Mark and I decided to call it a snow day as church was canceled (lots of old folks and snow/ice don’t mix well here) and we weren’t needed anywhere else. We spent the day in jammies (or what we wear in their stead) just taking it slow.

good morning, cutie

The only thing that would have made it better is a new puzzle to work on. Oh well. We had an enjoyable enough day.

there's another mountain behind that thick cloud

And while we’re on pretty mountains, here’s one not too long before sunset.

We’ve been meeting on Thursday nights for church in our house for about 6 weeks now. We’re having such a good time with it, too. Last week I took a couple of pics, though most of them turned out blurry. But I’ve got one I can show you.

they were having fun, honest!

The first few weeks we jumped around different scriptures but now we’re on with the rest of the MAC group. It’s been so encouraging to us and everyone else seems to really enjoy it, too. We’re meeting tomorrow night to talk about how we’re going to move forward organizationally as a church plant. So if you think of it, please pray for us. We need all kinds of insight and sensitivity to where God’s directing us. We’ll let you know how things move along.

It seems like this month’s theme is “take courage”. God’s been doing some mighty things in us and is gently reminding us of the real need for us to live fully in our identities as sons and daughters of the king. Friends were over this morning to pray with us about tomorrow night and we got the same sense in our time together. Take courage. Encourage yourself in the Lord. We don’t have to pretend to be royalty – we are. And we get to welcome everyone we meet into the peace and abundance of the kingdom we’re part of. How amazing is that?! Pray that we would.

Thanks for coming back. We’ll talk again soon.

the town at the foot of the mountain

beautiful buds

the gnarly tree in the plot next door

a bush full of bright berries

sweet bird

I wish I could have gotten a recording of the bird songs to post as well.  I just stood outside watching my breath and listening to the chirping.  Thanks, God.

I thought I’d show you what I’m seeing around home these days.

my view of the mountain

the tulips are coming up!

I’ve been doing a good bit of sewing lately and have some projects I’m excited to show you!  Now, if I can just talk Mark into doing a photo shoot with me… Hopefully we’ll get that done in the next few days.

Hope you’re all doing well.  Thanks for checking back in after such a long silence.  You’ll hear again soon.

Second, I read the beginning of Hebrews 6 with fresh eyes this morning. It’s one of those passages I always wished just wasn’t in the Bible, but it hit me a little differently today. I’m curious what others think of this reading:

• 5:11, 6:1-3 – I want to teach you more deeply if God permits, but you’ve become hard of hearing.
• 6:4-6 – Once you’ve experienced God, if you then harden your heart there’s nothing I can say or do that will bring you back to repentance. So it wouldn’t do any good to try to teach you more if your heart is not in a place of repentance. Because of the illustration he uses next, the “impossible” here reminds me of what Jesus said about the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17ff – “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
  
• 6:7-8 – He compares a person to a field. Elsewhere people are compared to trees and branches, in which case burning is pretty much the end. But for a field, burning is a new beginning. “Field-burning each year after harvest controls weeds, removes leftover grass straw, and destroys diseases.” He says the land is near to being cursed, but what will happen is the farmer will have to step in to make it useful again. So as a shout-out to 7th grade standardized testing: burning is to fields as pruning is to trees.

Could it be that in context he’s saying: “teaching causes growth in the soft-hearted. It doesn’t create soft-heartedness.” So it’s more a warning of discipline than damnation. That makes more sense to me in harmony with the rest of the Bible. The last thing I would ever want to do is limit God to my understanding of the Bible, or explain away what God intended to be an intense warning. But I also think sometimes angry preachers miss the heart of God (and thus miss the point) in texts like this.

What do you think?

<< Mark 10 >> New International Version Divorce 1Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3“What did Moses command you?” he replied. 4They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’a 7‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,b 8and the two will become one flesh.’c So they are no longer two, but one. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 10When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” The Little Children and Jesus 13People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. The Rich Young Man 17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’d” 20“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it ise to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus Again Predicts His Death 32They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” The Request of James and John 35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39“We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” 41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight 46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Footnotes: a 6 Gen. 1:27 b 7 Some early manuscripts do not have and be united to his wife. c 8 Gen. 2:24 d 19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20 e 24 Some manuscripts is for those who trust in riches << Mark 10 >> THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. See detailed copyright information. Online Parallel Bible

In order to help make sure we get to see as many of you as possible, I’m going to go ahead and post a loose schedule for our time.  Here goes…

• Oct. 24 – fly in and head to Kokomo
• Oct. 25 – Exit 59 morning services and lunch somewhere after (no lying, we’re hoping for mexican)
• Oct. 26-27 – in Kokomo
• Oct. 28 – to Muncie for teaching pool, then to Indy for BrewPub (this is all Mark, so I’ll need social stuff to keep me busy!)
• Oct. 29-30 – in Kokomo
• Oct. 31 – Muncie
• Nov. 1 – MAC in the morning and lunch after, Indy Alliance in the evening and overnight in Indy
• Nov. 2 – 5 – flying to Arkansas to hang with the Guinns
• Nov. 5-7 – in Kokomo until flight home

In other interesting news, we got to watch Will Ferrell and Bear Grylls on a sweet adventure tonight.  What could be more fun?  We also got to see Whitney perform on the X-Factor.  Yeah, you know the Whitney I’m talking about.  She’s still got it.

That’s all for tonight.
Ange

This is where we were this morning - the main street is that row of buildings to the left and the promenade is the path that runs down the beach.

Ange and I were prayer walking down on the main street and promenade of Newcastle this morning. It’s something we’ve been doing on and off since we got here, and lately we’ve organized our schedule so that we’re in the town prayer walking two mornings a week. We pray for Newcastle as a town, for revival and increased spiritual hunger, for God’s blessing on the churches and businesses, and occasionally ask people we meet if we can pray for them specifically.

There’s a story in the gospels where Jesus is walking by and this blind man cries out for help. Jesus stops and engages him, asking: “what do you want from me?” Recently as we’ve been walking around I’ve been thinking about that question. I’ve been thinking what do I really want to see happen here? What do I want God to do this morning? If I pray for people to be healed on the streets of Newcastle, do I want that to happen this morning through me? The answer varies if I’m honest and that’s ok. The point is not to feel bad, but to clarify and envision what it would actually look like for God to do what we’re asking.

I want to ask more and more specifically and expectantly. Am I actually asking for revival to break out this morning? For people around me to fall to the ground weeping and crying out to God? That might change the rest of my day… What would it look like if every church in town lit up with freedom, love, and passion and there was no more dead religion in town? We might not be needed. Am I ok with that? I think sometimes prayer becomes disconnected from what we’re actually asking for, because we don’t actually expect to get an answer. Often I think the answer comes (maybe slightly disguised) and we walk right on by because of expectations.

So what did we pray for? Well, all of the above. As we got more specific we asked that God would bring hunger and questions to people right now. That the light of his love would shine on people right now and they would feel his love. We prayed that a few specific issues in the town would shift. I believe those things are going to happen, and that’s pretty cool.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.
Mark

on a small tree in the back garden

I’m loving the bits of fall creeping into my days here and there: the colors popping up outside, the cooler breeze (which never leaves, really, but still feels different), the sun coming up at a reasonable hour.  And we have some lovelies blooming in the back garden.  *Sigh*

a new rose

We’ve been without a car for most of the week while it’s in the shop getting ready for an M.O.T.  (M.O.T. = a yearly requirement to make sure the car’s in good condition and it’s used to help determine the car’s tax for the year.)  It’s not too bad, though going to the grocery’s not great fun.  But I’ve had some lovely walks into town and the weather’s been great.  I don’t suppose I can complain!

I’ve finished 2 shirts in the last week and am working on some birthday presents for my sweet niece.  Oh, she’s a cutie!  And since we’re coming home for a visit in a month, I’ll get to see her with her gifts!  I do miss that.  Speaking of sewing things…

the new sewing classroom and outdoor break room

I realize this post is scatterbrained.  Sorry for that.  There are deeper things going on this week.  But not quite the sort of things I’m ready to put into words in a public forum yet.  So you get fluff.  Hope you’re okay with that.  We get to process with friends tonight and spend time worshiping the God we love, who loves us so dearly.  I’m looking forward to that.  I hope you have an equally wonderful beginning to your weekend!

I’ve been thinking this morning about Martha and Mary.  God has ignited my heart and pulled me deeper into himself, revealing more of himself to me, and there is nothing I’ve ever experienced that has been so good.  So life-giving.  I was sharing a bit of that this morning with a friend and they seemed caught up in the “what has God told you to do?” and disappointed with my answer of “be with him more and more – seek after his face and be obedient”.  That bummed me out, I won’t lie.  But I came home more committed than ever to be Mary -  to look at Jesus’ face, to stop and listen when he talks, to choose him over making sandwiches he didn’t order.  I believe that knowing God – looking at his face in all the ways he shows it, inviting Him to know me, learning appropriate postures before Him – that is what will make me able to do what I see the Father doing and speak what He is speaking.  And THAT is what Jesus’ life was all about.  Besides, it’s like the most enjoyable thing ever.  EVER.  I’m exploding because i can’t take it all in.  I pray that blessing over you, too.

I was going to put a pretty picture of this book I’m reading right now, but can’t figure out how to do it.  So I’ll just write the title, which is less eye-catching than a pic, but useful anyway.  It’s called Face to Face with God, by Bill Johnson.  I think a good bit of the power in books are when you read the right one at the right time.  So if you’re struck with a fancy, get a copy and read it.  I’d definitely recommend it!

I’ve started my class again, though it’s not at the school anymore and only on Wednesdays.  But it’s the same crowd meeting in a little one-room church building in Maghera, nicely located across the corner from my favorite pub.  I know – sweet, isn’t it.  I’m delving more into dress-making right now.  I do have some chairs to recover, but that will come a bit later.  I need to redo the frames first and there’s not enough room (or air circulation) in that wee place to do it.  So it’s clothing for now.  I’m thoroughly enjoying it!  And the company is as great as ever.  I love sewing with people around though I’m a really focused worker compared to the lot of them.

Other than that, there’s not much new stuff going on.  We’re nicely in a schedule now, which feels so great after the inconsistency of summer.  We’re doing a Treasure Hunt tomorrow afternoon, which is a bit out of the ordinary.  And we’re still having a great time.  I won’t keep rambling on and on about it.  But we’re so glad to be here and be able to play this particular part in what God’s doing in the world.  He’s on the move!   And I’ll leave you with that thought.

(I know pictureless posts are way less fun to read.  I’ll try *again* to get the camera out and let you see a bit of life, too, soon.)

We went down on Saturday morning and joined them for an all day prayer for Ireland event, which finished around 4pm. We then went for a walk, had dinner and spent the evening reading, praying, and just enjoying being with Jesus. Sunday was more of the same – reading, praying, talking, dreaming, eating, more praying. It was a really restful and restorative time.

We don’t feel like the orders have changed a lot since we got here a year ago. The biggest prayers we found ourselves praying were:

• We want to be radically intimate with and radically obedient to Jesus moment by moment (to do what he’s doing and say what he’s saying).
• We want to gather people around us who want to do the same.
• We want people who don’t know or even like Jesus yet to enjoy being around us, feel welcomed and blessed by us, and seek out our company. I feel like this has a lot to do with being radically generous (give me a break, I’m a pastor – I have to have three “radicals” in there).

Dancin' like a fly, bite like a mosquito!