grounds until I can go back with Matt. We then drove up the west coast further to the Achille Islands where we drove on switchback mountains roads on the sides of cliffs through the fog! YIKES!!! This road trip was the first I have been on with good weather since I have been here in Ireland. It was warm and sunny almost the entire time. And because it was spring there were baby cows, horses, and lambs everywhere. This trip I finally felt like I saw the real Ireland as it was everything you picture Ireland to be. In the photos you will see my American friend from North Carolina, Jessie(girl with blond hair), my friend from Brazil, Camila (girl with long brown hair), and my friend from Germany, Marianne (girl with curly brown hair). We had a great time taking to the narrow roads and rocking out in the car. Thanks for a great time ladies!

Turktastical Turkey

We recently returned from a holiday with our friends the Policans, who flew into Dublin to join us for a week in Kusadasi, Turkey. I was a little nervous but excited to go and had no idea what to expect. Turkey was chosen primarily because of it's close proximity to the ancient city of Ephesus. I absolutely love visiting places with Biblical history! We had a GREAT time and I hope to do some more in depth blogs about some of our adventures in Turkey in the near future. For now you can see some of my favorite photos above in the slideshow.

Visiting the Synagogue

I finished up my Old Testament Survey class a few months ago and am currently well into my New Testament Survey class. I cannot tell you how much taking these classes has given me new eyes to read the Bible with and how much more I understand the Scriptures as well as God's masterful plan of redemption. I am also convinced learning of this kind is the answer for those Christians who struggle with Bible reading.

I have loved learning about the history of Israel in the Old Testament, through the intertestamental period, and up into the New Testament. Judaism is fascinating and we as Christians owe much to it as Christianity was born out of Judaism and Judaism really aided in the spread of Christianity. Recently I was reading about how synagogues formed during the period of the exile. They were formed by the Jews to teach the Torah as they were no longer able to go to the Temple for worship at that time. As the Jews were scattered, because of exile in the Old Testament and because of persecution during the intertestamental period, the synagogues multiplied. By the time of the birth of the Christian church there were synagogues over much of the Roman Empire and so evangelists, like Paul, were able to spread the good news by going to teach it in the synagogue of each town they went to.

Learning about all of this made me curious to go and observe a synagogue service. I found a synagogue not far from where we live about a month ago and tried to go to a sabbath service on a Saturday morning. When I arrived I found out (to my big surprise) that I was not allowed in because of security issues. I would have to get permission through the chief Rabbi's office. I called the office and after giving them my information they approved me to come observe a service a few weeks later. I attended this morning's service. The service was about two and a half hours long and only about 10 minutes of it was in English. Even though I don't speak Hebrew I found the service to be very interesting. The synagogue was a bit different looking from a church inside but not as different as I thought it might be. The women sit upstairs in the gallery while all the men sit downstairs. Most of the women wore head coverings while all of the men wore yamikas. Many of the men also wore prayer shawls which they would situate differently on themselves at different times. Sometimes they would cover their faces and heads completely. It seemed to me this signified that they were going into their prayer closets to pray without distraction. Most of the time the congregation sits but at certain times the people all stand.There were many prayers said, blessings, and some singing led by a cantor. Much of what is said is actually sung instead of flatly spoken. There was an extensive reading from the Torah. The Scroll, or Torah, is taken out of an ark (wooden box) and is carried up to the cantor. As it is being carried up the men kiss the fringes of their prayers shawls and then touch the fringes to the Scroll case. I even saw one man kiss the Scroll case. The Scroll is unrolled only when it is read from and then rolled closed and covered when it is not being read from. The Scroll itself is made of parchment paper and the writing has been hand copied to perfection by a scribe. The cantor does most of the reading but 2 other men also read some passages which I was told was a great honor to be asked to do. In fact a man who has been asked to read from the Scroll must practice at home to be able to read the passage in the service perfectly as the Hebrew words in the Scroll do not have any vowels but only consonants. When the reading is done the Scroll was held up and unrolled and lifted high for all the people to see before it is put away. After this the chief Rabbi gave about a ten minute sermon in English on one of the passages. After the sermon more prayers and blessings are said. The people, Ireland, Israel, and world peace are all prayed for. The prayers include requests for the Redeemer to come to Zion. My favorite part of the service was to hear the Shema recited which the cantor bellowed out beautifully in Hebrew: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One..." It is longer than that (see Deut. 6:4-9) but that is famous first line.

I was able to sit next to a very nice Jewish woman who helped me to understand the service somewhat. She did not speak Hebrew herself but was able to read it in the prayer book and Torah. She has been a Jew her whole life and was quite open to talking with me about Judaism. I asked her many questions and she answered what she could but seemed to feel bad that she could not answer a lot of my questions about Jewish theology. She did tell me the Jews were waiting for a Redeemer to save the world and that they expected him to be a high up Rabbi. She said recently there was a very intelligent and great Rabbi in New York that they thought could be the Messiah but he died. I asked her the Jewish doctrine of salvation which got me a blank stare so I then rephrased by asking how does a Jewish person go to heaven. She told me by doing good deeds, praying for forgiveness, trying to observe the law as much as they can, and charity. I also tried talking to her about how atonement is made for sins since there are no sacrifices being made because there is no temple. She told me about Yom Kippur and how it is the holiest day of the year and on that day how you take all the sins on yourself and and pray for forgiveness and something about how your name is written in the book and your destiny is decided for that year. She did not know if when the Redeemer comes whether or not there will be a new temple with sacrifices being made again. She was very kind and a good sport, asking me about myself and my own faith. I was able to share just a little with her as all of our talking was during the service. She told me straight out that she was not a religious person but that she really enjoyed the traditions of Judaism and would not think of going to another religion. After the service there was fellowship over coffee and treats and she introduced me to many people, telling them I was there visiting because I was studying the Bible. All of the people I met were very nice. Tonight I received an email from her. Maybe I will see her again- wouldn't it be great if I could share Christ with her?!

I enjoyed visiting the synagogue and was told by security I could come back anytime now. I doubt I will go again but it was good to experience. While sitting through the service I couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like to have been a Jew just after Pentecost, to be sitting in my synagogue, to have a visitor sit down to give the teaching that day, and for that visitor to be the Apostle Paul who had come to preach the good news about Jesus Christ!

Rainbow Nights

The other night I saw this beautiful rainbow over the mountain from my patio. There is something funny about seeing a rainbow in Ireland. I actually think it may lead to a pot of gold and a leprechaun. Anyway, I took these pictures at 9:30. It is light out here now until almost 11:00 P.M. It is really hard to get used to and even though I tell myself its late and time to go to bed I don't believe it! Tomorrow morning the Policans arrive from Tucson and we are so excited to see them. The four of us leave for Turkey tomorrow night. Turkish delight, here I come!

2 Bedrooms YIPPEE!

Here are the long awaited pics of our new place.
Our guest bedroom is waiting for you!

Hopped a Train to Cambridge

At the beginning of this week Matt headed off to London to take his last perfusion test for certification in Ireland and Great Britain. I joined him in London for a night and then we hopped a train to Cambridge to see one of Matt's friends from perfusion school, Mike, who happened to be in England at the same time as us. A little less than one hour on the train through the rolling green hills and we were in the small town of Cambridge which boasts of 32 colleges! The most famous and beautiful is King's College but the whole town is full of old colleges and churches to feast your eyes upon. I was reminded a lot of Edinburgh and felt as though I had stepped back in time 500 years. The first colleges started springing up in Cambridge in the thirteenth century! By the names of many of the colleges, streets, and parks it seems that Cambridge was once a very Christian town. There is Jesus College, Christ College, Emmanuel College, Corpus Christi College, Jesus Lane, Trinity Street, St. John's Street, All Saint's Passage, and two parks named Jesus Green and Christ's Piece to name just a few. We happened to be in Cambridge on the night of the Champion's League final football game with Chelsea and Matt's favorite team, Manchester United. We grabbed a seat at a packed English pub to watch the game and enjoy the atmosphere of being in England during the English championship game. The next day we trekked around the town more touring King's College Chapel and shopping at the Cambridge Universtiy Press Bookstore -which is were my sweet single column black calf skin Bible comes from. We also had great English food including a pasty and a roast beef wrap where the wrap was YORKSHIRE PUDDING! I really enjoy England and would not mind living here. The people are friendly, the food is good, and the prices are much better than in Dublin- even with the exchange rate.

King's College Chapel

This is one of the most stunning buildings I have seen so far in Europe. It is the King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Not only is it larger than life when you walk up on it but it is also very beautiful inside. The first stone was laid by King Henry VI in 1441. I was very fortunate to take a tour of it but unfortunately I could not be there to hear a choral evensong service which I am sure would have been magnificent in such a place! Maybe next time...

Movin' On Up

Matt and I learned recently that our landlord had sold our building and that we had 28 days to get out. I scoured the lettings and within 2 days I had viewed 12 apartments in the area we hoped to stay in. The second to the last apartment was the winner- a two bedroom "penthouse" in the Rathmines area. This apartment is about ten minutes walk from our first place here and is in a nice neighborhood. The apartment was filthy but the sheer size of it (big for Dublin) excited us. It is older and has very ugly worn green carpet and not a piece of furniture in the place matches but with 2 bedrooms, a fireplace, and a patio looking to the Dublin mountains how could we resist? We took it and moved in over the weekend. We didn't realize how extremely dirty it was until we started cleaning it. We have been working hard on it since we moved in (cleaning, rearranging, furnishing, throwing many things away) and it is starting to really come together. I wish we would have taken before and after pictures!

Our new place is a bit closer to the grocery stores but now further from the gym so yesterday we bought a couple of used bikes. The guy I bought my bike from lived on the north side of Dublin so he agreed to meet me in the city center to show me the bike. Getting the bike home was quite an adventure. The city center is only about three miles away but those three miles are filled with oodles and oodles of cars, bikes, scooters, pedestrians and the most dangerous- double decker buses. Since bikes generally ride in the bus lane I had my work cut out for me- make it home without getting squished by the buses. Transport by bike is normal for many people in Europe but for me bikes have only ever been for working out. I have never ridden a bike in such chaos as the city center. I am glad I made it home but I think I will limit my bike riding to the gym and perhaps the grocery store (my bike has a cute little basket that I could stick a couple liters of milk in). Sometimes I can't believe I used to own a new 4 bedroom house and 2 vehicles when these days I am excited and so thankful to have moved up to a 2 bedroom apartment and a bike!

The Blessings of God

"The blessings of God are not, typically, prosperity, health and honor. They are instead things like love, joy, peace, patience. Indeed these fruits find their most fertile soil in the context of hardship. The man who meditates on the law of God day and night may not grow a thriving business. He may not be much beloved in his community. But he will mourn his own sins. He will be poor in spirit. He will not enjoy great power, but will be mindful of God’s power, resting in his own meekness. He will hunger and thirst for righteousness. Meditating on the law of God, he will know his sin, his need for mercy, and so will show mercy, making peace even as he suffers under the sins of his enemies." -R.C. Sproul Jr.

I liked this quote by Sproul Jr. as it reminded me to examine the desires of my heart. How easy it is to desire blessings from God that are all about a comfortable life. How I have to train myself, through feeding on Scripture, to desire what I will call the spiritual blessings of God. It is not bad in itself to desire health or financial security but let us examine our hearts by examining our prayer lives. How often do we spend time praying for earthly, temporal, material blessings as opposed to spiritual blessings -such as for the gospel to be formed in us, to understand and truly know Christ (including in his sufferings) and to be conformed to the image of Christ. How often people will ask for prayer for a particular thing going on in their life- for example: help in finding a job, help in getting along with a co-worker or for someone who is having surgery. These are not bad prayer requests but think about how often you hear this type of prayer request or how often you pray for these sorts of things in your own life. Now think about how often you hear prayer requests for things like asking God to show me his holiness and my sinfulness, for me to hate sin and mortify it, for the gospel to be formed in me, for Christ to be magnified and glorified in my life no matter what the cost. Material blessings provided by God are good but how much better are spiritual blessings where Christ is formed in us and which will lead to rewards in heaven. Oh, that God would make me a person who desires Christ above all and spiritual growth above earthly comforts.

Plugged In and Losing Touch

Upward Call author Kim was talking about how she likes to go for walks to think and I thought about how I walk all the time but rarely do I go walking, or anywhere for that matter, without my ipod. I often times am listening to sermons or lectures and sometimes music but it would be rare and unintentional for me to go anywhere without my ipod. I think this is a weakness I have. Yeah, I listen to many good things and improve my mind but how much more I would benefit if I spent time reflecting on God, his word, and what he is teaching me. How much more I would benefit if I spent time wrestling in my mind over things I am learning and in prayer.

As I was thinking about this I also thought about how society seems to be plugged in more and more and interacting less and less. Maybe this is just my experience in Dublin (but somehow I doubt it). Living in Europe we have chosen not to have a car so I have learned the art of public transport. I find myself on the bus a few times a week and I always make sure to have my ipod. I always find myself looking around at everyone and am struck by how almost everyone is plugged in to something- usually an ipod or cell phone. Dublin is a city where people are continually on their cell phones, either texting or listening to music. Places other than the bus I notice how people are plugged in to not only cell phones or ipods but also laptops and gameboys. We seem to have turned into a society of people who don't want to interact or communicate. Is this true? Or is it that we just need to be entertained all the time? I would guess it's both.

On the bus I often think of talking to people. I think of how I should be sharing the gospel. I think of how I should be interacting with people just to know what people are like here. So why don't I? Mostly because I don't know what to say, I am somewhat shy, and people look like they do not want to be disturbed. I wonder if it is like this back home or is it just Dublin? Or is this just city life? People here keep to themselves but I assume it was not always this way. Before cell phones, ipods, laptops, game boys, portable DVD players, and texting people probably talked to eachother a lot more. We are losing touch with eachother.

Reading on J. Gresham Machen

I recently finished up a book that Matt surprised me with a few months ago on the life and thought of J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) . Before I read this book I barely knew who he was so I was very impressed that Matt was able to pick this book out all by himself (well done honey!). The book was divided into 4 topics. The first was a short biography of MAchen's life, the second was on his writings on theology and the Bible, the third was on his writings on culture and the fourth was on his writings on the church and his sermons. This book was a very good introduction to Machen who was a professor at Princeton, a NT scholar, and a pastor. He wrote a number of books, articles, and essays, the most famous of which is the classic work "Christianity and Liberalism." Machen stood firm in the truth and fought hard for the gospel when Princeton and the Presbyterian Church USA went liberal and stopped holding to orthodox Christianity. Machen eventually started Westminster Seminary and the OPC branch of the Presbyterian Church. Most of the major events in Machen's life happened in the 20's and 30's and I found it very interesting to read about what was going on in America during that time. I especially liked reading about Machen's service with the YMCA during the last year of World War 1 in France. Machen was a thoroughly gospel centered man who knew the improtance of doctrine. I found his views on almost all matters to be what I have come to believe myself. I really enjoyed his teaching on the Christian and culture where Machen rejects a Christianity that subordinates itself to or accommodates the culture and the other extreme where Christianity withdraws from the culture. Instead Machen proposes a Christianity that consecrates the culture. This is such a hot topic presently in the evangelical world that it was very interesting to read about Machen's writings on this from almost one century ago. I also really liked how MAchen understood to the Christian's role in politics and his view on education. Something that was very impressive to me about Machen was that though he was a high up academic he did not hide in academia but really lived out his faith serving God in all kinds of ways. I am thankful for Machen and men like him that God has raised up in the church to encourage us all. I hope to read a number of his works that I read about in this book.

Reason for God Sermons

There is a new book out by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, called "The Reason for God." This is a book I most definitely want to get my hands on for a read or as I suspect a number of reads. It is not as easy to get books over here as it is in the states. I mean I can order any book and have it shipped here but it is expensive and unfortunately I am not made of book money. This being the case I am forced to wait for the price to come down or my birthday- which ever happens first!

In the meantime while I wait to get this book I have been able to listen to 7 sermons by Keller that are similar in content to the book. They can be downloaded for free at http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=29

I have listened to a little bit of Keller in the past and thought he was ok. After listening to these sermons and a few others I have quickly come to admire his preaching. The topics of many of his sermons may sound like nothing special but he really brings fascinating things out of the text. He has a brilliant mind and teaches with clarity. I have learned much from him already and wish more preachers preached like him. I would love for the unbelievers and believers at churches to be exposed to this kind of preaching regularly.

I highly advise you to follow the link above to listen to Keller. You will be very glad you did!

Bread Baking

Living in Europe we have made a number of adjustments in our lifestyle. The two biggest have been not owning a car and walking everywhere or taking the bus and the other is no longer owning our own 4 bedroom house but instead renting a one bedroom apartment. Some of the smaller adjustments have been having a dorm-room-sized refrigerator and not having many of the kitchen gadgets I am used to like my kitchen aide and bread machine. I absolutely love baking bread and I used my bread machine just to mix the dough, taking the dough out after the mixing and kneading was through. I mean who in their right mind makes bread from scratch and kneads their own dough in this day and age, right?! Well, times have changed and I am in Europe making bread from scratch, kneading and all, by hand. It's not that they do not have bread machines here but I hate buying things I can't keep and since we only plan to be here for a few years (God willing!) I refuse to buy things I can't take home when I go. And if it doesn't fit in the suitcases that came over with me it's not going home with me.

Anyway, I have been making some bread from scratch over here and am no longer deathly afraid of kneading. I am doing ok but I am looking to soar in my bread making. Tonight I stumbled across a neat website called The Fresh Loaf with many great bread recipes and some fabulous bread lessons that I have to share with you. For those of you who want to start making bread but are intimidated fear not, you will be on your way in no time. For those of you who already make bread these lessons will also be helpful to you as there is much useful information and many great tips.

Lesson 1: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf
Lesson 2: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/addingmore
Lesson 3: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/timeandtemperature
Lesson 4: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/glazing
Lesson 5: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/tentipsforbetterfrenchbread

ENJOY!

Run the Race, Fellowsheep!

A friend of mine sent this photo in an email recently with this caption:
"Run the race, fellowsheep!"

Review of 2008 Ligonier's National Conference- Day 3

The end of the conference is always sad for me and at the same time by the third day my brain is ready for a break! This year was no exception. The morning started out with Sinclair Ferguson preaching on "The Nature of Saving Faith." This was the most challenging message of the conference for me- one I will have to listen a few more times. Ferguson focused on how it is not faith in Christ that saves but Christ who saves through faith. Ferguson pointed out that Paul speaks of "believing into Christ" and how this language is unique to the New Testament. The best part of the message was when Ferguson was explaining that God does not believe for us and how at the point of believing faith is active and faith is wholly receptive. Saving faith does not have a single constructive moment but we embrace Christ actively by faith. This message was very interesting and offered much to chew on.

After Ferguson was one more Q&A session followed by Sproul's last message on "Counted Righteous in Christ." Sproul centered on imputation and how salvation rests on imputation. Sproul explained how our righteousness is not a legal fiction but that we are truly righteous because Christ's righteousness is imputed to us when we believe. Sproul used the example of Abraham who believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham was justified before he was sanctified. Sproul also talked about how no one is justified apart from works. The point of disagreement between the Roman Catholic and Protestant church comes in when you ask the question, "by whose works are you justified?" The biblical answer is "by Christ's."

I really enjoyed learning more about the doctrines of subsitutionary atonement and imputation at this years Ligonier conference. I also enjoyed staying for the Hallelujah Chorus this year for the first time- a little glimpse of heaven! I was able to talk to Sproul at the end of the conference while waiting for the mp3 messages to be done. I expressed my thanks to him for his teaching on some of my favorite subjects- the psychology of unbelief and his exposition of Romans 1. I also picked up my first Ferguson book, "The Christian Life" and a few Sproul books I've wanted for a long time, "The Consequence of Ideas" and Classical Apologetics." I can't wait to eat them up!

Review of 2008 Ligonier's National Conference- Day 2

Day two of the Ligonier conference opened up with John MacArthur's message, "Simultaneously Righteous and a Sinner." MacArthur started out the message by talking about the teaching of Wesleyan Perfectionism and how it had infected evangelicalism. Some of the examples he gave were very familiar and were experienced by people I know. In speaking on justification and sanctification MacArthur taught:

-both originate from the free grace of God

-both are part of Christ's redemptive work

-both will be present in a person who is saved

-both begin simultaneously

-both are necessary for glorification

MacArthur gave an example of someone who righteous and a sinner at the same time in the apostle Paul who said he had a clear conscience and also called himself the chief of sinners. MacArthur explained that though we have new life we still have our old corpse strapped to us. MacArthur encouraged us to mortify the flesh by:

-using all the means of grace

-abstaining from sin

-keeping out of the way of temptation

-praying fervently

-keeping our eyes on Christ

MacArthur gave his great illustration from 1 Samuel 15 where he compares our battle with sin to the killing of King Agag. Saul was commanded to totally annihilate the Amalekites in battle but he disobeyed God and failed to kill them all. One of the Amalakites he left alive was King Agag. Samuel came and hacked Agag to pieces- just as we are to hack sin to pieces! This is a great analogy because we see clealry the consequences of not following God's command in this area- Some Amalekites got away under Saul and later on a particular Amalekite tried to wipe out the Jews in the book of Esther. If we do not kill sin it will wreak havoc in our life! MacArthur said mortification is a life long process and explained that as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ we will gain victory over sin more and more but said we will feel worse. Because the less we sin and the more we intimately we know God the more we will hate sin.

After MacArthur we were most blessed to hear again from Joni Eareckson Tada as she spoke on "Preaching the Gospel to All Nations." This was another very moving and convicting message from Tada filled with her immense compassion. This woman really has a heart to share the gospel and is obedient to God to do so often. She talked about how God purposes a global church and how we can't be "come and see churches" but instead we need to be "go and tell churches." She talked about how preaching without good deeds makes our message appear barren and how our good deeds adorn and beautify the gospel. This is a woman who is full of good deeds (I loved her story about evangelizing the illegal immigrants -and in Spanish- that she sees on the way to work!). She serves the kingdom more than anyone I know despite her debilitating disability. After hearing all about the ministry she is involved in I was quite ashamed of my able-body self who who does nothing compared to her!

Next came the Scott with, "The Substitutionary Atonement of Christ." Sinclair Ferguson was at the first Ligonier conference I attended. I enjoyed him much more this year as my ear has been trained in understanding accents now! This was my favorite message of the conference as it was an excellent exposition of Isaiah 52-53. Ferguson remarked on a how an ignorant friend of his in school introduced this passage as "the gospel according to Isaiah" and how he at first was embarrassed for his friend but then realized it was even more true than his friend knew. Ferguson talked about a lot of things like how this passage is what is known as a parabola and how the meaning or theme could be found in the middle of the passage and divided it up into 5 stanzas"

-Stanza 1: the Servant's triumph is wholly unexpected (52:13-15)

-Stanza 2: the Servant's humiliation is described (53:1-3)

-Stanza 3: the Servant's suffering is explained (53:4-6) *meaning

-Stanza 4: the Servant's obedience is underlined (53:7-9)

-Stanza 5: the Servant's glorious exaltation (53:10-12)

Ferguson goes on to teach about imputation and substitution and pulls out so many wonderful things from the text that instead of telling you any more about it I will let you listen to this awesome message for yourselves for I cannot do it justice! Listen here http://comequicklylordjesus.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-weekend-messages.html

The next speaker was a Bible teacher I have heard on the internet but have never seen speak as this was his first time at the Ligonier conference. C.J. Mahaney spoke on "The Resurrection of Jesus." Mahaney reminds me a little bit of Piper because he speaks with so much passion and emotion and the way he cracks himself up reminds me of R.C. Sproul who makes himself laugh a lot. Mahaney talked a lot about death in his message. I was so glad because I think the idea of death is hugely missing in sermons today. This culture shuts a blind eye to death but as Mahaney reminded us, "we are all just standing in line." Mahaney taught that Easter is a yearly reminder of death and went on to say that Easter proclaims death, sin, and judgment do not have the final word because of Christ's resurrection. This resurrection announces forgiveness and that divine provision has been made for those who deserve punishment. Mahaney then focused on how belief in the resurrection should affect the way we live. "It is easier to affirm the resurrection than to apply it," Mahaney said. He went on to give a personal illustration about how the resurrection redefines death for the Christian that was quite powerful (if I can figure out how to put just this clip on I will upload it). His story illustrated how the resurrection brings freedom from the fear of death and wrath. He ended his story by saying, "I experienced the difference of the resurrection while making eye contact with death."

Sproul ended the second day of the conference with a teaching on "Sola Fide" which focused on faith being the means by which justification is given. Sproul went into detail as he contrasted the Roman Catholic belief that faith initiates salvation but is not sufficient in itself for justification with the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. Sproul's message was very good -as is to be expected!

Review of 2008 Ligonier's National Conference- Day 1

This was my 5th year in a row going to the Ligonier's National Conference in Orlando, Florida. It is the thing I look forward to the most every year. This year's theme was "Evangelism According to Jesus." It was not at all a conference on how to do evangelism but rather it centered on making sure we as believers understand the elements of the gospel message ourselves and stressed the importance the word of God plays in bringing people to salvation.

The conference kicked off with Steven J. Lawson's message "The Foolishness of Preaching." This was the first time I have ever heard Lawson preach. The conference emcee was right when he made a comment after Lawson preached that we had blast off! Lawson is a very strong preacher who preaches with authority and does not stop to take a breath- ever! He is rapid fire for an hour straight! Here are some of my favorite quotes from this teaching:

"The herald of the gospel is not results oriented but obedience oriented."

"Men today are more interested in filling the building than filling the pulpit."

"There is one solution to the human dilemma- the word of the cross."

"The wisdom of the world and the foolishness of the cross are going in two different directions."

"God designed the message and the method of how it would go forth(preaching) so that His wisdom and power would be on display."

"The preacher need not beguile the audience because people believe by the power of the word of God."

The second lecture was given by R.C. Sproul Jr. on "Evangelizing Your Children." I got a good laugh when Sproul Jr. was talking about how different denominations view their children: Lutherans, Methodist, & Anglicans are not worried about their children, Baptists view their children as horrible sinners who need to be preached the gospel, and Presbyterians see their children as "baby vipers wearing covenant diapers." Ha, ha, ha! Anyway, the overall theme of Sproul's message was that "To repent and believe the gospel is the answer to every problem." Sproul focused on how we need to be people who repent and not be people who live like we don't sin. His message was directed towards how parents are to evangelize children but was applicable to all relationships. Some quotes from message:

"We will never evangelize by pretending to be something we are not."

"They (our children and all people) need to us repenting and believing the gospel."

"It is foolish to think we will bring people into the kingdom by seeming that we don't sin."

The next message "Good News in a Fallen World" was given by Joni Eareckson Tada. This was the first time I had ever heard her speak and I have to admit I was afraid for her. I was afraid of how she would do. I mean she is a woman -and sorry if this is offensive- but women are not nearly as good at teaching the Bible as the men are. If you disagree with that send me some links to awesome and deep women Bible teachers and prove me wrong, PLEASE!) And not only is she a woman but she was teaching on the same stage as the GREATS! I was afraid for her. The truth is Tada was the like the horse at the track with the worst odds who won the big race. She was awesome! On top of her excellent teaching on bringing the gospel among the suffering in this fallen world her message was beautifully adorned with deep emotion, sensitivity, and compassion that only a woman could bring. Sproul added much by the addition of Tada to the conference this year. She teaches suffering with the authority of deep personal knowledge and reminds us:

"Suffering shows us who we are inside."

"When we are made to suffer we feel the sting of sin and it exposes to us what a poison sin is."

I really cannot do justice to her message but you could tell by the response of the audience that people were hit hard. After this followed a Q & A session with the three speakers. These sessions are a nice repose after brain frying lectures. Some small tidbits from the Q & A:

"The church gathers to worship and scatters to witness."

"Seeker sensitive churches are VBS for adults."

"Everyone rests in the gracious hand of God until they die."

"We live in a culture where people believe that a profession of faith saves them rather than a possession of faith."

Thus ended the pre-conference seminar. The actual conference started Thursday night with more rapid fire preaching from Steven J. Lawson, this time on "The Saving Power of God." Some of my favorite quotes from this message:

"Christ must be fully man and fully God to represent both parties in order to bring about reconciliation."

"We have not evangelized until we have shared the person and work of Christ." (this was said in regard to people thinking that sharing their testimony or witnessing is evangelism)

"We have been saved to serve."

"We bring a message so powerful that no one is beyond it."

"God's wrath is currently damned up by his mercy but it is building and building."

The last address of the night was given by John MacArthur on "Who Is Jesus?" MacArthur is my favorite as I have been raised in the faith on his teaching but I am most sorry to say that at this late hour my jet lag overwhelmed me and I became quite delirious and have no notes to pass on. I only recall what teaching I did hear was incredible- as usual. I look forward to listening to this message again.

Before I conclude this conference day I must give a shout out to the Westminster Brass and the organ woman who play the hymns that I look so forward to every year. The worship music at the Ligonier conference is the best. I wish they would come live at my church!

Easter Weekend Messages

This Resurrection weekend I have had a lot of time to think about the last week of Christ's life, his death, and resurrection. Today I listened to an excellent Good Friday sermon The Atonement by Mark Driscoll and I highly recommend it. To go along with this weekend's theme I also re-listened to an awesome sermon from Sinclair Ferguson "The Substitutionary Atonement" which he preached last week at the Ligonier Ministries conference. It was my favorite sermon from the conference. I have uploaded it here so you can listen to it in the player below. This is the kind of sermon where you will want to sit down with your Bible, a pencil, and a hot cup of coffee and just feast away. I hope you take the time to feed richly on both!

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Ligonier Ministries National Conference 2008

Full debrief to follow soon.

Reflections on Paris: The Louvre

On our trip to Paris we visited the most impressive Louvre. I wasn't all that excited to go but once we started our 3 hour trek through just a sliver of this massive museum I was glad I went. I love art depicting Christ or Bible stories and the Louvre had many beautiful paintings of this kind. In this slide show you will see a painting of St. Sebastian, a Roman soldier who was shot through with arrows for his faith. The catacombs I visited in Rome were the St. Sebastian Catacombs. You will also see a painting of John the Baptist's head on a platter, David holding the head of Goliath, and many paintings beautiful depicting Christ. The most famous painting at the Louvre is the Mona Lisa- she was fun to see. Near the end you will see Matt standing next to his favorite painting. It cracked me up that they had this painting in a museum with such famous pieces. We only had time to go through the paintings and catch a few great sculptures on the way out. I may have to go back to Paris just to see the rest of the Louvre and to have some more croissants!

Don't Manage Your Sin

I have been listening to Mark Driscoll a lot lately. In a recent sermon he said, "Don't manage your sin." It really struck me and I have been thinking about it since. How often we as Christians do just that. When I came across this sculpture at the Louvre last week I couldn't help but think, "Don't manage your sin, PUT IT TO DEATH!"

I don't know much about this sculpture or what the artist was trying to say but it looks to me to be a perfect picture of our struggle with sin. Sin is powerful, wiley, and does not give up easily. We need to fight hard, using all our strength. We need to grab it by the throat and give it a crushing blow to the head. And if it raises back up we need to do it again. We must keep fighting.

West Coast of Ireland

While my sister and her husband were here recently we rented a car and drove straight across Ireland to the west coast to see the famous Cliffs of Moher. Here is what you will see in the slieshow: First we ran into an old castle which sat on a black rocky marshland. There was water on three sides of it that seemed to orginate right there out of the ground. Next we arrived at what is known as the Burren. The Burren is large area of limestone along the west coast that stretches on for 300 sq. km. Here we saw many sheep, stone walls, and small cliffs over the ocean. My favorite part of this trip was when Matt decided to get near the edge of one of the cliffs to photograph some sea spray. As you will see in the slideshow he snapped a shot just before the wall of water overtook him and drenched him. He was able to take the shot, turn around, and protect the camera just in time. You will then see some pics taken at a small surfing town on the coast called Lynch where we stopped for dinner at a cozy little Italian restaurant. Lastly you will see the Cliffs of Moher. This is a national park on the west coast which has a series of green rolling hills that turn into beautiful green and black jagged cliffs which drop over 600 feet into the aqua ocean. Absolutely stunning!

Serious USA Booty!

When my sister came to visit last week she brought me a whole suticase of American treats from my family and Cbass. It was like Christmas in February! Peanutbutter, salsa, chai tea, rasinets, reeces pieces, m&m's, lemonade, brownies, choc chips, flavored coffee, velveeta cheese, fritos, Modern Reformation mags, a new book, scarves knit by my mom, a new hat, Bath & Body perfume and lotions, and- drumroll please- BRUEGGERS WHOLE WHEAT BAGELS!

Thanks family and Cbass! Praise the Lord who is wildly generous!

Fish and Chips?

Congrats to my brother-in-law Steven who recently won $500 in fishing contest in Minnesota for snagging this bad boy- a 12 pound northern named "Dinner!"