caught off-guard

Today I was working on letters to ask for support from some churches. I was searching for a Bible verse to add to the letter that talks about glorifying God. I ran across Isaiah 61:1-3. I have read these verses before, even recently but today I started to tear up as soon as I read the passage.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

The emotions that welled up inside of me were first for wanting so desperately to be in Kenya bringing good news to the poor. I want them to have gladness instead of mourning. I want them to be solid oaks of righteousness, not dried up sticks and twigs instead a growing, alive people. But most of all I want to enable those in East Africa to glorify the Lord!

If you are inclined to pray please ask the Father on my behalf for the remaining support to come in, that I may go and plant in people that they may glorify Him.

Grateful beyond the tangible

Before I went to bed last night I made myself a list for getting going on my day today. If I make a list before bed when I am thinking of all the things I didn’t get to in that day I am likely to have a more successful following day. I seem to be unable to think up those things in the morning.

At the top of my list was a ‘list gratitudes to God’. I had decided that would be a good way to wake up this morning; think through what I am grateful for. So when my alarm when off I laid there thinking of things I am grateful for.

Among my list were things like: having a nice family to stay with, my own room here. I’m grateful that my support is going up and it’s snowing outside; it’s so pretty. I thought about the book I’m reading about the life of a Somali lady. She had a very rough upbringing. That made me thankful for my upbringing in a fairly mild (compared to the rest of the world) middle class home.

After getting up and working through some of my other tasks for the day I bundled up and headed to the “Good Neighbor Fellowship of Churches” Thanksgiving service. This is a holiday we share with about four other churches within three blocks of our church. Each of the churches contributes in some way. I can add this service to my list of things I’m thankful for.

This service reminded me in so many ways the one thing I am most thankful for. And it was said in many ways:
· God saved me from his wrath through Jesus Christ
· My sins were paid for by Jesus’ atoning blood
· I have new life in Christ
· God has been more than faithful to me in everyway

I am so thankful that I know Christ and he knows me, that he adopted me as his own. It’s my goal to focus on that today and everyday. May God help me to remember what I am most thankful for as I give thanks.

Auntie Again

Finally got some some photos of little Andreas Emmanuel Adamsson. This was taken the day he came home from the hospital. He looks different than big brother, August looked as a newborn, with dark hair and a bruiser kind of nose. (Didn't see the big boys at birth.) Definitely a keeper! Now he's two weeks old and starting, just starting to fill out. I visited Andre and his family yesterday. He's so tiny and so sweet.

Here's the whole family.

Matt Jones DO

I don't think I've called him Matty, I threaten to call him Jonesy. I should have titled this entry Dr Matt. And sometimes I call him Dr Jones in a German accent. Others call him daddy or sir or hubby. I call him friend. One of the great things about Matt is you can read how he has grappled with what to call himself at his blogspot. He's a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) in residency at the U of M in med/peds. Matt and his family joined our small group last year having moved here from Texas.

Matt came up to me at our fellowship dinner last night and said, "I have something for you." Intrigued I followed him back to the coat closet. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and told me that he had written this following an experience in his last rotation and had shared with a couple of colleagues that had urged him to get it published. He said, "Read this and give me your opinion." The essay is called Revival. It's not posted yet on his blog, but I am sure it won't be long. There are plenty of other great subjects there. I check his blog often. He's a very busy man with a demanding job, a wife and three small children, so he doesn't write often, but when he does it's worth reading. This article was short, but I still welled up with tears at the end. Matt will be a writer when he retires from doctoring (if that ever happens).

I have put a link to his site in my favorites on the right here.

Twin Cities Green

That's the name of a new store in Uptown (24th and Hennepin) I stumbled into yesterday.

Turns out it's the second location for a store over on Ceder and 42nd called "ReGifts". The concept of both stores is to sell things that are made from at least 50% post customer materials. In addition to gift items the new store, "Twin Cities Green" has furniture and even a consultation corner for helping folks find resources if you are building or whatever you may want to live a little more lightly.

Both stores are owned by a young couple that wanted to do something tangible about their convictions. I think the husband, Ryan is an artist himself. But now he's managing a store instead of producing artwork. For no other reason than supporting the little guy living out a simple dream, shopping there is worth it if you are in the market for unique gifts.

Favorite find: 100% recycled toilet paper! Before you get grossed out: it's made from regular recycled paper. Ryan told me the main reason large toilet paper manufacturers don't use post consumer paper for toilet paper is because of the public response. Yet it would be a smart alternative to using new trees considering where it goes after we use it. These rolls are individually wrapped, have a very funny name and cost only 99 cents each. If nothing else they would make great gag gifts or funny stocking-stuffers this Christmas. And hey, you'd be living green.

day of the Lord

This passage was brought to my attention recently.

2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Interesting phrase: the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Let’s back up. The day of the Lord means when Christ comes again, end of the world kind of thing. We say it’s like a thief because we don’t know when it’s happening. I think that next part means the heavens as we know them won’t be the same. (This part could take a lot of pondering. - But not my point.)

But interestingly enough the earth all and that was done there isn’t what gets burned up or dissolved. It’s exposed. What for? Why would it remain? The only thing I can think of is to show off God’s glory!

Bob Dylan once said, “Strengthen the things that remain.”

It goes back to my thought that whatever is done here for God's Name, His purposes will be here in the New Earth shouting to His glory for all eternity!

More fuel for my desire to go - strengthen the things that remain.

Why the physical remains and is renewed...

I have been thinking more about the renewed earth. I think it relates to the renewed physical realm. Here's a quote from the message I mentioned a few days back about the New Heavens and the New Earth.

“And the ultimate reason there is a new heavens and a new earth is because the risen Christ will never lay down his human body but keep it as an everlasting emblem of Calvary where the glory of God’s grace was most fully displayed. The whole material universe was created in the first place, and then given its new form, so that the Son of God could be incarnate as a man, suffer in the flesh, be crucified, rise from the dead, and reign as the God-man and be surrounded by a countless host of redeemed people who in our spiritual bodies sing and speak and work and play and love in ways that visibly reflect his glory most fully precisely because we have bodies in a world spiritually and physically radiant with the glory of God.”

It's mostly about our bodies. I think some of what Piper is talking about applies to all of creation too.

Bottom line: It's for his glory!

body and spirit

thoughts from a recent funeral

A dear friend of mine lost her dad this past week. I didn't know him but I love my friend and want to support her in this loss. It was a very gospel-centered service. The man was well honored and obviously loved by those who knew him.

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God amazingly knits our body and soul together at conception. (I guess that is when He does it.) The two are completely integrated and work together for all the days of our life here in earth. Then we make a transition. Let go of the body and all its fallenness, all the parts that hold us down, distract us, cause despair. It is all gone in that instant, we won't miss it. I wonder if we will even notice it's gone.

And yet we will have a renewed body. (Check out Romans 8:18-24.) The creation waits for our newness to be revealed.

My point here is that we are free from all the weighs us down here. That will be such a true joy!

Kathy had her baby!

My best friend, Kathy had a baby boy yesterday. His name is Andreas Emmanuel Adamsson. He arrived this side of the womb at 1:45pm, weighing just over 8 lbs. He's healthy and already eating well. I'll try to post a photo soon.

I will come back to the New Earth topic

I am still formulating my response to Barb's comment on the last entry. However in the meantime I will refer you to a message that John Piper gave to a group of pastors on May 24, 2008 that you can read or listen to on the Desiring God web site. It's called Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth. I will warn you that Piper has a lot of other things to say to his audience before he gets to this topic about 25 minutes into the message.

More soon.

(I just have a few other pressing items on my plate at the moment.)