Something to think/pray about....

I read this and thought I should post it...


Grateful for (Almost) Any Government
November 4, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

How does the Bible instruct us to pray for “all who are in high positions”? It says,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:1-4).

A few observations:

1. Giving thanks “for kings” is hard when they are evil.

And, as Calvin said on this passage, “All the magistrates of that time were sworn enemies of Christ.” This shows us that anarchy is a horrible alternative to almost any ruler.

We should give thanks for rulers because “non-rule” would unleash on us utterly unbridled evil with no recourse whatever.

Again Calvin: “Unless they restrained the boldness of wicked men, the whole world would be full of robberies and murders.” The better we understand the seething evil of the human heart that is ready to break out where there is no restraint, the more thankful we will be for government.

2. The effect we pray for is “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly, and dignified in every way.”

Dignified means “serious and reverent,” not stuffy. I suspect what Paul means is not that we can’t live godly and serious lives during times of anarchy. We can. I suspect he means that peaceful and quiet lives, which are the opposite of anarchy, are often wasted in ungodly and frivolous actions.

So he is praying for a government that would give peace and quiet (not anarchy), and that Christians would not fritter away their peaceful lives with the world, but would be radically godly and serious about the lost condition of the world and how to change it.

3. Using our peace for radical godliness and serious action will lead to more effective evangelism and world missions.

This last observation is confirmed by the hoped-for outcome Paul mentions. Paul says that the reason God delights in such peaceful, Godward, serious action is that he “desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

More people will be saved if our government restrains the horrors of anarchy, and if Christians use this peace not to waste their lives on endless entertainment, but seriously give their lives to making God known.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo

Reminds me of the Lord. Beautiful voice -Awesome pictures....

Spring? Ha!!!!

Well the calendar says spring but looking out the window as snow hits the ground does not say spring to me.... I look around waiting for everything to wake from it's long winter sleep. It won't be long before we will have our piggies in the sand........

Rom 13:11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

The little things....

Emma has been saying some really cute things lately. I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget!!!

me: emma why don't you wear these boots today?

emma: because the last time i wore them they gave me a canker sore......

emma: mommy can you make me nachos? i just love those gorilla chips (tortilla).....

emma: oceans are dangerous, they have crocs in them

me: i don't think crocs live in the ocean

emma: yes they do samantha told me

me: she doesn't know everything you know.

emma: mommy she goes to school and you don't she knows more than you!!!!.....

Happy Anniversary!!!!

9 years and counting!!!!!

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

(I bet you wish we were in Hawaii today)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEANIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emma is 5 today. Hard to believe, boy did 1825 days fly by!!!! May the Lord lead and direct her steps to glorify Himself......

The girls taking pictures

Give a kid a camera, this is what you get!!!!

Wishing we were in Florida.....

cold and blustery here. just 2 weeks ago enjoying 18 days in the florida sun.....

You are amazing God!!!!Again!!!!

Check this out. This is our nephew....

6 min 44 sec - Dec 18, 2007Description: A little boy with a mystifying eye condition finally found an answer on the other side of the globe with the help of Dr. Harry Chugani at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. ~Detroit Medical Center




http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2404586994749948974&pr=goog-sl

Amazing God!!!!

Look!!!! I lost my first tooth!!!!!

She's getting so big

What a great vacation!!!

I think it has taken all of us all of last week to recover from such a great vacation!!!!Thank you Steve and Susan.

We are going on vacation~~

Sand, sun, fun and family!!!! We can't wait!!!!

The cabinets have arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Woo Hoo. After 6 weeks of washing dishes in the bathroom sink and dust and dirt everywhere. We now see the light at the end of the tunnel. The cabinets have arrived and we will be done by the end of the week...... Like we are before we are saved, dusty dirty and nasty then the Lord comes and renovates us..... Thank you Lord (ps. these are the cabinets)

Nuttin like a kitchen remodel!!!!

Here are some recent pictures

Stuffed French Toast.....

HMMM if only someone would make this for me on Mother's day. (oh yeah my lobster lunch too....)





Creamy, Fruity Stuffed French Toast Hearts


3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
A couple drops pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup raspberry or strawberry preserves
1 cup pure maple syrup
8 slices white bread
2 tablespoons butter



1. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla and set near the stove. In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and preserves; set aside.
2. warm the syrup in a small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave on high for 1 minute.
3. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over 4 bread slices. Top with the remaining 4 bread slices to make 4 sandwiches. Cut each sandwich using a 4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter.
4. melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Dip the hearts in the egg mixture and cook in the skillet, turning once with a spatula, until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve the hearts with the warm syrup.

Dear God!!!

This is Emma's prayer from this morning.

Dear God,

I love you. You are the best. I love this place. You are a great guy. Thank you... Love me

Marshmallows

Yesterday me and Emma and the Kilbanes went to Ingaldsby farm (just opened for the season) we got our cider donuts and coffee etc. and of course Emma had to go to the bathroom.

We had to go outside all the way around the building and you could smell fire in the air. Emma said Mumma it smells like marshmallow's out here that must be a marshmallow bush.

Good Friday!!!!

Into Thy Hands I Commit My SpiritGood Friday
By John Piper April 20, 1984

Luke 23:44-46
Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that the passion of his life was to know the power of Christ's resurrection and to share his sufferings and become like him in his death. I think we should follow Paul in this. We should long to draw from Jesus the power to live and die like he did. Surely that is one of the reasons the gospels show us so much of Jesus' death. God's will for us is that we learn from Jesus how to die.

Jesus' Suffering and Your Suffering
It is a strange and terrible perversion of the gospel to say that since Jesus suffered for me, therefore I don't have to suffer—I can be comfortable and prosperous. The stumbling block of the cross is removed if we say he became homeless that I might have the finest of houses. He was rejected by men that I might be admired among men. He lived in poverty that I might live in luxury. He endured suffering that I might enjoy ease. Jesus taught just the opposite: "If any man would come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me." If we suffer with him, we shall be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21).

Learning from Jesus How to Die

Therefore, when we see Jesus die, we see two things: the price paid to bring us to glory; and the example given for how we are to get there. So let's learn from Jesus how to die, by focusing on Luke 23:44–46.

1. Remember That God Reigns
When you come to die, remember that God reigns. "It was about the sixth hour and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed and the curtain of the Temple was torn in two." Who saw to it that the sun's light failed? Who ripped the temple's curtain from top to bottom? Over and around the death of Jesus Christ is the ruling hand of God. He has not fumbled the ball. There are no loose ends. Luke made it crystal clear in Acts 4:27f., "Truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever thy hand and thy plan had predestined to take place." It is true that Jesus said to the mob who arrested him in Gethsemane, "This is your hour and the power of darkness." But what a sovereign statement that is. The power of darkness will not be given an hour by the almighty God. Pray, who reigns when Satan must await his hour and when his limits are appointed by Another? God reigns—in life and in death. "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me, I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand" (Deuteronomy 32:39). "It was the will of the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:10, 4). When you come to die, remember God reigns and nothing has slipped between his fingers.

2. Remember That God Pities
When you come to die, remember God pities. We have not risen in our thinking to the magnificence of God if we think that because he rules in life and death he cannot pity. What was the meaning of the darkness at noon and the rending of the temple curtain? Was it not God's clothing his world in the color of grief and rending the garments next to his heart? "It was the will of the Lord to bruise him"—but not without pity, not without grief. "As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. He knows our frame, that we are dust." The nails and spear and rod and crown of thorns did not feel like pity. Neither do intravenous needles, respirators, tubes down your throat, and hand restraints. All the more reason to remember that God reigns and that as a father his child, so he pities you in your dying.

3. Remember That Your Spirit Lives On
When you come to die, remember that you have a spirit that will live on. "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." Jesus knew and we should know that death for God's people is not the end nor even a sleep for our conscious personalities. Paul put it like this in 2 Corinthians 5: "We are of good courage and would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." Philippians 1:23, "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." We will die like Jesus if we remember that like him we have a spirit which at the moment of death does not die but lives on with God.

4. Remember That God's Hands Are Open to You
But that implies a fourth thing to remember when we come to die. We should remember that God's arms are open and his hands extended to his dying children. "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." Not: into the grave. Not: into the void. Not: into the dark unknown. But: into the hands of God.
One of the great temptations at the hour of death is to believe that our death is a horrible blow from God and that therefore we are under his wrath and cannot commit our spirit to his care. Let us learn here from Jesus. His death was a horrible blow from God. He became a curse for us. But Jesus did not abandon faith in God's love for him.
1 Corinthians 11:29–32, "Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world."
This is a startling statement. Sometimes the Lord takes the life of a believer because of sin. But Paul says that we should view it as a chastisement to save the believer from something worse. Therefore, even if we come to our death believing that we are being chastised by the Lord—even then we can and should commit our spirit to him. For his purpose for us is love.

5. Don't Murmur, Complain, or Rage Against God
Therefore, finally, when you come to die do not murmur or complain or rage against God. He reigns, he pities, his loving hands are open to your spirit. And in those hands is Paradise immediately after you die.

God Bless You !

We have been sick all week and when I say ALL week that is what I mean. Samantha and Danny had strep throat and Emma and I have had the worst cold in all the history of colds.

Emma was sneezing constantly and couldn't stop she had the cutest look on her face when she came up to me and said Mumma I can't stop bless-you-ing no matter how I try....I love that little girl....