Cookie Baking Night 11/02/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. (Ethan had basketball practice, Emily had play practice--and so it begins). Since we are now in the month of November, we decided to make the famous turkey cookie.

This cookie takes a lot of prep work and assembly, and the kids love every minute of it. 

Even my mom got in on the act.

Tonight we read lesson 17 from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. This lesson was titled "God Mad All Things for His Praise". We talked about all the different ways the creation praises God 

and all the different ways we can praise God. 

Carissa read Psalm 150 from the Bible for us. 

Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds; 

praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound; 

praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

praise him with sounding cymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

Yep. You guessed it. When the kids go home, my parents have retired to their room, and the house is quiet once again, Greg and I sneak off to the kitchen and decorate cookies. 

Another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone, and tonight we can truly say, a fun time was had by all!

Cookie Baking Night 12/16/13

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, and Alli. We made Christmas Cookies tonight: One-Eyed Susans and Sugar Cookies with cream cheese frosting.

We interrupted our regularly scheduled chapter from Sammy and His Shepherd this evening to read from the Bible. We read passages about the birth of Jesus. We read from Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-14. 

The children also helped me put a few ornaments on our Christmas tree (as Greg and I hadn't completed decorating it yet). 

Ethan (at 10) is already taller than I am, so he was able to put some ornaments near the top of the tree.

This year, I finally completed a project I've had in the back of my mind for several years. I made ornaments for the tree that have Bible verses about Jesus on them. The children (Ethan and Carissa) took turns reading the Bible verses aloud, and then they (Ethan, Carissa, and Alli) would hang the ornament on the tree. 

The verses are as follows: 

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 

 He was in the world, and the world did not know him. He came to his own people And his own people did not receive him. John 1:10-11 

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

 She will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21 

 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited us and redeemed His people and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his 

 servant David. Luke 1:68-69 

 But made himself nothing taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7 

 And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8 

 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high Hebrews 1:3 

 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 

 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 

 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 

 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

This was our last Cookie Baking Night for 2013. We'll resume in the new year. As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 05/20/13

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa.

Tonight, after a little much-needed after-supper cleanup ... 

We made Monster Cookies (oatmeal, peanut butter, M&Ms, butterscotch chips, etc.--what's not to love about that?)

We also read lesson 5 from God's Names by Sally Michael. Tonight we learned the name El Kana, meaning Jealous God. At first hearing, the children had a hard time attaching this characteristic to God. This lesson did a good job explaining it and then backed it up with Scripture like Exodus 34:14 "You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God." The Cookie Baking gang is familiar with the 10 commandments and the idea that "you shall have no other god before me" so the concept started to make sense to them. We had a good discussion around this lesson. 

We ended the evening by playing a game with the cups we had labeled last time with the books of the Bible. It  was clear from tonight's efforts that we have a long way to go in memorizing the books of the Bible, but this game was a good first step. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Katrina's Musings (the death of death)

I've noticed lately how one particular word in our vocabulary as a society has been "dying" out. That is the word death (and its cousins die, dying, and died). It has been replaced with the phrase passed away. Ah, passed away a much gentler term; it doesn't cause one to think nearly as much as that nasty word death does. I certainly can understand why the world as a whole would prefer the phrase passed away to the word death, particularly when we're talking about a funeral and someone we loved. Death is abrupt and ugly and makes us very uncomfortable. Passing away fades us off into another existence. Passing away can be whatever we want it to be. It's very comfortable. Yes. I can understand why the world likes this phrase, but I'm not sure why Christians have adopted the practice of using the phrase passed away. It seems to me that Christians should be "the death people" if you will (no morbidity implied, please hear me out).

Death is the reason we are Christians.

Death entered this world because of sin.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17. 

Jesus Christ conquered death.

"But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay." Matthew 28:5-6

"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:54-57


Jesus Christ reconciled us to God through his death.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Romans 5:6-11

We die to ourselves and to sin through Jesus Christ.

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:9-11

Sin brought death into the world; Jesus Christ makes eternal life possible.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Christian, let's think twice about replacing the word death with the phrase passed away. Doing so desensitizes us to death and could result in removing the word from our vocabulary altogether. How will we ever share the gospel message without it?

Luke 2:68-79

After finding out his barren wife would conceive a son well after child-bearing years and that the child would be the forerunner to the Messiah, Zechariah questioned how this could be true and was struck dumb (silenced) for six months. When his tongue was finally loosed, this is what he said,

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us: to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in to the way of peace." Luke 2:68-79 (ESV)

Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Remember to give honor where honor is due.

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Everyday I will bless you and praise your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:1-3

Isaiah 57:15

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15

Isaiah 45:5-7

I am the LORD and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Isaiah 45:5-7

He is God; I am Not

On days leading up to a conference at the end of this week, I've been reading some specific devotional material from Revive Our Hearts ministry. I'd like to share with you one day's reading in particular (the text for that day was Job 38). It is as follows:

"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?" Job 38:12 (NASB)

We need to hear this question from God every time we forget that he is God and we are not. It is so easy to slip into a prideful spirit, protecting our own little kingdoms, thinking, I have it all under control, and if everyone else would get in line, things would run so much smoother!

When we attempt to take on God and challenge him with the injustice of our situation we can become like a child having a temper tantrum, screaming out accusations to a caring parent, "Why did you do that?!" Although Job wasn't screaming, and although he threw no fits and seemed rather patient, in his character was an accusation of injustice made against God. So in a barrage of more than eighty questions, God proceeded to move Job from his position of challenger to a much humbler place of speechlessness.

If we're not careful, our hearts and wounds will grow infected with resentment and self-pity. Out of our pain, we may strike back at Him with an accusatory "Why?!" We allow ourselves to ignore the truth of His Word--the fact that He cares for us and will never leave us or forsake us, that He desires to comfort us in our affliction--and instead we stand as His accuser. That's when we need to hear Him ask, "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?"

We need to remind ourselves regularly, although I may imagine that I am right and have all the answers, I didn't cause the sun to rise this morning! He is God; I am not!

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Psalm 46: 1-11

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

God's Purposes

"In the infinite wisdom of the Lord of all the earth, each event falls with exact precision into its proper place in the unfolding of His divine plan. Nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its particular fitness for its place in the working out of His purpose; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His glory, and the accumulation of His praise.

--Benjamin Warfield


"In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 1:7-10 (ESV)

Detecting Sin

This is one way I detect sin in my life:

Sometimes when my conscience is pricked that a particular action might be a sin, yet I am determined to brush over it and convince myself it’s “not that bad”. I ask myself, “Am I in anyway trying to hide this particular action from someone else?” (i.e., I turn off the computer when a family member comes in the door so they don’t know how long I've been sitting there; I cover up the contents of my garbage can at work so no one knows how many candy bars I've eaten that day, etc.). I have found, in my life, when the answer to that question is “yes”, then I know it’s sin, thus my desire to hide it.

It is a practice going back to the first sin in the Garden of Eden.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Genesis 3:8-11 (emphasis added)

Psalm 32:8-9

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with a bit and bridle or it will not stay near you.

Psalm 32:8-9

Hmmm. If you read yesterday's post, I'm sensing a theme in my daily Bible reading at the moment.

Proverbs 15:31

The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.

Proverbs 15:31

Psalms 145:1-10

I'm currently memorizing Psalm 145. I'm up to verse 10. I'm enjoying putting this passage in my head and meditating on it as I drive to work in the morning. Thought I'd share it with you:

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!

Psalm 145: 1-10 (ESV)

Psalm 27:4

One thing I have asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

Proverbs 2:1-5

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 (ESV)

Proverbs 30:7-9

Verses to ponder today:

Two things I ask you: deny them not to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying,

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

lest I be full and deny you and say "Who is the LORD?"

or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9