"Weak, feeble and foolish as it may seem to people, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all mankind in every part of the globe."
The story of the Cross is devastatingly simple and yet it changed history! I'm so thankful for HIS story and for the graciousness HE has shown! This graciousness was undeserved in every way and yet bestowed anyway. Because of HIS grace I've been transformed...I shudder every time I consider this!
I love J.C. Ryle and I encourage any and every person to read his material!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Quotes from John Owen
"Be killing sin or it will be killing you."
How true this is! We must daily be seeking out and killing the sin that destroys by means of the gospel!
"Past faithfulness is not a protection against present dangers."
Too often we find ourselves "resting on our laurels" especially when it comes to our faith. Past faithfulness is just that and yet it seems to be what most seem to be content with. This keeps us out of God's will. May our hearts be repentant and may we diligently guard and apply the gospel daily to keep us from such apathetic lives of contentment.
How true this is! We must daily be seeking out and killing the sin that destroys by means of the gospel!
"Past faithfulness is not a protection against present dangers."
Too often we find ourselves "resting on our laurels" especially when it comes to our faith. Past faithfulness is just that and yet it seems to be what most seem to be content with. This keeps us out of God's will. May our hearts be repentant and may we diligently guard and apply the gospel daily to keep us from such apathetic lives of contentment.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Great Quote
"Sin is the ultimate disease, the grand psychosis. You cannot escape it or defeat it...We deal with much more than suffering, disease, disappointment, and death. Our deepest problem is not experimental, biological, or relational; it is moral, and it alters everything. It distorts our identity, alters our perspective, derails our behavior, and kidnaps our hope."
This quote is from Paul David Tripp when speaking of what sin does to us in "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" (p.12)
This quote is from Paul David Tripp when speaking of what sin does to us in "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" (p.12)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My wife is amazing
Lately my wife has amazed me. There are too many instances to truly name but I wanted to share a few.
We have been trying to reach young couples and singles along with establishing a consistent Children's ministry so that we can invest in the children of our church, especially on Sunday evenings. Jill volunteered to co-teach the class with me because of her heart for young ladies that age and leads our Sunday Night ministry Worship Kidstyle. She works nights and frequently works on weekends. She often works on Saturday Night which means she works 7pm Saturday evening to 7am Sunday morning. She will say up and help to teach Sunday morning and then go to service. She then wakes up and leads Worship Kidstyle. No, I did not ask her to do any of this she does it out of a heart to serve and see people established in their relationship with our Great God and King.
In December, I saw her do something that blew me away! We were going out to eat and I had the kids with me in the party wagon (a.k.a. the minivan) while she was following behind us in the car. She had to work that evening so I decided to "cook" dinner ;). I came over a rise and noticed the truck coming toward me was veering off the road. He then over corrected and flipped! I called 911 (it took forever on the phone, if I would've been in the process of being attacked I would've been dead - but back to he story). Jill then came over the rise and saw the truck. She stopped immediately and by the time I got off the phone she had "army crawled" into the truck which was on its roof through shards of glass and was pulling the man to safety! When the EMT s arrived and took the man we noticed her arm hard been cut up by the glass. Seeing her in "nurse mode" was amazing.
Now all this sounds like the biased opinion of a blessed husband and to a certain extent it is. Yet the amazing thing is that these acts and the heart with which they are graciously lived out are the norm not the extraordinary and for that I'm eternally grateful for HIS placing of Jill into my life. I'm thankful for HIS allowing me to cherish and serve such a gift as Jill.
We have been trying to reach young couples and singles along with establishing a consistent Children's ministry so that we can invest in the children of our church, especially on Sunday evenings. Jill volunteered to co-teach the class with me because of her heart for young ladies that age and leads our Sunday Night ministry Worship Kidstyle. She works nights and frequently works on weekends. She often works on Saturday Night which means she works 7pm Saturday evening to 7am Sunday morning. She will say up and help to teach Sunday morning and then go to service. She then wakes up and leads Worship Kidstyle. No, I did not ask her to do any of this she does it out of a heart to serve and see people established in their relationship with our Great God and King.
In December, I saw her do something that blew me away! We were going out to eat and I had the kids with me in the party wagon (a.k.a. the minivan) while she was following behind us in the car. She had to work that evening so I decided to "cook" dinner ;). I came over a rise and noticed the truck coming toward me was veering off the road. He then over corrected and flipped! I called 911 (it took forever on the phone, if I would've been in the process of being attacked I would've been dead - but back to he story). Jill then came over the rise and saw the truck. She stopped immediately and by the time I got off the phone she had "army crawled" into the truck which was on its roof through shards of glass and was pulling the man to safety! When the EMT s arrived and took the man we noticed her arm hard been cut up by the glass. Seeing her in "nurse mode" was amazing.
Now all this sounds like the biased opinion of a blessed husband and to a certain extent it is. Yet the amazing thing is that these acts and the heart with which they are graciously lived out are the norm not the extraordinary and for that I'm eternally grateful for HIS placing of Jill into my life. I'm thankful for HIS allowing me to cherish and serve such a gift as Jill.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
It's been a while
It's been a while since my last post and there has been much happening. I will put up some posts to catch up over the next week or so. I guess I'll start with my Dad's upcoming surgery. He's been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has surgery this Friday. I will be traveling to West Virginia on Thursday and then return on Saturday so that I can be there with him, Mom, and my sister Amy.
The difficult thing about living so far from family is when issues such as this arise. With our parents getting older there is, at least in my mind, a thought of what to do if health becomes a distinct factor being this far away. The added difficulty is being able to travel or find childcare without having family near us. We have been away from family for almost our entire marriage and all three of our children have been born here in South Carolina so we are used to trusting in HIS provision and we are so thankful for HIS graciousness to us. Yet when times like this arise it is difficult. In the midst of the difficulty we have found that HIS faithfulness is so amazing and this aids us in making trusting HIM our default position rather than seeking to trust in and of ourselves to come up with the needed resources or answers and that is a wonderful expression of HIS grace to us.
As for this trip to West Virginia, Jill was unable to switch a scheduled shift so both her and the kids will be staying here while I travel. We are thankful for a member of the body at Oak Ridge that will be staying with the kids and taking them to school the next morning while Jill is at work that night. This is yet another way in which HIS body is caring for us and by which HE is meeting our needs.
I will post more over the upcoming weeks to catch up on all that HE has been faithful in providing over the past few months. Please be in prayer for my Dad and for us as we will be apart for those two nights.
The difficult thing about living so far from family is when issues such as this arise. With our parents getting older there is, at least in my mind, a thought of what to do if health becomes a distinct factor being this far away. The added difficulty is being able to travel or find childcare without having family near us. We have been away from family for almost our entire marriage and all three of our children have been born here in South Carolina so we are used to trusting in HIS provision and we are so thankful for HIS graciousness to us. Yet when times like this arise it is difficult. In the midst of the difficulty we have found that HIS faithfulness is so amazing and this aids us in making trusting HIM our default position rather than seeking to trust in and of ourselves to come up with the needed resources or answers and that is a wonderful expression of HIS grace to us.
As for this trip to West Virginia, Jill was unable to switch a scheduled shift so both her and the kids will be staying here while I travel. We are thankful for a member of the body at Oak Ridge that will be staying with the kids and taking them to school the next morning while Jill is at work that night. This is yet another way in which HIS body is caring for us and by which HE is meeting our needs.
I will post more over the upcoming weeks to catch up on all that HE has been faithful in providing over the past few months. Please be in prayer for my Dad and for us as we will be apart for those two nights.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Amazing Daddy Moment
Chloe's teacher sent this email to Jill today and she then forwarded it to me:
Chloe left with the nursery riders before I gave out KES Folders. Her folder will be on her desk Friday morning and she can bring it home. She made a 100% Spelling, 100% Reading & 100% Math!!! So wonderful!! She is such a blessing to our class. Today, our new friend needed help with her clock sheet, Chloe didn't know I was watching and she sweetly explained how to count the minutes by 5s. It was such a tender moment! I told her she should be a teacher when she grows up! Thank you for sharing your precious little girl with me!
Nicole
Nicole Gardner
Kershaw Elementary School
Lancaster County School District
I pulled the van over and I read this and began cry. I cried over the second half of the email as this is what we hope of our children because character is displayed when nobody else is looking and our sincere hope is that this character reflects Christ. I decided to have Chloe come the front of the van so we could talk. I had her read the email and as she was reading tears streamed down my face. These tears were tears of thankfulness for God's goodness. We try over and over to implant seeds of the gospel which we pray will take root and will result someday in Chloe embracing Christ as Savior. When HE graces us with snippets such as this email it makes our hearts leap for joy! After she read this we were both weeping along the side of the road in Camden. I explained to her that hearing that she is doing things such as this is so beautiful because it reflects what Jesus' heart. I told her I loved her and that I was proud of her, which I would be if we had the email or not, then held her and prayed as we both had tears streaming down our cheeks. I thanked HIM for HIS goodness and prayed that these seeds of the gospel we are planting fully take root and that she embraces Christ as Savior and fully reflects HIS beauty.
Chloe left with the nursery riders before I gave out KES Folders. Her folder will be on her desk Friday morning and she can bring it home. She made a 100% Spelling, 100% Reading & 100% Math!!! So wonderful!! She is such a blessing to our class. Today, our new friend needed help with her clock sheet, Chloe didn't know I was watching and she sweetly explained how to count the minutes by 5s. It was such a tender moment! I told her she should be a teacher when she grows up! Thank you for sharing your precious little girl with me!
Nicole
Nicole Gardner
Kershaw Elementary School
Lancaster County School District
I pulled the van over and I read this and began cry. I cried over the second half of the email as this is what we hope of our children because character is displayed when nobody else is looking and our sincere hope is that this character reflects Christ. I decided to have Chloe come the front of the van so we could talk. I had her read the email and as she was reading tears streamed down my face. These tears were tears of thankfulness for God's goodness. We try over and over to implant seeds of the gospel which we pray will take root and will result someday in Chloe embracing Christ as Savior. When HE graces us with snippets such as this email it makes our hearts leap for joy! After she read this we were both weeping along the side of the road in Camden. I explained to her that hearing that she is doing things such as this is so beautiful because it reflects what Jesus' heart. I told her I loved her and that I was proud of her, which I would be if we had the email or not, then held her and prayed as we both had tears streaming down our cheeks. I thanked HIM for HIS goodness and prayed that these seeds of the gospel we are planting fully take root and that she embraces Christ as Savior and fully reflects HIS beauty.
Friday, October 1, 2010
A thought about serving in rural areas
I just returned to the house from a funeral for a gentleman that was a retired Pastor. He served in churches in rural South Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. He served as an interim at our church about 7 or 8 years ago. I was struck by the words shared because they were words that glorified God for the life he lived.
I did not have the privilege of knowing Thomas Taylor as the time I did get to visit him was at the end of his life and he was in bad shape. He never served in a large congregation yet served faithfully in rural contexts for over 30 yrs. There is much to be thankful for when it comes to the faithfulness of those who invest their lives in the body in what was described today as the out of the way places. He did that. The church was not packed out today but the was a definite spirit of thankfulness for one who shepherded the souls of those where many would not go serve.
I pray that it can be said of me that I was faithful to the gospel, that the gospel truly saturated my soul, and that I served well when I reach the end of my life. I have found that there is no out of the way place in His will. There is nothing easy about shepherding in a rural context yet there is nothing better than serving our Great God and King where HE has placed me. I'm thankful the HE reminded me of that today.
I did not have the privilege of knowing Thomas Taylor as the time I did get to visit him was at the end of his life and he was in bad shape. He never served in a large congregation yet served faithfully in rural contexts for over 30 yrs. There is much to be thankful for when it comes to the faithfulness of those who invest their lives in the body in what was described today as the out of the way places. He did that. The church was not packed out today but the was a definite spirit of thankfulness for one who shepherded the souls of those where many would not go serve.
I pray that it can be said of me that I was faithful to the gospel, that the gospel truly saturated my soul, and that I served well when I reach the end of my life. I have found that there is no out of the way place in His will. There is nothing easy about shepherding in a rural context yet there is nothing better than serving our Great God and King where HE has placed me. I'm thankful the HE reminded me of that today.
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