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
Barb ~ St Cloud MN ~ isaiah 30:15b “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”
Nancy, Lufkin, TX. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)
Alicia, Orlando, FL
For my Savior’s strength in a hard workplace: “And He who sent me is with me. HE HAS NOT LEFT ME ALONE, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” – the words of Jesus, found in John 8:29 (ESV)
Katie g; Knoxville, tn
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
Melissa Irwin; Franklin, TN
Acts 2:26 The Message Bible
“I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic. I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.”
Faye-Ocala– Cast your cares on The Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalms 55:22. NIV
Lindy – Scott, LA
Psalms 8:3-4
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (NIV)
Michelle from Chesapeake, VA
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
Tempa, Palm Bay, Fl,
“Why are you downcast O My Soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11 NIV
Walker, LA:
Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. (Psalms 70:1 NLT)
Lilburn, GA
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19a NASB)
Joyce from Menifee, CA
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)
Sherri Smith, Bellevue NE
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
Psalm 51:6, NASB
Andrea, Cartersville;GA: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 NIV
Stacey, McKinney
1Tim 6:6 “But Godliness with contentment is great gain.”NIV
Wendy
Fort Walton Beach, FL
Prov 3:5 ESV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
Barb, Medina
but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men
phil 2:7 ESV
Lisa, West Des Moines, IA “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.” James 1:2 NLT
Psalm 121:5-8 (HCSB)
The Lord protects you;the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day, or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm. He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.
Melanie – Decatur, AL
James 1:15 NIV
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Kim
Orange City
All your sons will be taught by The Lord and great will be your children’s peace.
Isaiah 54:13
NIV
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
Psalm 139:9 NIV
Giovanna Kerr, Holbrook, NY
May God Himself, the God of peace sanctify you through and through. My your whole spirit,soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
1 Thessalonians NIV 1984
Rachel, Winchester, KY: For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. James 3:16, NKJV
Kathy – Carrollton
NLT
Joshua 1:9
This is my command–be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Jo, Columbia, Missouri
John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NIV
Phyllis, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Ephesians 5:15 & 16 ESV
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Tabitha Schenkel
Liberty, NC
“Restore me to the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:12 NLT
Sue – Troy, MI – “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something, but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” James 4:1-2 (NIV)
Kathy, SCF WI- “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Nitsa, Eugene, OR “But as for me, I trust in Thee,O LORD. I say, “Thou art my God.” My times are in Thy hand.”
Psalm 31:14-15a NAS
Adrienne
Jasper, TN
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:12 NIV
Luke 1:37 The Voice (VOICE)
So the impossible is possible with God.
Cami, OKC. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” ~James 1:27, NIV
Ps. 90:14 NIV
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Nicole Turnquist – Selden, NY
When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.
Psalm 94:18-19 (NIV)
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 NIV
Nancy from West Grove, Pa.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5 NIV
Kimberly, Lawrenceburg, KY. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6
Kathy, Shattuck, OK “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Psalm 139:8 (NIV)
Kina, Chicago
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
(Isaiah 26:3 ESV)
Denise, San Antonio
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23 ESV)
Midland, TX
Galatians 6:2 (HCSB)
Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Cindy, living in Cochem, Germany — Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Amanda
Albuquerque, NM
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” Ephesians 5:1 (NLT)
Missy S, Winston-Salem, NC
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.” ~ Galatians 3:27 (HCSB)
Amber, Norman, OK
Matthew 7:21 (NASB)
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Sheryl, PA
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. Psalm 40:1-2 NIV
Nicole from Newton, Iowa
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 HCSB)
Patricia from Croton on Hudson, NY ~”Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals” ~1 Corinthians 15:33 RSV~2nd Catholic Edition