Memories of My Mom

These were the words I spoke at Mom's memorial service. It was emotional to write. I thought I had gotten it all out ahead of time, but then I got up there to speak and was overwhelmed by how many people were there...how many people had been touched by her...how many people loved her. It was moving.

I remember Mom. I am going to miss Mom. We are all going to miss Mom. We all remember Mom.

I remember Mom is a strong person. “A [woman] of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies” (Proverbs). She was strong in her own right in everything she did, the way she committed herself to everything she pursued, as if with passion, as if with intention, as if she meant it. Mom went through a lot in her battle with COPD, and she was strong every day along the way…every day. She was faced with some difficult decisions in how she was to be treated. It seemed as if almost every form of treatment she underwent had as many adverse side effects as it had benefits for addressing her underlying condition. She had some good days and some bad days; nevertheless, her decision always was to do whatever it took to be with her family because she knew she was not only strong in and of herself, she was strong for us. She held us together, supported us in everything, prayed for us through everything, loved us with everything she had. She is that woman…I remember.

My mom taught me how to pray. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). She loved to pray. She prayed all the time. I remember staying the night with my Mom in the hospital; it was one of her bad days. She asked me to pray with her that night…the same prayer from my childhood, but this time slowed by the strains of trying to breathe as she spoke:

Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

I remember as a boy lying down every night, and she would pray that prayer with me as I would then run through the list of every family member I could think to pray for. The Lord preserved that memory for me, even though I never realized what a precious moment that was until I had children of my own. There is nothing more that I want than to be able to teach my boys how to pray, the same way my mom taught me. I want my boys to love Jesus as much as she does. “[The Lord] will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore, the nations will praise you forever and ever” (Psalm 45:17). I remember.

I remember she is the reason I know and love the Lord today. She knows and loves the Lord. She loved to pray to the Lord; she loved the Lord’s Word. It wasn’t something that she did…it's who she is. She didn’t know everything about the Lord; in fact, if I might be transparent, during one of her bad nights she asked me why the Lord was allowing her to hurt. I didn’t know either…I thought about sharing Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Instead, I reminded her that she didn’t need to know why this was happening…all she needed to know was that the Lord was hurting with her. I remember that.

I remember my last moments with her; I prayed with her again. I prayed into her ear as she lay still, “Jesus, welcome my mom, your beautiful child, into your open arms, where every tear will be wiped, where ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain’” (Revelation 21:4).

I remember Mom. I praise the Lord because of her (Galatians 1:24). And I am glad she is in his arms. I will always remember.

Caleb, Micah, and my projects

Micah is doing great...eating and sleeping like a champ, but he's a bit gassy at times which tends to unsettle him a bit. Caleb is also adjusting wonderfully...he likes to hold Micah in his lap while sitting on the sofa. His only struggle is that he sometimes wants Mommy's attention while she's trying to feed Micah, but luckily he's getting over that, plus Mikki's mom bought Caleb a wooden train set to help distract him, which he plays with for about 90% of his waking hours.





During my time off for paternity leave (2 weeks), I have this trend of using it as an opportunity to work on minor projects around the house. When Caleb was born, we had just moved into this house, and I worked on snaking the cables from the flat screen tv behind the wall into a corner where the electronics are tucked away. This time, I built a decorative platform in the corner of the stairs. Here is the before and after shot...



Also, I've been working in the basement to get the room setup for Papa's pool table! The carpet in the basement was an awful forest green, so before we could do anything we wanted to get new carpet down there. Then this past week, I was removing one of the permanent shelves (on the back wall in the picture below) and reinforcing the bottom shelf to hold the TV that we also got from Papa. Just this afternoon, we had some guys come out to re-felt and level the pool table. It's all set to go now!



Caleb really likes to put the ball in the far corner pocket, listen to it roll down to the end, and catch it when it comes out.

Expressions at ChristChurch

Tonight was our 3rd annual Expressions event at ChristChurch. Once a year, we pull together the talented artists in our congregation to showcase the gifts the Lord has placed among our body. Notice in the flyer below that over 15 artistic mediums were involved throughout the course of the night. It made for a packed house tonight, with many folks from outside our church—or even unfamiliar with church altogether—in attendance.



This year I submitted a poem I wrote called "Unsatisfied." Below is the poem followed by my "Artist Statement," which helps give some more context for the origin of the poem.

unsatisfied

How long, O LORD, how long must I wait
For asylum and peace from your hand?
This world leaves me worn and ever so longing
With much injustice and malice by man.

I cannot plead innocent, quite surely the contrary;
Toward myself are my thoughts and deeds bent
And not toward my God and neither my neighbor.
Against you, LORD, you only, have I sinned.

Your grace is sufficient for this day and next
To sustain me as long as I live.
But faith in your promise I cannot engender;
Your grace, by your grace, is a gift.

I won’t be content in my nearness with you
Until my days numbered have ended
Or until you return, when surely and lastly,
My spirit to your hands is commended.

Every tear will be wiped, and pain is no more
Mourning and death will be gone.
Awaiting that day, I can’t help but plead
How long, O Lord, how long?

My Artist Statement:

Sovereignty. This is my favorite attribute of God, if I had to pick one. Not only is it intellectually and theologically stimulating to ponder that God is in control of all things, and that nothing happens without his ordination, but it is also emotionally comforting that he who is all-loving and is truly good is the one that is sovereign. This world is a lake whose every ripple is a result of a person’s actions. Even in the absence of those actions, the wind brushes against the lake creating ripples in their stead. Only the sovereign LORD can know how every ripple effectually intersects every other.

God has a plan that he is continually bringing about. The wonder of this plan is that it is bigger than you or me, and it has as its goal the ultimate glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But God in his sovereignty has allowed for pain, suffering, and bad things of all brands to exist in this world. We cannot fully know how the LORD intends to use these things to accomplish his goal, but we can know that he knows. Only he is creative enough to have devised a victorious end with the means to its fruition.

I try to imitate God’s creativity by bringing order where it is lacking and adding intention where it is absent. But all too often my boat is capsized by the unforgiving waves of the world; at times, my efforts even aid the ensuing disaster. As a result, my expectations are unmet, my efforts are frustrated, and the outcome is not consistent with my intentions. In the midst of what feels uncontrollable, I am reminded that God is still in control and that he can provide that for which I am most longing…to be pulled from the waves and wreckage to the praise of him who did the saving.

Bark in the Park

We went to Bark in the Park this week (bring your dog to the Atlanta Braves game) and had an awesome time!

Here we are...all three of us.

Max is obviously enjoying himself!

Smile big!

So cute!

Glorified Depravity

In today’s society, as you will often notice, we have grown into a culture that looks for opportunities to claim for ourselves either how accomplished and capable we are or what a disappointment and failure we turned out to be. For being at such seemingly opposing poles in the realm of self-confidence, these claims are surprisingly alike…arguably even the same. Most of us see self-confidence as a means of deriving or maintaining societal validity because, in the end, we all want to be happy, and it only seems to make sense that those who are not happy with themselves will never be happy. And so it appears that the extent to which one achieves self-confidence connotes the degree to which that individual is personally satisfied.

On the spectrum of confidence, at one end is arrogance and at the other is depression; altogether different but nevertheless strikingly similar. One person feels they are on top of the world while the other can’t stand to be in it, but the commonality among these two opposites is the underlying motive behind them both…a propulsion for self. Arrogant people are consumed with themselves, thinking of little more than what can be used to their advantage in promoting what interests them most. Likewise, depressed people are so preoccupied with all of their shortcomings that they can’t help but wallow in that which makes them miserable. In either case, at the most fundamental level, the motive is the same. Yet they seem to be so different because as we confront these individuals, the former stirs in us a sense of intolerant enmity while the latter arouses a sort of empathetic compassion. Perhaps knowing a critical piece of information can help shed more light on why these poles are not so different.

Take, for example, a neighborly young man who kindly comes to the aid of a woman carrying groceries, only to use her bags to cover his face as the police usher by in pursuit of him. Or consider an indignant driver that irresponsibly cuts off every car in sight and speeds off, making his way to meet his wife in the emergency room at the hospital. In these cases, our first impressions may be quite different from our ultimate understanding…and all this because of a critical piece of information.

The piece of information is the same in both cases: how a person relates to oneself may be vastly different than we think. In our examples, they are both so overly consumed with themselves to even think of how their selfishness is adversely affecting, or even endangering, those around them. In this frame of mind, our response can become intolerant and even embittered. On the other hand, they are also both so desperately grasping for meaning in the familiarity of their surroundings, but they can only seem to find a fleeting moment’s contentment. This understanding, however, melts away our hardness of heart. Perhaps our perspective is that which is in need of adjustment, not just the persons exposed above.

For those of us who don’t readily admit to struggling with arrogance or even depression, it would still behoove us to ask: Are we really all that different, or are we just better at hiding it? Perhaps our manifestations of such struggles are simply more subtle, in such a way that we don’t even realize we’re hiding them. For example, one person may be quite exceptional at reasoning why they are always right, allowing them to avoid dealing with why they want to be right in the first place; another individual, however, could be so used to deferring to other people who appear to be right more often, allowing them to avoid the possibility that they may be wrong. Call it meticulous vs. sloppy, industrious vs. passive, type A vs. type B; the motive behind it all is the stigma of self because we think that to be happy with ourselves is indeed what will make us happy in the end.

And for the most part I would agree this seems to be true; but only in part. Isn’t the whole point of this writing to help us come to an understanding that it’s not all about ourselves; instead it’s about others, right? Well, this is also true, but before trying to reconcile these points of interest, we first should understand a bit more about ourselves.

Wayne Grudem, in his book Systematic Theology, writes about who we are in light of who God is:

The difference between the creature and the Creator is an immensely vast difference, for God exists in a fundamentally different order of being. It is not just that we exist and God has always existed; it is also that God necessarily exists in an infinitely better, stronger, more excellent way. The difference between God’s being and ours is more than the difference between the sun and a candle, more than the difference between the ocean and a raindrop, more than the difference between the arctic ice cap and a snowflake, more than the difference between the universe and the room we are sitting in: God’s being is qualitatively different.

John Piper, likewise, puts it this way in Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ: “Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image?”

We come now to understand a bit more about how obscure we are in light of the overarching renown of the Lord. And yet, in spite of our irrelevance, we are given more meaning than we can imagine.

Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” How is it that we, so small and unsubstantial, are blessed that we might be the image bearers of God to the world? The most infinite and incomprehensible God not only created man, but gave each of us the weighty responsibility of bearing his infinite image through our finite dominion on the earth. Not only this, but even when man fails to image him appropriately because of sin, still “God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The Lord, in spite of our nothingness, makes us something, not because we are of any worth in and of ourselves, but instead because he simply has chosen to make us so.

Can you see how the pieces fit together? Yes, alone we are inconsequential; but in God “we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). We can simultaneously admit that we are more miniscule than we would ever want to admit, but we are also more blessed than we could ever dare to imagine. We want most to be happy, but inasmuch as we are unable to muster any qualitative significance on our own, we can be overjoyed that God was providential in supplying a much fuller and more eternal significance found in him.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Because of the passion of Christ, we can be free to pursue God for the same reason that Christ pursues us…for our ultimate joy and happiness.

Mantle Construction - UPDATE

This is the mantle as it is now fully completed! I couldn't help but get Max in one of the pictures.

Notice the white board that used to be on top of the mantle is now mounted to the wall, painted green, and finished off with some trim around the edges.

It really turned out great!

Mantle Construction

Below are some pictures of the mantle construction...start to finish. Well, almost finished. The board across the top still needs attention. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Circular Reasoning & The Bible

Every philosophy, epistemology, and theology has, at its root, some form of circular reasoning. It's just a matter of recognizing it. By asking "Why...why...why...?" enough times, one can eventually expose the source of nearly all of one's presuppositions. I bring this up, not to expose those who use circular reasoning as if they are at fault for doing so, but rather to help us evaluate the validity of our sources.

Consider the atheist...ask them why they don't believe in God, and you will get a variety of answers. Some cite reasons that sound more like they don't have a reason while others might have had a painful life experience that caused them to not only question God, but to reject their belief in Him altogether. The former assumes that God does not exist based on no other basis of belief except what they think for themselves. This is a faulty presupposition, however, because everyone will admit that they are not perfect and that they have made wrong assumptions and decisions in the past. Why, then, should they, I, or anyone for that matter, trust in themselves as the source of definitive knowledge regarding an issue as important as the existence of God?

In the latter case, on the other hand—not to downplay the extent to which such horrific life experiences can destroy a person's confidence and purpose—they base their rejection of God on the fact that they believe God, if He even exists, should be different than they were expecting. Perhaps they believe God should be more willing to let them keep the job they lost, or keep their legs after an accident, or keep their spouse that passed away. These are crippling life experiences for sure, but are these the things that would make God good? Why would we begin to presume such things based only on our own notions, which we have acknowledged up to this point to be faulty more often than we would really like to admit? Holding to an idea for no other reason than because they simply believe it, is faulty logic, NOT because it is circular reasoning, but instead because they are not always right, so there is no reason to definitively believe that they are right in this case.

On the other hand, for the Bible-believing Christian, when asked why they believe in God, says...
     "Because the Bible says that God exists."
Why should I believe the bible?
     "Because the Bible is true."
How do you know it's true?
     "Because the Bible says the Bible is true."

This is not faulty reasoning even though it does involve circular reasoning. It is only faulty if someone can point out an irreconcilable error in the Bible. By "error," I mean to refer only to blatant contradictions or facts that can be incontrovertibly disproved, and I do not believe there are any (cf., 2 Timothy 3:16). "Mysteries," however, are not uncommon in scripture, but just because we can't explain something does not require us to abandon it—because our knowledge is subject to God, not the other way around. Now, the believer will naturally strive to defend scripture as they are confronted with issues that challenge it, but this is not to lead anyone to conclude that the only way to believe the Bible is true is if they first successfully extinguish every issue ever raised against it. On the other side of the coin, the non-believer will likewise naturally strive to disprove scripture. But the non-believer's presuppositions are faulty for the reasons explained above, whereas those of the believer are not.

Logically, one does not need a reason to believe that something is true, but having a reason why it is not true requires one to abandon that belief. That being said, suffice it to say I still think there are a number of reasons to believe that the Bible can be trusted as true, which include, but are not limited to, the following: it is full of hundreds of prophecies regarding the life and death of Christ that were accurately fulfilled (cf., 2 Peter 1:20-21), and it is extremely accurate both historically and scientifically.

But what about the Bible's authors, one might ask? Aren't they just as fallible and prone to error as every other human? So why can we trust them who wrote the Bible? These are good questions, indeed, but I would contend that we do not trust the writers, but instead we trust God. Scripture tells us not only that it is true, but also that God is sovereignly in control, and if these things are true, then it is reasonable to believe that God, through these writers, preserved His words to us and used these fallible men to do so. "And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Relating to God

If you're anything like me—undisciplined, lazy, apathetic—living the "Christian life" is not easy. Scripturally speaking, there are those disciplines that are not only beneficial for believers but also commanded. How much better would my relationship with God be if I were to continually covet God's words written in the Bible; or to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18); or to meet daily with other believers like that of the early church (cf., Acts 2:46-47)? A tall order it seems, and yet one that is abundantly rewarding beyond the temporal bounds of life. Why then is it so hard...at least for me?

Galatians 3:1-5:

1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

In this passage, Paul is rebuking the Galatians for reverting back to a legalistic observance of the law (vv. 2-3). Now, don't get me wrong...obeying God's law is a good thing and is highly correlated in scripture with drawing close to the Lord. He is not trying to say that it is not useful or at all beneficial to live obediently, but rather that it should not be our means of growing with God. Instead, in verse 2, he reminds us that we got to where we are simply by "believing what you heard" (v. 2). In other words, faith is our only hope in relating to God.

For most Christians, it is ingrained in their minds that we become His children through faith alone. We do nothing...God does everything; from opening our eyes to see our sin, to giving us the words to claim the faith that He puts in our hearts. Through faith alone, God transforms our hearts and adopts us as His children. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But is that where it ends? Now that we have been claimed by God, is it now an exercise of the human will to grow spiritually? I can diligently try to pray and read my Bible in order to draw closer to God, but Paul is refuting the idea that we can do anything in and of ourselves to make this happen. In my experience, actually, one of two things happens: 1 - I begin my efforts, but they quickly begin to dwindle until they are no longer existent; 2 - I begin to think that I am pretty good at these disciplines of obedience and, hence, become prideful.

Read the words of Jonathan Edwards: "But they in a great measure leave off the practice of secret prayer. They come to this pass by degrees. At first they begin to be careless about it…they omit it once: After that they more easily omit it again. Thus it presently becomes a frequent thing with them to omit it and after a while, it comes to pass, that they seldom attend it" (cf., "Hypocrites Deficient in the Duty of Prayer" by Jonathan Edwards). This scarily sounds all-to-familiar. On the other hand, can we go so far as to consider it a blessing that God did not impute everyone with such ease in attending to the spiritual disciplines, if only in order that we might all-the-more rely on Him alone, not only to effectuate our faith, but also to sustain our growth? God continues to conform us to the likeness of Christ simply through our "believing what [we] heard" (v. 2).

In verse three, Paul goes on to ask if we are so foolish that "after beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" If by "goal" Paul is referring to our calling "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"—and I believe he is—then it is with undeniable clarity that the way we grow spiritually is by the Spirit alone (Micah 6:8).

Spiritual growth then is nothing more than our hearts being so inclined toward the Lord that, in response to Christ's obedient death on the cross as payment for our sins, we abide by the prompting of the Spirit with continual thankfulness. "The spirit of prayer is a holy spirit, a gracious spirit. Wherever there is a true spirit of supplication, there is the spirit of grace. The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints" (Edwards, emphasis added). The only way we will come to pray with any degree of regularity and—to put it more generally, grow spiritually—is by believing. Faith is our only hope in relating to God.

Commitment to the Church

The church universal includes believers worldwide, ranging from the suburban North American communities, comprised predominately of Christians, to the persecuted Middle Eastern residences, sparsely sprinkled with believers. The church is not a building, or even a place of worship, but rather "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). But if the church is comprised of believers worldwide, rather than being an establishment with strictly defined membership, one might ask then, what is the purpose of such an institution and why should it authoritatively systematize a set of beliefs.

Good questions, indeed, but perhaps the average believer, living in the midst of Christian culture, does not ask such questions, but instead casually assumes that some incidental benefit might come from the institution, but certainly not perceive it as a crucial means of spiritual sustenance. But faith, I would argue, is not an incidental benefit, but rather an imperative means to an end; that is, that God might receive glory through its manifestation in us. "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). If growing in our faith were an accessible feat for us to accomplish on our own, then there would be no need to thank God. But Paul in this passage is clearly attributing growing in faith and love to the benevolence of the Lord, for which we are to be thankful, however insufficient our appreciation.

The purpose of the church, therefore, is to be the communal means by which God increases faith and amplifies love. We find no better example than in the roots of the apostles themselves:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42,46-47).

Teaching...fellowship...prayer...sharing lives... Are these not the very things God would have in store for us through the body of believers so that we might be encouraged!? Encouraged by joy, overflowing in thanksgiving, through the pursuit of a hope greater than ourselves! "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:5).

If we were, indeed, competent enough in ourselves to invariably pursue such hope, then perhaps any notion of institutionalizing the church would seem causeless at best, but otherwise wasteful. But alas, man is not yet blameless, neither in thought nor action. Even the regenerate man, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, retains his defective flesh and must, therefore, "fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience" (1 Timothy 1:18-19). So perhaps the organization of doctrine, the appropriation of authority, or simply the practical imitation of scripture would serve well to equip us with the weapons of spiritual warfare and the promise of eternal victory.

Why, then, do we go to church only when the time is convenient, no other work remains, and a full previous night's rest is secured? If God would grant us the fervor of the persecuted believers abroad, who covet the opportunity to corporately worship, then we would see that surrendering ourselves to God through a commitment to the church is not a matter of sacrifice that may be inconvenient to our schedules, but alternately one of sustenance that is life-giving to our souls.

Admittedly, though, no church is perfect, and many are downright messy. People bring their selfish motivations and erroneously contrived suppositions into a group of similarly defective people, and sin is bound to occur. This is what causes divisions between churches, denominational arrogance, and spiritual apathy. Would this now be our excuse for trying to grow in our faith privately, apart from other believers; or is it just an opportunity to embrace a "tolerant" and "open-minded" congregation that proclaims a "different gospel—which is really no gospel at all" (Galatians 1:6-7)? Should we, then, abandon the notion that the benefits resulting from our commitment to the church far outweigh the inconveniences of "carrying each other's burdens" (Galatians 6:2)? Or in an attempt to avoid such a dilemma, should we simply continue to delicately shop for just the right church, no matter how long it takes, so that we might satisfy our comfort criteria rather than earnestly join others in their pursuit of holiness?

A Bible-believing, God-exalting body of believers, committed to faith and repentance, is all that is needed for any individual to grow in the church. This is, however, a tall order, and no church is capable on its own; only by the ordination of God may a congregation aspire to such an ideal. Sinful people lead churches; sinful people make up its membership; sinful people share the gospel of Jesus with nonbelievers so that the Holy Spirit might show them how the Father no longer sees them as sinful; the righteousness of Christ now covers them. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will" (Ephesians 1:4-5).

Thankfulness

The virtues of a believer should be many and varied. "Faith, hope and love" are among the chart-toppers, and being that "the greatest of these is love," we can understand that it is right and proper for the believer to pursue love not only as an inward trait of their personality, but also as an evidenced approach to the way they live (1 Corinthians 13:13). It's importance cannot be under-emphasized among believers, but especially to those outside the faith because "By this all men will know that you are [Jesus'] disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Perhaps there is, on the other hand, an altogether understated virtue among others for the Christian: thankfulness. Believers are commanded to be virtuous, whether it is by being loving, faithful, obedient, or humble, to name a few. But I believe thankfulness is too often merely assumed to be a part of the Christian's life rather than a trait worth pursuing, equally as much as others, if not more. Agreeably, it would seem to benefit all believers to be thankful, but should such an assumption be based on intuition or rather intention?

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Whether we are working at the office, sharing our faith, eating, or sleeping, we are commanded to do it with thanksgiving. And by pursuing a heart of thanksgiving, we will more assuredly avoid the temptations of sin and the licentiousness of the world. As addicts to our vices, we may find greater success in our sobriety were we to enthrall our attention with the pursuit of virtue rather than to arrest our minds by an avoidance of fault. Overwhelmed with thankfulness, therefore, for having been blessed with "every spiritual blessing in Christ" we can further pursue holiness and faith: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 2:6-7).

The following example comes from Luke 17:11-19:

Ten men who had leprosy...called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

This former leper was aware of his uncleanliness, perpetually conscious of his state of exclusion from society. The Lord had enabled him to understand his need not only to be cleansed of his physical condition, but also to be made right with his Master. Upon being healed, the man, overcome with thankfulness, was driven back to his Lord so that he might bow down at the feet of Jesus and ever so profoundly utter the words "Thank you." It was in this act of faith, motivated through thanksgiving, that Jesus met the man's needs, healing him of his leprous state and, even more importantly, giving him a saving faith.

An actively growing faith in God, I would argue, is dependent on--or at the very least, co-existent with--an authentic practice of thanksgiving for the person of God and his continual provision. But, lest we fall into a works-based mode of sanctification, a wrong thinking that we might somehow muster enough thankfulness to grow ourselves in the Lord, we must duly note that thankfulness does not necessarily result in a closer walk with God. Faithful obedience is not manifest from our thankfulness alone, but rather through God's intervening grace, transforming our thankfulness into a closer walk with him. "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted" (Romans 6:17). Rightly so, our thanks for our own obedience goes still to God alone.

Take for example the pharisee who, not recognizing his own sin, prayed aloud about himself inside the temple, thanking God that he was not like the other sinners, even particularly referencing a tax collector also present in the temple at the time (Luke 18:9-14). Although demonstrating a sort of thankfulness (however unaccompanied by faith), this pharisee did not see his need for the Lord; rather, the lowly tax collector saw his need for a saving God, and left that day equipped with thanksgiving in his heart--a gifted virtue that enables many to "worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire'" (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Mikki's ACL Reconstruction

Today Mikki had her 4th ACL surgery...yup number four. The kicker is that she tore this one in her left knee while at physical therapy after having surgery for tearing the ACL in her right knee. She's doing well, though...currently passed out asleep in bed. More updates to come.

This weekend we were also planning on heading down to my parent's condo at Panama City Beach for Memorial Day, but we're going to have to play that by ear, depending on how she feels.