Sabina Wurmbrand

I am studying today about Sabina Wurmbrand, wife of Richard Wurmbrand and founders of Voice of the Martyrs. I knew of them before today, but am sad to say I was ignorant of their story (who ever said ignorance is bliss was wrong!). I am teaching a Missions class at our VBS this week. I picked up a book from VOM I've been wanting to read Hearts of Fire which tells Sabina's story. I also am reading a transcript of a talk she gave entitled In God's Beauty Parlor.

Sabina tells a story from her imprisonment. She said they read from the Bible, because they agreed to let the guards beat them if they could do this.

So we were Christians, but we had among us a lady, one of the riches ladies of Romania. She was not a Christian. She was in prison because her husband had been the political leader of the country. So she listened with us about all these things; about Stephen (ACTS 6:6-15). Then she said, “I wonder about you the Christians, you seem to be intelligent women, but how could you believe that Stephen, standing before his enemies knowing that he would be put to death. How could you believe it that his face could be so beautiful? In what beauty parlor could have he had been in order to have a face like the face of an angel in such a crisis, in such critical moments when he was before death?” A Christian lady answered, “I am sorry for you. You do not know Jesus, the Son of God. But whenever Jesus comes in a heart, he never comes alone, He always comes with all His richness. He comes with His angels. He comes with the glory of heaven and so when you open you heart and Jesus comes in your heart to be your Lord and Savior, He brings His beauty. And so Stephen could be so beautiful like an angel. And while we spoke at once the door opened, the Communist guard came directly to the place where we were gathered under the bed took us out all, gave a hard beating to everyone; bleeding with many hearts he threw us back in the prison cell. But we the Christians we knew what price we had to pay to read the Bible and to pray. But we were afraid for this lady who was not a Christian, how will she react and what would she say. And while were thinking about these things, the first one who came to speak with me was this rich, rich lady who now was poor and hungry bleeding all over the face which was smeared with blood and tears. She said, “Now I know the very fact that the Communists are persecuting the Christians, the very fact that they have beaten us only because we would speak about Jesus, this very fact for me is the best proof, that your God is God indeed. And your Jesus will be also my Jesus the Savor. And she did not know that now her face smeared with blood and with tears, shone and was beautiful like the face of an angel.

Back on!!

Just returned from a wonderful mission trip to Cherokee!! What an incredibily beautiful group of people!!!! Will share as soon as I sleep some!!!!

Out!

Will be out on mission for a little while! I will be back soon!

A little (or a lot) education on BBQ

Blessed are the merciful...

"Once you see the face of God, the world is forever transformed into His features"
~Peter Kreeft

Childlight Conference 2008- Jason Fletcher: The Relational Paradigm of Christianity

I really must get this out before it is lost to me. At the recent Childlight Conference, I really enjoyed a plenary in which Jason Fletcher spoke on The Relational Paradigm of Christianity.
His talk really spoke to the need for us to realize that Relationships are at the center of everything of God: the trinity, his creation and so on. The following are from my notes of his talk.

The rise of social isolation has many roots issues. Some of these issues are: Poor condition of relationships, two income families, longer commutes and television.

We need a relational paradigm!

In the UK he says, they are worried more about people consuming the right things than doing the right things. People are more worried about relative wealth than total wealth (how wealthy they look, not how wealthy they are).

We need to redefine our goals for relationships. Christianity alone is capable. It's world view is relational through and through. God is relational (1 John-WITH GOD-plurality of relations). God never existed in isolation, you can only understand one member of the triune God in relation to the other two. Relating to others means no isolation. It is through others we become persons. If there is no sharing, there is no reality. All persons have relational needs: To be heard, to be wanted. True person hood is realized when we are others centered. In the Godhead we see perfect giving and receiving. The suffering in the absence of this unity is heard in Jesus' separation from God the Father during the Crucifixion "Why have you forsaken me?".

We find fulfillment in God.

It was "not good for Adam to be alone". But when Adam and Eve fell, dependence gave way to independence. Sin is a failure of relationship: To love God and love others. This is the subject of C S Lewis' The Great Divorce. But, still, one day we will see Him FACE TO FACE.

(me: I heard a pastor say recently, "Sin is what we do when are not fully satisfied in God".)

Christian Ethics: The Practical Application

It is about learning to give and receive.

Isaiah 6:6 God says, "I desire mercy more than sacrifice".

Matthew 23:23 Jesus says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 22:36-40 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

God wants us to cultivate STRONG relationships.

How should we think about relationships? Their are two key aspects: Relational values and relational conditions.

Relational values (are all aspects of love)

Loyalty (mercy, steadfast love) mentioned in the Word 242 times. Loyalty spurs on His relationship with Israel.

Righteousness, which is all about fulfilling demands of relationships with others. A righteous leader will provide justice. Each relationship is unique.

Justice is fixing wrongs.

Faithfulness, which again can be seen in His relationship with Israel.

Truthfulness, in our relationships

Mercy/Compassion: Zechariah speaks of "the tender mercy of our God"

Forgiveness: Jesus said we will be forgive as we forgive others. He used the illustration of the unforgiving servant.

Generosity- He is not just loyal, He is generous. Israel was to be generous as well.

Relational Conditions

Directness: (face to face) leads to greatest outcome a relationship. This is not to be confused with non-verbal email/text messaging, which is task oriented, not relational. How do we deal with interruptions? Jesus, when sought to help Jarius' daughter, dropped everything and went. We undervalue children and others by failing to give our full attention. With out face to face relationships, our success is limited.

Continuity: (Time) With out time, the depth to our relationships is limited. Our method of juggling time and lack of quantity of time with our children is at the expense of our relationship with them.

Multiplexity: The breadth of our knowledge about the other person. AVOID ONE DIMENSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS!

Parroting: Relationships must be two-way. There must be mutual respect. We must listen to the opinion of others before offering our decisions.

Commonality: A shared vision! A mom who took up gold just to be with dad.

Charlotte Mason on relationships

She believed children were born persons. Large classes would underplay relationship.

Math-U-See

Well, our collection has grown again. Went to our local Home School book fair and got our student books for the fall! We have from K-9/10 now. All we need are Geometry, Algebra 2 and Stewardship or Pre-Calculas to have the complete works!

We have used Math-U-See since my dd was in the 1st grade. I truely don't know how I would have fared without it. I was a below average math student who somehow managed to pass math class all the way through Calculas in high school (only a credit to a good teacher). But, I have to say, I never really got any of it.

Then when dd started Math-U-See I began to understand why I never got it. Steve Demme says (use to say?) in the intro video that he once read a Calvin and Hobbes in which Calvin tells what he learned in school. Calvin relates a simple addition problem like 2+3. He says something like "2+3=5, I don't know why, but 2+3=5". Steve said the MUS student would know why!! And he is right, we do know why! I have learned so much. I even understand the basic knowledge needed to succeed in Algebra, which I couldn't have explained before MUS!

Steve teaches each lesson on video. You also have the Teacher's Manual with the description in words for further explanation. So, if you are like I was, unsure of how you will raise children to be better at math than yourself, check it out!

On being Merciful

My dh is preparing for a sermon and was sharing from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Vol 1. It deals with the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. This is explaining: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" Matthew 5:7


...I would like to take you again to the supreme example. Look at Him there upon the cross, who never sinned, who never did any harm to anyone, who came and preached the truth, who came to seek and save that which was lost. There He is, nailed and suffering agonies on that cross, and yet what does He say as He looks upon the people who are responsible for it? "Father, forgive them." Why? "For they know not what they do." It is not they, it is Satan; they are the victims; they are being governed and dominated by sin. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Now you and I are to become like that. Look at Stephen the martyr attaining to that. As they are stoning him, what does he say? He prays to his heavenly Father and cries, "Lay not this sin to their charge." "They do not know what they are going, Lord", says Stephen; "they are mad. They are mad because of sin; they do not understand me as Thy servant; they do not understand my Lord and Master; they are blinded by the god of this world; they do not know what they are doing. Lay not this sin to their charge. They are not responsible." He has pity upon them and is merciful with respect to them. And that, I say, is to be the condition of every one who is truly Christian. We are to feel a sense of sorrow for all who are helpless slaves of sin. That is to be our attitude towards people.

Charlotte Mason Vol. 1

Ha! Don't you love it when someone has already said what you have being feeling all along (maybe even says it better)? Reading CM Vol 1 Home Education (Part V) last night, I came across the following:

It seems to me that we live in an age of pedagogy; that we of the teaching profession are inclined to take too much upon ourselves, and that parents are ready to yield the responsibility of direction, as well as of actual instruction, more than is wholesome for the children.

One of the things that I feel has gone wrong with education Miss Mason was feeling in her time as well. I enjoy encouraging people who use all forms of education. But one of the most important things, I feel, is that we realize that regardless of the "form" we use, ultimately our children's education is our responsibility. For me and thousands of other parents, this means home schooling. For other responsible parents, this means private school or public school. But, regardless of the means, the ultimate responsibility lies squarely on our shoulders, not a system, it's administration, a school or it's teachers.

I met a mom who's daughter attends public school this week. Her daughter took Pre-Algebra last school year. The mom was able to look at a "at a glance" summary of Pre-Algebra and tell that her daughter had done all of those operations last year. This may seem trivial to some, but to me, this is a mom who takes her responsibility to educate her children seriously. She knows what her child is learning and how well she is doing and was buying things to help her along this coming school year. She had a great teacher at school, with who her mom was well acquainted. I suspect the teachers know her as well and are thankful for her involvement.

I know this balance is not easy for American educators. Believe me, when I was growing up in public school, I saw my share of unbalanced and overbearing parents who loved to reek havoc depending on their mood. Unfortunately, their is no way to separate a student from their God given authority (except in cases of abuse) and the child get the education they need.

I do not wish to over simplify this issue, only to say, as parents, we must realize our responsibility here and be involved. I know that the other many responsibilities we carry make this difficult, but we must do the best we can. Some involvement is better than no involvement! (As a side note, I will say that if your children are in a classroom setting, you must do your best to support the teacher who is aiding you in this responsibility and perhaps even carrying most of the weight.) Ok! If you are reading this, tell me what YOU think!

A Prayer for Church

a Third-World missionary church planter's prayer letter that echoed similar aims:

"...longing for a God-centered, Christ-exalting, vibrant Biblical church... may we go on to become not merely a legally recognized church, but one recognized in heaven for consistently worshiping God in spirit and truth!"




www.realcolorwheel.com/jacarandaholy2007.htm

More from Calm My Anxious Heart

Ephesians 5:15-17
Be very careful, then, how you live-
not as unwise, but as wise, making the most
of every opportunity because the days
are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but
understand what the Lord's will is.

2 Timothy 1:12
For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Linda tells the story of a lady she calls Mattie who was very committed to the Lord. She had memorized many verses, but her life verse as 2 Timothy 1:12. Mattie grew older and her memory began to fade and she could no longer even remember the faces of her family. As they visited her in the nursing home she was still found quoting verses and especially 2 Timothy 1:12.

But with the passing of time, even parts of this most special verse began to slip away. "I know whom I have believed," she would say. "He is able to keep.....what I have committed...to Him." As Mattie grew weaker, the verse grew even shorter: "What I have committed...to Him."

As Mattie lay dying, her voice became so weak that her family had to strain to hear the whispered words. There was only one word left of her life verse: "Him." Mattie whispered it again and again as she neared the gates of heaven. "Him...Him...Him." He was all that was left. He was all that was needed. Her life focus was Him.

Twenty and Ten by: Claire Huchet Bishop

I recently found an old copy of this book that we had as kids. I don't remember ever reading it, but boy did I miss out! It is still in print though.

Twenty and Ten is set in France during the occupation of the Nazis. It is based on a true account. All the school children were taken out of the city to different locations to keep them out of harms way. A teacher went with each group.

The group is faced with a making the choice to be brave and selfless enough to allow a group of Jewish children to stay with them, knowing that at any time the Nazi soldiers could come and they would have to cover for the children. They gladly agree to let the children stay and even give up part of their small rations to help feed the new children.

The teacher has to go into town one day to get supplies and mail. The rest of the story tells of the brave way the children work to keep the extra children safe when the soldiers come and tell them their teacher isn't coming back!

It is a very sweet story, and amazing to see how they made it through!

Calm My Anxious Heart By: Linda Dillow

Many women today are nearsighted, not in their eyesight but in their life focus. They don't know why they're here or where they're going. They drift like a ship without a rudder. Dr. Swenson, author of Margin, says that aimlessness is common: "Americans are notoriously shortsighted. We live in a state of myopic (nearsighted) mania that blurs the future. The horizon is never visible in the middle of a dust storm. But we must have a vision that extends beyond tomorrow. Living only from week to week is like a dot-to-dot life."

Often women without direction live not only dot-to-dot but on hold, waiting--for the right job, the right man, a baby. Waiting for the baby to grow up and leave home--waiting for something to give their life meaning. Their faulty focus makes contentment an impossible dream.

Psychologist William Marston asked three thousand people, "What do you have to live for?" He was shocked to discover that 94 percent were simply enduring the present while waiting for the future. Because I desire to be a woman of purpose, I often ask myself, "Linda, are you living life with a myopic focus? Are you in a waiting mode?"...

It was spring but it was summer I wanted; the warm days
and the great outdoors.
It was summer but it was fall I wanted; the colorful
leaves and the cool dry air.
It fall, but it was winter I wanted; the beautiful snow
and the joy of the holiday season.
It was now winter but it was spring I wanted; the warmth
and the blossoming of nature.
I was a child but it was adulthood I wanted; the freedom
and the respect.
I was twenty but it was thirty I wanted; to be mature and
sophisticated.
I was middle-aged but it was twenty I wanted; the youth
and the free spirit.
I was retired but it was middle-aged that I wanted; the
presence of mind without limitations.
My life was over but I never got what I wanted.

(written by a 14 yr old boy; quoted in message by Dr. Charles Swindoll, "Who gets the glory?"; quoted from Calm My Anxious Heart by: Linda Dillow)

That's the opposite of what God envisions for us. The Scriptures exhort us to walk wisely through this life.

Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility,
not as [women] who do not know
the meaning [and purpose] of life but as those who do.
Make the best use of your time, despite all the evils
of these days. Don't be vague but grasp firmly
what you know to be the will of the Lord.
(Ephesians 5:15-17, PH)

We must live as women who know the meaning and purpose of life. As Goethe, the German philosopher, put it: "Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least". If we haven't chosen what we are living for, we're living life by default, acting out the scripts handed to us by family, other people's agendas, and the pressures of circumstances. This is not living as a woman who knows the meaning and purpose of life. But it's never too late to change your faulty focus.

From: Calm My Anxious heart by: Linda Dillow

For Whose Sake?

http://lejardinfeerique.blogspot.com/2008/07/for-whose-sake.html

Bird nest from mom's yard

My parents have a bird, a wren, they believe, that tirelessly comes back every year and builds a new nest under the lid of their gas tank. The eggs have long since hatched and the birds gone from the nest, but the beautiful nest remains as well as one lonely egg that never hatched. The pics are of the nest and also we opened up the nest to see what we could see. A head was slightly recognizable and we could actually see some very small feathers.

The Courtship of Sarah McLean

Yeah!  I got the other books from Castleberry Farms Press in this week and just finished reading The Courtship of Sarah McLean.  

I had suspected this book would give an even better introduction to courtship.  I was not disappointed!  It does a very good job of explaining the idea of courtship.  The story is great too.

Sarah McLean is 19 when the book begins.  We see her interact with someone who is interested in dating her and see how she handles explaining to him that she believes in courtship instead of dating.  As in Jeff McLean:  His Courtship, we see a situation that doesn't lead to courtship and how it is handled.  The story follows Sarah as she struggles with her own person growth, trusting God's timing and honesty in the life of a christian.  When a courtship finally starts for Sarah, there is honest, realistic conversation between her and the young man who courts her.  They talk about spiritual leadership in the home, having children, their own personal strengths and weaknesses.  They attempt to think through a marriage relationship, not get caught up in a ceremony the way many so often do.

I think what is best about this series, is just like in this story, many of us know this is what we want for our children, but do not have families we know who have "gone before us", examples for us and for our children.  Therefore, it is hard to imagine what the process might look like.  These fictional stories do that for me.

I would not "PICK" my children's spouses for them.  What I want is for them not to think of "trying out" relationships with every person who interests them, but really praying and seeking the will of God in the person they will marry some day.  (Despite my own mistakes in this area, I know God was preparing my husband for me all along.  I remember the time in my life that I began to pray for him, years before we met).   I also want them not to make this decision based purely on emotion, though attraction and love do play a part.  Instead, to be honest about themselves and a prospective spouse, their compatibility to marry and most importantly that person's relationship with the Lord and seek Godly advice!  Lastly, to not allow themselves to be in compromising situations with someone they are not married to that they will regret later on.

This series of books gives me hope.  That God can be glorified as our children wait for the spouses God might have planned for them.  That they do not have to make the mistakes so many others make and regret.  That the whole process that leads to marriage can be beautiful!

July 3, Edges of His Ways by: Amy Carmichael

Exodus 24:12 : Come up to me...and be there.

When Moses went up, a cloud enfolded him. In that cool darkness he heard words which afterwards he spoke to the people in the heat and glaring light of the plain. So, day by day, as we look forward into the hours which seem to rush upon us, we see not clearness but a cloud. Then a Voice that we know calls softly, Come up to Me, and be here; the Cloud of the Unknown becomes for us then the very over-shadowing of the wings of the Lord; we sit down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit is sweet to our taste. And this fruit, tasted first in the dark alone with Him, will be ours for others. "What I tell you in darkness", He says to us still, "that speak ye in light."

July 2, Edges of His Ways by: Amy Carmichael

Exodus 13:21 : The Lord went before them...in cloud and in fire.

So cloud and fire are bound up with thoughts of guidance. Each day for each Israelite began with the sight of the impenetrable Cloud. What was the day to bring of journeying or of waiting? He did not know. He saw the Cloud, that was all. So do our days begin. We may have a time-table, even so, we face the Unknown. We know not what a day may bring forth, but if we are following our Leader we know that we shall be led. The symbol of that leading is a Cloud, through which we cannot see.

Great Leader, guide me by cloud or fire,
Let me be loyal to Thy heart's desire.
And lest I falter if the way be long,
O let Thy joy be strength to me and song.

Devotional- Thomas a Kempis

Vanity therefore it is, to seek after perishing riches, and to trust in them.

It is vanity to hunt after honors, and to climb to high degree.

It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh, and to labour for that which thou must afterward suffer more grievous punishment.

Vanity it is, to wish to live long, and to be careless to live well.

..."The eye is not satisfied with seeing, not the ear filled with hearing" Eccles. 1:8

Endeavor therefore to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things,
and turn thyself to in invisible.

For they that follow their lusts, do stain their own consciences...