Hey, Everybody!
I’m so happy to spend these next few minutes with you. I like to remind you in a writing season like this that I am thinking about you constantly even when it appears from your side of the screen as if we’re less in touch. As I study and write workday in and workday out, you are the first group that comes to my mind. Teacher’s pets if I’ve ever had any. I’m chatting to you constantly right now as I peck away at the keyboard. You just can’t hear me. I’m smiling thinking about how those tables may turn in a little over a year for any of you that end up doing the Bible study. You’ll be talking back to me as we discuss various passages in your homework but I won’t be able to hear you either. What a weird and beautiful dynamic.
I had the biggest blast getting to see a whole bunch of you Siestas at our Eugene, Oregon Living Proof Live. I was shocked when I walked in that room right after the event and David Lowe (our good friend who subs for Rich when he’s out) already had you split into two groups for our picture-taking. It would be hard to over-blow how much I loved being in Oregon for our event. God brought together one of the most wonderful, enthusiastic, Jesus-seeking, gonna-get-a-word-or-else groups ever. One of my top ten favorite groups in all fifteen LPL years. I could have cried when it was over.
(I just happened to remember that I have a few pictures on my iPhone of various shots from this trip so I’ll pitch a few in here for those of you like me who love visuals.)
(In the above picture, we took that State-famous “O” for Oregon and made it into a few divine adjectives for an “Omnipotent,” and “Overflowing,” “Overcoming” and “Out-breaking” God.)
Try to wrap your mind around the fact that God incited 7300 women by His Spirit to attend that event. That was nearly twice what we would have expected in that part of the United States for a gathering of this kind. Travis, the praise team, and I knew within about 2 minutes that Jesus was planning to be there whether we came or not. We felt completely incidental to the whole thing. He has something huge stirring in the Northwest. I can’t quit thinking about it. I got a DM from my good friend, Louie Giglio, last Friday saying that he and Chris Tomlin and their team had just been to that part of the country and were blown away by what God was doing. We left feeling the same astonishment.
I got to spend a little more time in the area than I usually do because I couldn’t get a flight out on Saturday night. That meant several walks in several different parks.
This scene was walking distance from the Holiday Express where we stayed in Eugene. Your blog mama is in there but it’s kind of like “Where’s Waldo?”
Most of our team went to Mount Pisgah Arboretum on Saturday afternoon and, honestly, it was like we were caught in the hobbits’ glen in Lord of the Rings. If Frodo Baggins had stepped out from behind a tree with his short legs and long hairy feet, the whole scene would have been complete. The trees looked just like the ones that talked in the trilogy and they groaned and creaked in the wind like old men trying to get out of a low chair. It was crazy. I didn’t even bother taking pictures with my iPhone because it would have been a travesty but our friend David got some great ones with his grown-up camera. This one doesn’t even give a hint of the gorgeousness that was surrounding us in that park but I think it is especially gorgeous because I love this group of women so much. These are some of the hardest working girls you’ll ever find on earth. They are part of the LifeWay women’s event team that actually puts on Living Proof Live events. (As well as Priscilla Shirer Live and many others.) They don’t often come to the platform but trust me when I tell you that no one would serve on that platform if not for these women doing all the front work, sight inspections, training, praying, and city coordinating. Then, once the weekend arrives, they are busy behind every scene, down every hall, and all over the arena. I am nuts about them. There are at least a dozen others who weren’t assigned to our Oregon event over the weekend. I wish you could see them, too. They are all stellar women.
I could have stayed a solid week in Oregon. Or, if all my people had been there, a month. But Bibby gets cranky for the grandbabies after too many days away. I saw them right before I left for Oregon and the day after I got back. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my beloved Amanda and Curtis, who always make room for the grandparents in their hyper-busy pastoring lives. I happen to be typing this post about five feet away from this picture right here. Now, I ask you, who could stand to be far from those two for very long?? My point exactly.
Oh, one more thing about the trip. On the rare occasions when much of the team gets to stay an extra night after the event, there is considerable foolishness. With God-fearing people, especially of mixed company, off-color humor is out so we have to go with just plain stupid and it works for me every time. This is Travis with his good friends Clay (who played the mandolin for us at this LPL! We loved him!) and Seth (who we always love and get to have on the team most of the time).
I bet Travis wore those glasses for 15 minutes in the drugstore. (Yep, that’s where all this stuff was.) Long enough to where I found myself talking to him normally as if he didn’t look like an idiot. Of course, it might be a tad hypocritical for me to say he looked like such a thing since…
Tragically, that’s not plastic you’re seeing there below the glasses. That’s my real nose. (I made myself laugh.)
Well, I could talk on and on but, the fact is, we have Scriptures to do today, Sisters! I love mine this time around. Remember how we talked about the importance of choosing one to memorize that really means something to us personally? This one’s really speaking to me right now. Lately I’ve been especially aware of the contrasts in the Christian public square between those who build up the Body of Christ and those who tear it down. If we’re going to be builders in a world tearing apart, we’re going to have to be deliberate. We’ll also have to accept the materials we’re working with. We’ll never have a flawless body of believers to edify. Not this side of our completed state. As my friend Carlos Whittaker says, we’re all crazier than we think we are. It’s a mess out there. Oh, for crying out loud, I’m a mess in here. But we do have a flawless Savior and we are indeed God’s chosen people, loved and planned for and accounted for in the Kingdom agenda. We’ve got to decide how we want to treat one another on this thorny journey. This verse says it well.
Beth, Houston. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV
There He says it: don’t just take a stab at it. Strive to excel in it.
Oh, Sisters, I love you so much. I truly do. I’ll talk to you soon!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Webb City, MO
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
He said: “Listen King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s!.” 2 Chron. 20:15 NIV
Tanya , Raleigh,NC
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. Romans 12:12 NLT
“May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.”
Psalm 119:76
NIV
Maggie, SC
Your scripture is just want I needed to read today!
“So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church”. 1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV
Susan, Pittsburgh PA
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV
Sandra, Winchester, KY
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9
Jennifer, Houston: Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Romans 6:8 ESV
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet
Proverbs 31, NIV
Jenna, KC MO
Jenna, Cedar Park, Tx
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2
Shannon, Blacksburg VA
“And they will go to others and say, ‘I have sinned, I have perverted what it is right, but I did not get what I deserved. God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’ ”
Job 33: 27-28
Kelly Goodman, Taylorville, IL
Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Angela, Warsaw.
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. Psalm69:30 (NIV)
Amy, Springfield
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Jess R, Katy, Tx
So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church. – 1 Corinthians 14:12 HCSB
Terri Frasure from South Lebanon, Ohio
“God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act or promise and not fulfill?”
Numbers 23:19 (HCSB)
Robyn The Woodlands, TX
But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
Exodus 5:17 (RSVCE)
Meredith from Columbus, OH: “So humble yourself under the mighty power of God and at the right time, he will lift you up in honor.” -1 Peter 5:6 (NLT)
Elizabeth from Midland…
Psalm 118:25 The Message
Salvation now, GOD. Salvation now! Oh yes, GOD – a free and full life!
Delanie, Spring Hill, TN
Gal 3:27 HCSB
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.
Pamela, Mechanicsville,VA.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NIV
Amy, New Palestine, IN
“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.” -1 Corinthians 13:1 MSG
“And God said, My face shall go before thee, and I shall give rest to thee.” ~ Exodus 33:14 WYC
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23, 24 NLT
Zakia. Clarksville, TN.
“The secret counsel of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them.” Psalm 25:14 (HCSB)
I was at the Eugene event… it was far beyond what I expected. I feel like I have been given a pearl of great price!… I hope in the sharing process I don’t deminish what God has gifted. Amazing event.. worth the 2 1/2 hour drive down from beautiful Bend, Oregon. I have fallen in love for the first time.. with Christ Jesus… thanks Beth for leading such a life changing event… 🙂
Jennifer, Otisville, MI
He has love my soul out of the pit. ISA 38:17, NIV
Meggie, Winnipeg, Canada
“And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life.” 1 Corinthians 7:17 (The Message)
Cindy from Sisters Or
This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24
” ‘The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.’ ”
Luke 6:45 (NIV’84)
Kathy
St.Louis, MO
Stephanie from Pickerington, OH
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)
Julie.. Hanford, ca They worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for The Lord supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. Acts 2:46 NLT
Kristi- Blair, WI
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:14 NIV
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield
to those that take refuge in him. Proverbs 30:5 ESV
Joy – Georgetown, TX – “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11 NIV
San Ramon, CA
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” ~ Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
Barbara,Lewisburg, KY
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Isaiah 55:12 NIV
Shirley Barry, Mooresville NC
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalms 5:3
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalm 105:4 NIV
Forgot!!!
Cathy – Russellville, AR
Becky Parrish, Lynchburg, VA
Establish my footsteps in Your Word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.
Ps. 119:133. NASB
Courtney, Houma,LA
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9, TNIV
Shauna, Aurora, NE
“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” NIV
Sheila, Gardendale, AL Revelation 12:10 ESV
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Jan, Denton, TX “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. Proverbs 29:11 NIV
Donna Marina , Ca
Hosea 4:6a
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge .
NKJV
Vicki, Smithwick/Marble Falls, TX
These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding Him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose heart’s desire is obedience to Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5 TLB
Laurie Chester
“Whatever Happens, Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Philippians 1:27a
mariel
wake forest, nc
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 esv
Judy Sommerville
Fairmont, MN
Isaiah 30:18 Yest the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!
Proverbs 7:2-3 NASB. “Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.”
Tiffany from Georgetown! I forgot to mention that!!