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
“Don’t worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Phil. 4:6-7, NLT
Mary, Indian Head, MD
2 Cor 3:5-6
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor 3:5-6 (NASB)
Kelli, Apex NC
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Galatians 6:9 NASB
Becky, Seminole, FL – . Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Summer J., Crystal, MN
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 ESV
Kathi Jacksonville, Fl “so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”-Philippians 1:10 NIV
Psalm 139:14
I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.
Katherine, Atlanta Ga
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing. Why do you worry about the rest? Like 25-26 NIV
“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2Corinthians 5:7 NIV
Kim from Clinton Mo
May the favor of our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17. NIV
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! Deuteronomy 5:29 NKJV
Sharon, McKinney, TX
John 14:23, NIV
“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'”
Britt, Burlington, NC. …gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:23, HCSB
Stephanie from Morgantown, WV
2Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Elizabeth – Moore, OK
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Romans 5:5 NIV
Jennifer; Chattanooga
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 20:7 NIV
Jaclyn, Round Rock, TX
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of The Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I Corinthians 15:58 NIV
Sandy, Rock Hill, SC
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a joke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV
Nancy Rose Proverbs 19:8 NLT To acquire wisdom is to love oneself. People who cherish understanding will prosper.
Nancy D.; Round Rock, TX
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah 55:8, 9 NIV)
Carmen, Summersville, WV “Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 NIV
Gail, Jacksonville, FL. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15 NIV
Shannon, Jacksonville, FL. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15 NIV
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11 NIV)
“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” Romans 12:12 HCSB
Kay S
Lake Lure, NC
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30(NLT)
Megan
Richmond, Va
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved- you and your household. Acts 16:31 (NIV)
Natalie from Lynchburg, VA
“When Jesus heard them, He stopped and called, ‘What do you want me to do for you?'”
Matthew 20:32, NLT
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV
Karen, Hewitt, TX
James 1:22 NIV
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Julie
Holland, Michigan
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Rena, Tulsa. “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather I become righteous through faith in Christ.” -Philippians 3:7-9
*NLT
…The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:4-6 NIV
Esther from Alburquerqque, Spain
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18 (NLT)
Teresa, Austin, TX
Epesians 2:10 NLT
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Christie from Plano, Texas
“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28 (NIV)
“If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” 1 John 3:20
Angie G
Albertville, AL
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10 NASB
Julie from Granbury, TX
“Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken.” (Psalms 62:5-6 HCSB)
Becky, St. Augustine, “The Lord redeems his servants ; no one will be condemned
who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:22. NIV
Brittany, Carrollton, TX: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28 ESV
Toni, Greer, South Carolina — Sorry I’m 3 days late! “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. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18 NIV
Brenda from Santa Rosa Beach Florida
The father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. Luke 15:31 NCV Sorry for being late
Danyelle
Dayton, Ohio
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 NIV
Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Nicole. Lancaster, Ca
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” 1 Timothy 4:7, ESV
Liz from Costa Mesa, CA
Revelation 5:12 NASB
saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
Caroline, Houston, TX
Then I remembered something that fills me with hope. The LORD’s kindness never fails! If He had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The LORD can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, “The LORD is all I need; I can depend on Him!” The LORD is kind to everyone who trusts and obeys Him. It is good to wait patiently for the LORD to save us. Lamentations 3:21-26. CEVUS06
Paula Schaper, Dickinson ND, I desire to do your will, my God, your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8
My times are in your hand.Psalm 31:15