The Church

It is times like this that I think of the church and how she is so misunderstood by people in our country. The church is that rugged old building in the middle of the small town. The church is the place where we go in our nice clothes every Sunday. The church is a social institution for helping the poor. The church is our place of worship. The church is none of these things!

The church, as so beautifully described by the apostle Paul, is the body of Christ. Just as the body of a water molecule is an oxygen molecule attached to two hydrogen molecules, so Christ's body is made up of those who have believed and have been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Being in Christ is "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). The church is not a building; well, not one that we would recognize. Paul did describe the church as a building in Ephesians 2:19-22. The Greek word for house is oikos. The root of that word is found in many of the key words in this passage. We are no longer strangers and aliens (paroikoi), but we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household (oikeioi), built on (epoikodomethentes) the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, and in Him the whole structure (oikodome) is being joined together into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him we are being built together (synoikodomeisthe) into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Maybe the church is a building, but not one that is earthly. We are the dwelling place of God; it's not me, but it is us!

Our local expression of the universal Church, Northside Christian Church, is about to move into a new building. It is immaculate, and was built to raise eyebrows and hopefully bring the community in the doors so they can hear the good news of Jesus. This does not abdicate us of the responsibility of sharing the gospel outside the walls of the church, but what if that idea has infiltrated our minds? What if Joe Christian says, hey, I just have to get them to church, and I have done my job? That's not the church, that's a building, Joe! You are the church! So what then is the purpose of the building? It is to attract people. It is to be a place where open arms welcome them from the world of darkness and despair. It is to be a place where the church can come together for corporate worship and for the community around us to be able to get away. Here is a picture of what the building looks like.

It is a beautiful park-like setting, and we will open it to the community to use: to fish in the pond to play on the playground, to use our picnic tables, to play disc golf on the course at the rear of the property. But will the church be the church by going and making disciples in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth? Let's hope the focus is on Christ and not on a building! Distractions are everywhere in the world, and I appreciate our pastor's plea to the church to remember what this is all about: reaching a hurt and dying world around us with the good news of Christ Jesus. May our community become the building Paul is talking about at the end of Ephesians 2 by breaking down the dividing walls (Ephesians 2:14)!

Oh, for the love of a child...

I was sent this by a friend who found it on another blog. This is me.

There are women who become mothers
without effort,
without thought,
without patience or loss,
and though they are good mothers and love their children,
I know that I will be better.

I will be better not because of genetics or money
or because I have read more books,
but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.

I have longed and waited.
I have cried and prayed.
I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have
appreciation are those who have
struggled to attain their dreams.

I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep,
explore,
and discover.
I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the
sound of my child, knowing that I can
comfort, hold, and feed him
and that I am not waking to take another temperature,
pop another pill,
take another shot or
cry tears of a broken dream.
My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense;
that God has given me this insight,
this special vision with which I will look upon my child.

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to
or a child that God leads me to,
I will not be careless with my love.

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured.
I am a better wife,
a better aunt,
a better daughter,
neighbor, friend, and sister
because I have known pain.

I know disillusionment,
as I have been betrayed by my own body.
I have been tried by fire and hell
that many never face,
yet given time, I stood tall.

I have prevailed.
I have succeeded.
I have won.

So now, when others hurt around me,
I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort.

I see it,
mourn it,
and join them in theirs.

I listen.

And even though I cannot make it better,
I can make it less lonely.

I have learned the immense power of another hand
holding tight to mine,
of other eyes that moisten as they learn to
accept the harsh truth when life is beyond hard.

I have learned a compassion that only comes by
walking in those shoes.

I have learned to appreciate life.

Yes, I will be a wonderful mother.

Important Things

It's amazing what music does to the heart. I've been up and down in my emotions the last 5-6 months, with all the things we've been experiencing, and the songs that I've picked up along the way, have been more therapeutic than I think anything else. Here are some of the songs that have really touched my life this past year.

The other day, I was taking Moses on a walk. The cool thing about walking with your headphones on, is that you're kind of in your own little world. (At least I am!) I have my iTunes music on my phone, and usually have that with me on my walks. It was kind of funny because I started crying while I was walking down the street. Somehow, this song just blind-sided me. If you have a chance to get a hold of Bethany Dillon's song, "You are on Our Side," the lyrics are great, but the music puts light on them in a way that makes it just hit you to the core. I had the opportunity to play the cello part when we performed this in church a few months ago.

The orphan clings to Your hand, singing the song of how he was found.
The widow rejoices, for her oppressors are silenced now.

And You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor,
And You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore.
And when You could just be silent and leave us here to die,
Still You sent Your Son for us,
You are on our side.

The runaway falls at Your feet. You are what he has searched for.
The rich man is broken when he stands beneath a sky full of stars.

And You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor,
And You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore.
And when you could just be silent and leave us here to die,
Still You sent Your Son for us,
You are on our side.

Still You sent Your Son for us,
You are on our side.

Another of her songs "For my Love." Very very very cool song, too (again, lyrics are only half of the true experience. You need to hear the song to capture the fullness of it).

Walk towards me, I want to hear the heavens singing over you
When you breathe and look at me, I want to be captured by you
Gaze into my eyes and let me know you'd fight thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine, ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love

I want to hide what's deep in my eyes, I'm scared to be known by you
But when I turn my head and see you there, I want to be pursued
Gaze into my eyes and let me know you'd fight thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine, ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love

A dream I won't wake from
A story that will never end
The ground your feet walk on
Let me be there, let me be there

Gaze into my eyes, let me know you'd fight thousands, for my love
Slip your hand in mine, ask me to dance with you tonight
Just ask me for my love


Caedmon's Call's "Mystery of Mercy:"

I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot
I am the scattered seed that fell along the path
I am the son that ran away,
I am the bitter son that stayed.

My God, My God
Why hast thou accepted me?
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, My God, Why has thou accepted me?
It's a mystery of mercy and a song, a song I sing

I am the angry man that came to stone the lover
I am the woman there ashamed before the crowd
I am the leper that gave thanks
And I am the nine that never came

My God, My God
Why has thou accepted me?
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, My God, Why has thou accepted me?
It's a mystery of mercy and a song, a song I sing

You made the sea, that made the tree
That made the cross that saved me
You gave me hope when there was none
You gave me only Your Son


Fernando Ortega's version of "Give me Jesus." This is the song that I want sung at my funeral. It is all my heart desires and what I want my life's motto to be.

In the morning when I rise
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Give me Jesus

When I am alone
Give me Jesus

When I come to die
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus


Gary and I have begun a very good thing in the morning. He suggested it a week and a half ago, and since we started doing it, it has made all the difference in the world. It has truly brought us closer to our Father and to each other. All we've been doing has been getting up and sharing our thoughts for the day, with a cup of tea, and reading through a chapter of the bible, discussing it, and praying together to begin our day before either of us goes to work. It is so nice to start our mornings in the right mind and to give our day to the Lord.
We usually try to pray right before we go to bed, but there is just something to be said about starting our day and gearing up our minds to be set on those things that are noble.

That's what's been going on in our lives. Along with some other details. This is the important stuff, though. Thanks for reading! God bless.

Iketober

It has been a month, so I figured I should give an update. Maybe I will add pictures later. So right after our last post we got ready for an incoming hurricane. Ike kept us up most of the night when it got here. The wind was pretty powerful. It knocked over a section of our fence, tore a couple of pieces of our patio roof off, and knocked our satellite dish over. We don't even use the thing, so I got up on the roof once the wind died down a little bit, and cut the wires and got it off our roof. Before I did that, it was rolling around on the roof, and that did not seem like a good thing. Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula sustained the worst damage, but there were several homes that had trees go through the roof in our area. Krissy and I were watching our neighbor's palm tree, swaying in the wind and hoping...

After Ike, we heard on the radio that it could be up to four weeks before we got power back. We were not about to stick around for that, so we headed to San Antonio for a few days. It was nice to slow down a little bit. We were also able to be there less than an hour after Annie delivered Luke Jackson. He was a big boy! 10 pounds 2 ounces! So we have another nephew!

On September 21st, we had a worship service in the parking lot of our church offices (since we don't have a building and the school we meet in was closed). It was good. Several guys in the church went around helping people cut up trees that were down and making burn piles. It was hard work, which is why we had so many people helping others. Ahh, when the body works like it should!

So, since Ike, we have rescheduled my ordination service to October 19th. I also met and interviewed with the elders a week and a half ago. I got a call the next day from David, our senior pastor, asking me if I would like to work for the church...as if I hadn't been for the last 14 months. It was good. I suppose that as I have been reading and studying about discipleship and how Paul built churches, it has been laid on my heart that we must always look for people to pour ourselves into, no matter who we are or where we are in our walk. That was something I emphasized in the interview. So, I am sort of officially the Pastor of Small Groups at Northside Christian Church now. Sort of because I am not ordained yet.

I have been reading several books on church leadership, small groups, and discipleship lately. A few of the books include Growing True Disciples by George Barna, Choose the Life by Bill Hull, The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee, The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson, They Smell Like Sheep by Lynn Anderson, and The Disciple-Making Church by Bill Hull. At the same time, I am going through a leadership equipping study with a former professor, Derek Voorhees. It is basically a study of Ephesians, but focuses on six character traits of a disciple outlined in the letter. It has been a very good thing to walk through. I am contemplating utilizing it as a tool to guide some of our lay leaders in hermeneutics principles and discipleship training.

Overall, this month is flying by, and I am sure it will be a while before your hear from us again. We are so bad at keeping up with our blog. However, we try to let you know where we are at. Maybe some time we will utilize this a bit more efficiently. Until next time, may God be glorified in your life as well as ours. To the praise of his glorious grace! Amen.

Our August...and Other News

It's finally here! We never thought the day would come when, first of all, Gary would every finish his schooling. Well, that happened at the beginning of August, and after a formal interview with a dean from DCC, he'll be finished completely with his degree. He'll be a December '08 graduate and the commencement ceremony will be in May 2009. We are always so thankful to the Lord for bringing us through the last two and a half years of his schooling. It was not easy on his or my part, but through much diligence and lots of self-discipline, he finished.

The next big piece of information is that the ministers and elders of Northside Christian Church will be ordaining Gary on Sunday evening, September 21, at 6:30pm. We're excited about that and very honored that they would choose to do this. It's going to be a very simple service where he will vow certain things going into the ministry, and then we will have a reception afterward.

We're very excited about both of these events. Also, through recent conversations with the senior and associate ministers, it is most definitely certain that Gary will be a full-time staff member there at Northside. It's always amazing how the Lord really works things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. Thank you, Father.

I've started my voice lessons, and am loving every minute of it so far. I'm only teaching at the schools Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and I have chosen to open up our home to teach piano lessons on Monday afternoons. I've been teaching during the day and Tuesday afternoons at a private Christian school down the road, and that's been really fun. Then I teach Wednesday afternoons at Klein Oak, and then Thursday afternoons at Klein Collins. It's been really great meeting new people, getting things going with my own self-run business (I set up a business account at WaMu, which makes me feel even more official!). Gotta figure out the whole tax thing, though, too. That'll be interesting.

Another thing that's happened is that our worship minister, Jeremi, has asked me to be the "Vocal Director" of the worship ministry at the church. It's a pretty big role, and will take up a lot more time than what I've been volunteering for the last three years, but I'm excited about that.

So many changes, yet a sovereign and steadfast God that we worship. Praise You, Father, for being just who You are. Constant, never-changing, omnipotent, and sovereign. You are almighty, and we bow at Your feet. Thank you, Jesus.

Here are some pictures of some things we did in August. My family went to Canyon Lake and stayed in a 3-bedroom condo. Here are Annie, Mollie, and Travis at the pool.

Here I am fishing. I caught the first fish of the evening, and was so proud of myself (although I didn't really do anything different than the rest of the group...).

Just in case you wanted a closer look, here's the fish I caught.




And here's Dad doing his fatherly duty of baiting each pole for all us girls. We were using leftover bread and tortillas for the fish bait.

Here are Dad, Bri, and Mom trying, oh-so-diligently, to catch a fish. I decided to head back to the condo, since my work was done...

The next day, we went tubing down the Guadalupe River. It was SO COLD. Here's Gary, after just having plopped into the water, trying to keep his rear-end out of the puddle in the middle of the tube.

The ducks loved Gary. They were getting pretty friendly with him (I think he had pretzels or something...).

Bri, Me, Gary, and Mom. Dad's taking the picture. If you hadn't guessed, Annie, Travis and Mollie had left the day before we did this. Travis had to get back to work, and they didn't really know if Mollie would enjoy this adventure. We ended up going around the horseshoe bend 3 times that day. It was about an hour each time. Piled on the sunscreen and had a blast!