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
Misty Sanders, North Charleston, SC
“You will keep him (her) in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he (she) trusts in You.” Isa. 26:3 (NKJV)
Tatiana, Geneva IL
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness
Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
Judy of Marietta says: “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” James 3:2 NIV
Michelle, Exton, PA
Psalm 1. Nkjv
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of The Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does prospers.
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Jill
Winter Haven, FL
“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” Colossians 3:8 NKJV
Victoria C. Boone, NC
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised
Romans 4:21NIV
Paige, Flowood, MS
Let all that I am praise the L ord ; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Psalms 103:1 (NLT)
Dear Beth, My daughter, who flew up from CA, and I attended your Oregon Conference. Thank you for the “life changing” moments we shared with you! To stand there, face to face, with the most precious woman in my life, and hold her hands and commit to her—well, I am eternally grateful for you for that moment. I will never be the same. God bless you!
Shawna Kent, WA
“Taste & see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man (woman) who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
Anna McCollister
New Palestine, IN
Psalm 119:10 ESV
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name
Phil 2:9 (NIV)
Janet
St. Louis
Tammy
Lantana,TX
MATTHEW 5:3
MSG
3“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
Pat. B. in Water Valley, MS
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1Thess. 5:18 NIV
Jennifer Doucet
Sulphur, Louisiana
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12 NIV 84
And the things you have heard me say, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2 ESV
Lindsey Johnson
San Antonio, TX
Philippians 4:19 NIV
And my God will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ!
Tess
Cartersville, GA
Philippians 3:8 ESV
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Michelle ~ Watkinsville
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
I Peter 2:24 (NIV)
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30 NIV)
Michele, Cumming GA
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 NIV)
Brandy, San Angelo, TX
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Lee Ann Frederick,MD Your Name & Renown are the desire of my heart Isaiah 26:8
When you are disturbed, do not sin;
Ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
Psalm 4:4 NRSV
1 John 5:14-15 NIV This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
Narol, Manitoba, CANADA
Psalms 139:9 (I am Lord willing, wanting tomemorize all of Psalm 139)
Erica, Chicago
Psalm 19:10 (NIV)
“They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.”
Jen Lee, Ames, Iowa: “If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31b-32 (NIV)
Beth, St. Louis
Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV)
“I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:13-14 NIV
from Littlestown, PA
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe” Prov. 29:25 (NIV)
Jamie from Suwanee, GA You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 MSG)
Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Mark 13:31 (NIV)
Kelly, Fowler, CA
But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24 NIV
Jennifer B in Cincinnati, OH
Hebrews 12:11 NIV
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Robin, Phoenix
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2 NLT)
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6. NIV
Alyssa M., Tom Bean, Texas
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
Leslie, Simpsonville, SC
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2Cor. 4:18 (NIV)
Dwan, Kings Mountain, NC
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV
April, Riverside, CA
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)
Sue, Groveport, OH
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Psalm 91:11-12. NIV
Diane E, Charleston IL
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
John 15:16 NIV
Heidi from Nampa, ID
Romans 12:1-2
The Message (MSG)
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 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.
Pat, Birmingham, Al
Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness.
Theresa E from Oakland Township, MI
“Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.”
Psalm 25:6 (NIV)
” Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return,and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11″ KJV
Shawna Bates City – “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” ~Romans 8:25-26
Tane McGehee May 2, 2013 8:44 Uvalde,Texas. He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV
Mindy Rowley, IA
James 4:9 NKJV
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Joy from Iowa~ “Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above who created all of heaven’s lights. Unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows. In His goodness, He chose to make us His children by giving us His true Word. And we, out of all creation, became His chosen possession.” James 1:17 & 18 (NLT)