Thursday, January 29, 2009

Three members, 3 weeks

In three weeks, three of our members have gone to be with the Lord. We have lost at least five members since our coming here one year ago. What a time for mournful rejoicing. We are so delighted that they have no more pain and are with Jesus praising Him forever more, but we are sorrowful at their departure.

It is natural for us in our human state to want those we care about to be with us. It is hard to let them go, even to such a beautiful, blessed place. Our congregation is hurting now, and my hubby and I are having difficulty responding to their needs. This is our first church, and we feel so inadequate.

Yet in our inadequacies, God is glorified because He is more than enough.

There are more members that feel they are on the brink of leaving us as well either from illness or old age. Please be in prayer for us and our congregation as we go through this stage of grief and loneliness.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Wimpy Women

Okay, back to being semi-serious. What is up with all these "wimpy women" of the faith I've met? My hubby and I lived at the seminary for about 6 months before moving off-campus to the parsonage the church provides for us. While at seminary, it seemed like very few of the women I met wanted to have deep, meaningful conversations about our Lord and Creator, and from what I've heard, it's sort of that way all over.

Today in a conversation with a friend, I found that she too is frustrated at not having girl friends to talk to about things beyond fashion and kids (which are totally fun subjects). Of course, this does not mean every Christian woman is this way. But there does seem to be an overwhelming amount of Christian wives who let their husbands do all the theological talking.

Good grief. We don't have to be Biblical scholars to praise and honor our God in our speech to one another! We need to stop being wimpy women and start spreading His glorious good news! I was so blessed to be a part of the True Woman '08 Conference in Chicago, IL. One of the first words out of Nancy DeMoss's mouth, and I'm paraphrasing here, was that our world had no need for "wimpy women." The theme of the conference was basically that being a wimpy woman was not Biblical and unacceptable to our Creator, and I could not agree more. (I have a link to the web site if you would like to know more about the True Woman movement.) John Piper was the first speaker, and he said that wimpy women was wimpy theology. If you want to hear his whole speech from the conference, you can hear it on his web site www.desiringgod.org.

If you are a Christian woman reading this, and you consistently praise and honor our Lord through your speech, actions, and convictions, I thank you and ask that you give me some pointers. If you are reading this trying to rationalize why you don't live a radical life for Christ [believe me I am totally guilty of this], stop and pick up your cross. It's time for us to stand up and say, "I am woman! Hear me pray!"

Namesake Ministry

So I have had the idea about Namesake, Inc. for a while now, but I figured I would share it with the world! As you can see in "About Me" I will graduate with a Master's in History this year. Part of my training has included conducting Oral Histories. Oral History, in a nutshell, is the collection of memories of individuals through interviews. Once the interviews are taken, they are preserved and storied in an institution like a school or library.

Basically, I want to start my own oral history business that focuses on American churches. Thousands of churches were planted after WWII, and many of the founding members are dying. So many things happened from 1945 to now, and there are so many stories being lost! We often hear from war vets, professionals (like doctors), politicians, etc, but there aren't many church stories told.

For example, our little congregation began in 1949 with a few members meeting under an oak tree. One day they decided to make themselves into a church, thus Bridgedale Baptist Church was born. What was some where around 20 members grew into more than 600 at one point. Unfortunately, there have been hurricanes, church splits, and normal membership decline that have placed the congregation almost exactly where it started. Only now there is a building in stead of an oak, and the members are 50 years older. Yet through the years, there have been some absolutely amazing stories to come from this church!

So to put an end to this post, I want to start a business with the name mentioned above that focuses on collecting and publishing oral histories of individual churches. If you know of any congregation that might like this, let me know!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Lydia, A Good Example

Acts 16:13-15 (HCSB)

"On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sate down and spoke to the women gathered there. A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us."

This scripture was part of our Sunday School lesson yesterday, and there were many things that hit me as I read it. Some were pointed out to me in our study guide, but others are my own thoughts. I'll share both!

First, Paul and his companions were looking for a "place of prayer" by the river. Upon approaching the river, they came upon a group of women, of whom Lydia was a part. This passage does not say, but I wonder if the women were at the specified "place of prayer?" Luke (believed to be the author of Acts) wrote that Lydia "worshiped God", which meant that she was a Gentile woman who believed in the same God as the Hebrew people. So if it were the Sabbath day, and Paul was looking for a place to pray and found a "God-fearer" down by the river, it could be that this group of women were at the "place of prayer." Again, the Bible does not give the answer to this question, this was just a thought I had.

Second, Lydia was a "dealer in purple cloth" which meant she was a woman of means. (Purple cloth signified royalty or nobility, so she must have made some good money selling this color cloth to those who could wear it.) After believing in Christ and being baptized, she insisted on Paul and his companions to stay with her family. Talk about hospitality. She barely knew these men, but opened her home to them. Now I'm paranoid about taking strangers into my home, just like some of you might be. However, what happened to taking in the poor/orphaned/widowed and feeding/clothing/sheltering them? I'll write another post about this subject, but for now it is important to see that a woman, who could have gone about her merry way knowing Jesus as Lord, opened her home to complete strangers in order to give back a little to them.

Third, Vs 14b says that "the Lord opened her heart..." This is so important. We can not by any means of our own force someone to believe in God. God is the omnipotent; He is the one who opens the hearts of those to hear and believe the message presented to them. Our responsibility and joy is to share His message with all those around us. (We get the easy part.)

And finally, where are all the men?! The passage says that Paul and friends meet a group of women gathered there. I am no Biblical scholar, so if someone has the answer to this question I would love to hear it. It seems that all the husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, nephews, etc, are no where around. The women hear the wonderful message of the gospel without their male relatives. I have two thoughts about this. One, this may have been the "woman's" gathering place and the men were just around the riverbend. My other thought is, how like many of our churches today does this scenario sound like?

My husband is a wonderful man of God. I look to him as the authority in our home, and it is my joy and pleasure to do so. Yet there are so many men in our society that are not being the strong, spiritual leaders God set them to be. Again this will be another post, but my main point is this - women have the responsibility to set a good example for their husbands, fathers, sons, etc. We must pray for them, and we must show them how loving God is the most fabulous experience on earth. Men have a great burden placed on them as the leaders of their families; we as women must do what we can to help them carry that burden. Lydia "worshiped God"; we should follow her example, for our sake, our family's sake, our world's sake.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Scooter

You know I am actually quite an agreeable, fun-loving person - so why am I being so serious?! We've had some pretty tough weeks lately. My husband is a pastor, and two people in our congregation passed away last week. That is just a piece of everything going on! Anyway, after publishing my last post, I thought I should introduce something much more light-hearted - my dog Scooter.

We got him in Alabama during the evacuation from Gustave. His owner was a good friend of the family, and she passed away a little over a year ago. Some other friends were taking care of him and found out we wanted a dog, so that's how we got him. He is half Yorkie and half long-haired chihauhau, which makes him think he's able to take on a German Shepherd.

Scooter is one of the coolest little dogs I've ever met. First of all, as I state in the "About Me" section, he looks like an Ewok. (If you don't know what that is, look it up on Youtube for a picture of one.) In the original Star Wars movies, there is a character that looks like a teddy bear. We think Scooter must be a distant relative.

Secondly, Scooter has a bum knee and is allergic to grass. You're probably asking what everybody asks...how does he go potty?! Well, it's more of a skin irritation with some slight sneezing, so he goes in the grass like other dogs. My husband thinks he might be faking it to get attention: ) His knee needs surgery in order for him to use it, so for now he is a 3 legged dog with 4 legs. And believe me, it does not get him down! I can barely keep up with him!

Third, he has some very fun characteristics. He sticks his tongue out when he sleeps. He loves eating apples. When he wants attention, he starts pawing at our legs, almost losing his balance. When we say "You want to go bye-bye?" he goes absolutely beserk!

And lastly, his growl - much to his dismay I'm sure - is much more of a purr. It is the cutest thing we've ever heard! If I can ever catch his growl on some type of recording device, I'll definitely post it.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed getting to know Scooter. I'm sure he would love to hear from you, so leave a comment!

Health, Wealth, and Prosperity

One of my husband's and my biggest pet-peeves is the constant use of the so-called "health, wealth, and prosperity gospel." We've known so many people who were looking for a quick-fix miracle cure for their finances, health problems, job issues, etc, etc, and they thought that by saying they believe in God and are "Christians" that He would come down and solve every problem to their liking.

Some of these people were deceived and others just plain lazy. The first chose to believe the hwp gospel when a good speaker came on tv (or to their church, town, etc). The lazy ones just chose to ignore the verses of Scripture which explain that as Christians we will face more hardship because we believe.

The truth is God does look out and provide for His children and wants us to enjoy life to the fullest. But that does not mean He gives us everything we wish we could have. He cares about what is best for us, and sometimes it is not to heal from cancer, get the $100k job, or anything else we may think we need. We live for His glory, not ours. And for those who believe, it is our pleasure and honor to live this way.

My husband and I enjoy Pastor John Piper's sermons and books more than any other living pastor. He doesn't play around, and he's offended a number of people. (Yet his congregation is one of the largest...) Anyway, there is a Youtube video someone put together with Rev. Piper's thoughts about the hwp gospel. I've pasted the link to it below. It is not for the faint of heart, so think hard before watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s

Friday, January 23, 2009

Belgium Tragedy

My heart was broken tonight as I saw on the Yahoo! home page an article about a terrible tragedy about 20 miles outside of Brussels. A young man went into a day care and brutally attacked more than ten people, mostly children. Three died, and the others were taken to the hospital. If you would like to read the whole article go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_belgium_stabbings

Many people who suffer through something like this will often ask, "If there is a kind and loving God, why would He allow such a terrible thing?" This is a difficult question, but in as few words as my husband and I can find, we as Christians will answer it to the best of our ability. It is a hard truth, but one that can lead to great comfort.

God is all gracious and all loving. God created the world to be paradise, but the free voluntary choice of man-kind to rebel against Him caused a chain of events in which suffering is inevitable. It affects the natural world and our relationships with others, strangers and family alike. The worst cases of human depravity, such as a man killing babies, is an example of our fallen nature. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. That Savior came, died, and raised Himself from the dead in order to free us from sin's enslavement and curse. His name is Jesus, and living in a fallen world without Him is the worst tragedy of all.

God bless the parents and loved ones of the slain in Belgium; our prayers are with them tonight.

Below is an excerpt from the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry about evil and suffering. To see the entire page please go to http://www.carm.org/questions/suffering.htm.

"Suffering is the result of human sin. The world is not the way that God created it and because of that, all are vulnerable to the affects of sin in the world. Why does one person suffer and another does not? Why do catastrophes happen to some and no others? It is because sin is in the world. But there will come a day when the Lord will return and cleanse this world of all sin and all suffering.

'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away' (Rev. 21:4)."

If you would like to know more about this or about Christianity, you are welcome to comment, and I will respond post haste.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My Title

I've finally succombed. I have become a blogger. Thus with this first post, I thought I would explain my title "The King's Historian."

The most basic reason is that I am an historian. I study, research, write, and publish history. I am a little lacking on the publishing part, but very soon, the KnowLA on-line encyclopedia will publish an article of mine on the Christian Woman's Exchange (1881-present), a New Orleans women's philanthropic group. This probably seems strange to most people; in fact, my own parents asked me what I would do with a history degree. My answer to them, and to you, brings about the most important reason for the title. History is my God-given passion. History is not linear; it is alive and breath-taking. There are always new avenues to search. As I live my life using this gift, I do it for Him. Thus I am His, the King of Kings', historian.

2 Kings 18:18

"Then they called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them." (HCSB, emphasis added)

As I discovered this passage one day in reading the Bible, I found the recording of history was, as it is today, very important. Yet history, as Christians know it, is not simply the passing of time, important figures, and fantastic battles. History is the story of God redeeming man-kind. God has given me a passion for the study and public presentation of history. I seek academic integrity and excellence in studying all historical aspects, but I also view everything through His lens.

I am currently working on my Master's Thesis focusing on the CWE, the group I mentioned above. However, it is not a study of the group's religious affiliation (which happens to be Protestant). In fact, I never actually mention anything about their beliefs because while they all prided themselves on providing a "Christian" service to working women, they never really did anything in the Name of Jesus. Theirs was more of a charitable endeavor, and I focus mainly on their contribution to the labor movement among New Orleans single women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the operation of a boardinghouse and creche (a nursery). Yet even in something as secular as this may sound, I can see our merciful God using snobby, elite women to provide for those in need.

Acts 3:15 in the ESV translation calls Jesus the "Author of life." You see, the past is not simply history; it is His story. It is already written from beginning to end. I am merely a tool, a vessel, to study and proclaim God's glory through His story, be it labor movements, ancient archaeology, geneology, or archival preservation. Did you ever think history could be this cool?

Image found at http://www.jesuswalk.com/christian-symbols/chi-rho.htm

Chocolate Speaks to Everybody

I actually sort of began blogging a few weeks ago on my husband's site. If you would like to see the initial post, bearing this title, please go to www.youngsbcpastor.wordpress.com and click on A Word From the Wife.