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
Ashley Taylor
Lawrenceville, GA
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
Ephesians 3:20 NASB
“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34
Shannon, Columbia, SC
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (NIV)
Dana Nance
Blue Ridge, Tx
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs.
Isaiah 48:18 NIV
Lezli. Oklahoma City, OK
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. (Psalm 40:1-3a NIV)
Jessica Rockwell Omaha, NE
1 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
…”neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39
Andrea P.
New Palestine, IN
Ephesians 4:2
New International Version (NIV)
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Sarah,TX
John 14:6
I am the way the truth and the life, no ond comes to the Father but by me.
NIV1984
Holly – Longmont, CO
Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy, Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NLT
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 NIV)
Jennifer, West Palm Beach. “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
Karen True in Boerne, TX
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Andrea from Spring Branch, Texas
2 Corinthians 3:12 (ESV)
Since we have such a hope,
We are very bold.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)….an oldie, but it fell afresh on me this past weekend!
Poorna Diaz
Arlington, VA
Gail Jones
Decatur Tx
Psalm 51:10. NIV
Create in me a pure heart O Lord and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Tina, Zalma, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. (KJV) Romans 8:28
Val, Ann Arbor, MI
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” – Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
Laura, Dalton, GA
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. Eph 4:29 KJV
Melissa, Locust Grove, GA. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 ESV
Sheena Brady fairbanks, ak
Proverbs 11:2 NIV
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility, then comes wisdom
Alyson – Longmont, Co Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NLT
Rebecca Alburn
Salem, OR
Isaiah 32:17 NIV
“The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”
Heather, Fredericksburg, VA
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT
Jamie, New Palestine, IN
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it
Psalm 20:1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! ESV
Ange & Kennedy, Idaho: The Lord watches over
all who love Him. Psalm 145:20a
Erin from Murfreesboro TN
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thought.
Point out anything in me that offends You,
And lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24 NLT
Carole from Webb City, MO: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, snd He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
Stacey-morocco,in
Jeremiah 31:25 (message)
I’ll refresh tired bodies;I’ll restore tired souls.
But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
Psalm 3:3 NIV
Bethany, Frisco, TX. Matthew 6:21 (NIV) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
April Weatherspoon
West Palm Beach
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 ESV
May 1,2013
Christine watts
Branch land west va.
12. Blessed is the man endureth temptation for he shall receive the crown of life which The Lord hath promised to them that love him
13. Let no man say he is tempted I am tempted of God for God can not be tempted with evil neither tempteth he many man.
James 1:12-13 missed April’s post
KJV
Kim, Dimmitt, Texas
Philippians 4:6 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.” Psalm 62:1
Bowie, maryland
KJV, Eph. 3:18 “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, and depth, and height;”
Tyra, Houston.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:2 MSG
Julie- Queen Creek, AZ
“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor
me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.”
Psalm 23:5 (NLT)
Amber B, Vicksburg, MI. …Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. John 18:37 NIV
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isaiah 5:20 NIV
Connie, Durham, NC, But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22 (NAS)
Sandy from Anaheim, CA
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD.
Psalms 31:24 NKJV
Rebecca from Houston. You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need. My future is in your hands. Psalm 16:5, TEV
Linda – Holland, OH
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
Rochet, Kennesaw, GA
I remain confident in this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait on the LORD.
Psalm 27:13-14 NIV
Victoria – Salt Lake City, UT – 2 Corinthians 6:10 (ESV)
“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”
Susan
Jersey Village
“Consider the blameless,
Observe the upright;
There is a future for the man of peace.”
Psalm 37:37
NIV
Kelly, Auburn, Al – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NASB
Jennifer, Dallas TX “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NASB