All Things For God's Glory

September, 2016 May, 2015 We've spent the last four years remodeling our house that we moved into in December, 2014.  Part of that renovation was to enclose a screen porch to house a therapy pool so we could do warm water exercise year 'round. At the time of the incident about which this article is being written, we'd been plodding along on the porch for about seven months, since early May, 2015. After removing part of the decking, we came up with the bright idea to dig down about a foot and bury the pool in the ground a bit so it would be lower to climb into. Our kids helped dig the hole, and then we got information online on how to make a platform on which to set the pool. We had the platform all built (no small feat for us amateurs!), struggled to get the pool inside the now enclosed doorway, got the legs all leveled, and were ready to fill it up. We could just feel that warm water and could envision the end of our project. What we didn't know was that ...

I've been meditating on Isaiah 58 for the past few days as I've been lying in a hospital bed, being "rerouted" by the good hand of the Lord. It seems the fasting that the Lord hates is fasting that elevates self (even though we may be saying we are seeking to know the mind of Christ, we may say we are wanting what He wants). Self glory is hideous to God - whatever form it takes. But God clearly states what kind of fast He delights in in verses 5-7 - a fast of humbling our hearts before our Almighty God, and letting the Word of Christ that should be dwelling in us richly pour forth in loving service towards the people around us - not motivated by self-glory, but by God's glory. We are a people who love self and self-glory, and we are so careful in our church circles to not let that self-glory look like self-glory. We are careful to not "smoke or chew or go with those who do"; we are careful to be squeaky clean in our reputations; we are carefu...

Gospel Transformation As I think over the past 5 years, I am swept off my feet with amazement for my Savior, Jesus Christ! He is changing me from a person who was completely living life for myself and my dreams and goals, to a person who is, by God's grace, learning to live every day to please my Lord and Loving Master, Jesus Christ! I don't say this proudly - because I had nothing to do with my spiritual heart transplant that occurred five years ago. And there is no perfection in my daily life – I still need the gospel of Jesus Christ every day in battling my sinful self – but there is definitely a changed purpose, and a passion for loving God that I never had prior to that time.  Is Our Suffering Wasted? Five years ago, I was literally at the end of my physical and emotional endurance. I had battled a neurological disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) or as it used to be called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) for 10 years. It had developed into a...