Cookie Baking Night-On the Road

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night and we took the show on the road. This week our church is having VBS (Vacation Bible School), and we made plans to spend the evening there. Ethan started soccer tonight, so he wasn't with us.
Our church is using an Answers in Genesis curriculum called "The Egypt File". We have another church helping us. They ran VBS last week, so they brought all their props to us this week. As you can see, they did a great job on the props. They transformed our tiny church into the land Egypt for the week.
In the picture below, Emily and Carissa are posing by the camels and the palm trees.

Fun was had by all, and we're learning about how God made us (answering the question "where do we come from?")

Graduation Day!

Nephew Joe graduated from high school today! (Elk River High School class of 2010). We love him! You will find below (top to bottom) Joe with his dad and mom (Rob, my brother, and Mary, his wife), Joe with his sisters (Meghan, 14 and Emily, 9), and Joe with Uncle Greg and Aunt Katrina.

Rule Keeping

The other day I was listening to Wretched Radio, and I transcribed a short segment about rule keeping and the heart of the sin issue. The host, Todd Friel, was quoting an article written by John Piper. Then he added his own comments after the article. It's a little scattered in presentation (if you listen to Wretched Radio regularly you're used to that, though), but the general thought of the message is worth pondering, so I wanted to share it with you.

John Piper Article: Do you think the essence of your evil is disobeying the commandments. That’s a good start, but that is not the essence of our evil (Romans 1:23 and 2:23). The essence of our evil is that we prefer anything to God. If you think the essence of your evil is commandment breaking, your focus for change will be commandment keeping. If we get good at it (keeping the rules), we think we have changed, but the essence of our evil remains. If we cannot get good at it (keeping the rules), we despair and quit trying. If we know that the essence of our evil is not commandment breaking but preferring anything to God, then our focus for change will be a change of heart because God promised, “I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.”

Todd Friel Comments: We keep the rules not to be rule keepers. Then we just become fancy Pharisees. That is not repentance. If we become rule-keeping Pharisees, we become the same old white-washed tombs that they were, clean on the outside, filthy on the inside. That is such a burden. If you have been trying not to sin because you are trying to be a rule keeper, have you been forgiven of your sins? Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ? Have you experienced forgiveness? Has He granted the assurance that you know that your sins are forgiven. If so, you do not need to strive to keep the rules to please Him or to balance the scales. You do it because He saved you.

Deep Love of Jesus

On Sunday, in church, we sang The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. I enjoy this song. I think the words match the tune and it causes one to think deeper thoughts about the love of Jesus. I found a short video of the song and I've posted the words below.



O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
’Tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
’Tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee!

Evangelism Evening 06/07/10

Tonight I needed to pick Greg up from the airport in the evening (he was working a freelance job over the weekend, out of state).

I had some time to kill between the end of my work shift and the airport run, so I went to The Mall of America (very close to the Minneapolis airport) to hand out some gospel tracts.


Since there are so many solicitors for your time, attention, and money at the mall (particularly on a slow night), I found a chilly reception to the gospel tracts. I was able to hand out a few, but I definitely had more rejections than I did takers tonight.


I engaged in one conversation with an older gentleman sitting on a bench, but I didn't get very far. He was very polite but very closed to conversation. It went like this:


Me: "Here's a million dollars for you."


Him: "No. Thank you. What is that monopoly money?"

Me: "It's a gospel tract. It has the million dollar question on back. What do you think happens to a person when they die? What are your thoughts?"

Him: "Nothing. It just ends.

Me: "No heaven? No hell?

Him: "Some people think there's a heaven and a hell."

Me: "What do you think?"

Him: "I don't think about it. I think it just ends. Whatever happens, happens."

Me: "You're taking a pretty big chance there don't you think? What if there is a heaven and hell?"

Him: "With what I've seen it doesn't really matter. I've seen a lot."

Me: "I'm not sure what that means. Were you in the military?

Him: "Yes."

Me: "You've seen a lot of death?"

Him: "Yes."

Me: "But you don't think about what happens to a person when they die?"

Him: "Nope"

At this point in the conversation I was picking up some pretty strong (closed) body language signals.

Me: "Would you like the weird woman holding the fake money to leave now?"

Him: Polite smile. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Me: "Okay. Thanks for talking to me. Have a nice evening."

Some conversations go like that. I take comfort in the fact that God is in control, not me. Even a short conversation (with no gospel message in it) could cause someone to think soberly for just a few moments. I pray God will use this conversation to cause this man to think about Him, and I pray God will save Him.

A Movie Tip

On the heels of Resource Wednesday, I'd like to share with you about a movie we rented last weekend. It's called "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry". Living Waters ministry has spoken highly of this movie during its creation process and release to the public. It is now on video. I highly recommend it. The story had a strong gospel message throughout.

The story takes place in 1970 (fictional) and revolves around three young boys and an elderly gentleman in their town who shares the gospel with them. I think this movie would be a great witnessing tool, and I recommend checking it out.

My God Answers Prayer

This week I've been reading in my "What Do I Know About My God" notebook. This is one of the entries I have written under the My God Answers Prayer heading.

Job 19:23-24 (NKJV):
"Oh that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead forever!"

Study Note (John MacArthur Study Bible):
Job wished that the activities of his life were put into words and "inscribed in granite", so all would know that he had not sinned to the magnitude of his suffering. God granted his prayer.

Katrina Note:
These verses are a reminder to me that God answeres prayer. Job did not know the secret things of God. Job did not know that God would use his story for generations to come and it would, indeed, be written down.