Fear God

Mark 4

Jesus Calms the Storm


35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

So I was watching a DVD last night- Francis Chan's new series, Basic. The first one is Fear God.

He talks about how a lot of preachers and teachers and believers in general have kind of watered down the passages about fearing God, explaining it as a more socially acceptable "good healthy respect" of God.

Well. I have to agree with Chan that when the many different writers of the Bible talk about fearing God, they mean FEAR. Terrified. Scared senseless.

As illustrated in my Bible reading today. The disciples, Jesus' home-boys, saw his power and were terrified. Picture that. You are out on Lake Ontario in a down rigger and a huge storm comes up, with 20 foot white caps. You know in your head, "We're all gonna die!" And then your spiritual mentor wakes up and says, "All right, calm down, that's enough." And the storm stops. The water becomes as still and smooth as glass. The sound of the wind disappears completely. Quiet. Dark, eery quiet.
I think terrified is a good word to describe how I would feel.

Now, that Jesus in the boat is the same Jesus to whom we pray. Or whom we ignore because we are too distracted or tired to pray. Or whose commands we ignore because they seem like too much- he couldn't have meant it LITERALLY that we should love our neghbor as much as we love ourselves.

Now, when I pray, I picture myself entering the presence of the almighty God. I see myself crawling on my belly before him, nose to the ground, thanking Jesus over and over that His blood covers my stains. That He washed me white as snow so that I can crawl before my Maker and worship Him without being incinerated like a moth approaching the sun. And then I talk to God. And my prayers do not bounce off the ceiling.

Fear God. It is the beginning of wisdom. It is the beginning of every real relationship anyone has ever had with God the all powerful Creator of the universe.

XOXO
Joce

In words...

I have been having a nebulous thought for the last year or so that I have heretofore been unable to put into words.
I read it in a book today.
"...I am convinced that truth is objective and knowable. If something is true for one person, then it is true for all." ~David B. Currie

True truth.

I think our culture has taken tolerance to a silly level. I'm okay, your're okay, we're okay.

Instead of that limp garbage: You must love your neighbor as yourself.
But you don't have to say that "whatever works for them is okay." Sometimes what people are doing is just not okay. If your belief about what is right for you to do is based on the Holy Spirit's revelation to you through Scripture, it is true Truth. And what is right for you is right for everyone.

So. Think about that. What has God revealed to you about how you should live that those around you are totally ignoring? Get off your tolerant horse and get back on the high road. Be bold and tell it like it is. In LOVE.

Made-Up Scenario: Judgment Day
You get to heaven and you see your neighbor looking ashamed about a choice they made on earth. (Such as loving money). It's one that you knew they were making, but you never said anything to them about it. God had revealed His Holy will to you about it but you kept it to yourself in the name of tolerance. They keep looking over at you as the sad results of their choice are played in the sky. (All the poor people who died in misery because your neighbor didn't share.) Can you look them in eye? Or are you ashamed that you didn't have the strength of character to tell them the Truth?

One of the best lies Satan has handed out in recent years is that there is no capital 'T' Truth. But I would like to argue that there is. And if you have it, you really ought to share it.

XOXO
Joce

First Day of School

We started school today!

We began our day with private devotions:
Brilyn's:











Cade's:

And then we did calendar, and ABC's, and weather.
We read How Kind!

Then we worked on penmanship (the letter A, of course) and writing about how we can be kind to others. (Brilyn drew a picture of herself helping Cade find the toy airplane he wanted.)

We sang songs and played with clay, too. There was even a play time right in the middle of it all because one certain little baby guy needed to eat.

It was a great start to our school year.

XOXO
Joce

Just the Fats

I was recently asked by an attendee at a breadmaking workshop if it would be okay to replace the butter in my recipe with Parkay.
I said no.
Here's a great article explaining why.

I know you're all going to write me nice comments thanking me for telling you to eat butter and bacon. :)

XOXO
Joce

The Pile

Going through the pile on my desk. Lots of stuff in there- dairy goat papers, cookbooks, to-do lists...
Two little papers of things I need to remember but don't want in my pile anymore:

1. Tomato varieties planted this year:

• Yellow Tomato Berry, similar to cherry tomato with yellow flesh.
• Black Truffle, medium size with dark flesh, almost purple.
• Pete's, Large tomato. Does not turn completely red, heart shaped.

2. Links I heard on the radio having to do with adoption:

• icareaboutorphans.com
• howtoadopt.com

Okay, that's all for now. Back to the pile don't you know.
XOXO
Joce