The Confessing Lunatic

"Let us not...delude ourselves with easy and infantile conceptions of holiness...Mere external respectability, without deper or more positive moral values, brings discredit upon the Christian faith." Thomas Merton We are called to live a life of holiness in 1 Peter 1:15, " But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do ." Some might think that holiness refers only to how I act or speak outwardly but as Mr. Merton clearly points out, mere "respectability" brings about discredit to the Christian faith. How many times have I refrained from saying something unkind or hurtful, or refrained from making a gesture or thought twice about acting out of frustration PURELY because I was in the company of someone who might think badly of my behavior (I'm opening Christian, mind you)? How may times have I "let it all out" when in the company of those who know me best because I don't have to put on a front? Shame on me! My standar...

This morning as I was driving to work I was thinking over the last couple of weeks and was overcome with the feeling of how blessed I am and how good God is. I began to just cry out to God in prayer and the following verses came to me. I thought I would share them with you. "Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods." 1 Chronicles 16:23-25 Great is the Lord, He is most worthy to be praised. If we stop to consider how much praise we give out, we may find ourselves embarrased at how little is given to God. We praise sports teams, musical artists, actors, philosophers, scientists, and many, many other people/things yet the One who is MOST worthy to be praise is often overlooked. When I consider all that God has done, despite my attempts to get in the way or screw things up, I can't help...

I confess...I'm in love with my husband! It's not just because he is so handsome (because he is), it's not because he sweeps me off my feet (because he has done that on occasion), but because he is a man of God. This past week was difficult with Jim being gone to Super Summer. This isn't the first time he's been gone and it won't be the last. I generally experience these emotions but it was more difficult this time . I felt as if my left arm had been cut off. It certainly has a lot to do with the fact that we have four children, a business to run, ministry to do and a full-time job to boot. But I think more than anything it is because God is dealing with me in a mighty way. On the way back from Abilene where I took the youth, Jim's dad and I had a good conversation about our church. I know our church has a long history (some good, some bad) in our community but even after all hardships we're still around. I believe there is a reason for this. I believe w...

Since there are five unfinished posts, topics all important enough to finish, I thought I would finish them today as I am sitting enjoying the remainder of the holiday weekend. So, here they are in date order of when I started them. Live in God, Not Fear I Went to the Right Party Community Happy Birthday, Jim! Glorify God Also, I thought I would share with you a blogger I came across from reading Trey Morgan. I can always count on Trey to find blogs worth passing on. I nearly wet my pants from laughing at this one .

I googled "live in God" for the Live in God, Not in Fear post and came across this. I just had to share. It is excerpted from The Keys to Spiritual Growth by John MacArthur, ©2001, published by Crossway Books. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism How does a person glorify God? No question is more practical or more significant. The supreme purpose in life for any man or woman—for anyone who has ever been born into this world—is to glorify God. That is what living is all about. Glorifying God is the end result of the Christian life. Spiritual maturity is simply concentrating and focusing on the person of God until we are caught up in His majesty and His glory. I would like to suggest some practical ways for the Christian to glorify God: • Confess Your Sins . Confession of sin glorifies God because if you excuse your sin, you absolve yourself of responsibility and blame God for letting you get into a mess. Adam i...

Okay, so I've been wanting to post for a week now and I haven't had time. In fact, I have no less than FOUR blog topics that I've started that I haven't finished! I haven't even had time to check on my two favorite blogs - Matt and Jenn Swaim and Trey Morgan . So, after an exhausting time of getting the four hoodlums, I mean children, to sit down so we could talk about our day tomorrow and pray with them, I pulled up my laptop to read! I could barely wait...the anticipation was killing me. I clicked through to Matt and Jenn's blog... I love seeing pictures of baby Joshua and reading antics from Jenn, Matt and Hank (the dog). I got caught up on the Swaim household and was surprised to read a very touching post about our long relationship with Jenn. I was in tears and at the same time so thankful that the work that God has done through Jim and I has been for His glory! Thank you, Jenn. I love you more than words can say! Jenn with our son, Jaden. Jenn yo...