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
John 15:5 and 6
5″I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned
Rachel Sweatt
Canyon, TX
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. Philippians 3:8 ESV
Amber from Manor, Texas: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
Marsha C, Kannapolis, NC
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV
Romans 10:9
If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. (Good News Bible)
Jennifer W. from San Antonio
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV)
Charlotte B, Seymour, Tx. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:4 ESV
Hanna Wahlbrink. Lexington, KY.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
Isaiah 32:17 (niv)
Psalm 34:4 (KJV)
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV
Christa, Denver, CO
“…take on an entirely new way of life, a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.” Ephesians 4:24 MSG
Debbie Laureen, New Port Richey, FL
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,”
Colossians 3:23 NIV
Jennifer, Mansfield, TX
Psalm 37:4 NIV
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Joyce, St. Louis MO
Eph. 1:12 In order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. NIV
Elizabeth from Searcy, AR
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:10 NIV)
Kristy from Cedar Park, Texas: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1, KJV (better late than never, right?)
Joy Nelson
Muskogee, OK
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:14, 15 NLT)
Bridget, Phoenix, AZ
1 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
2. as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby,
3. if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Cara, Oswego. If I make you light bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine!
Matthew 5:15 MSG
Psalm 91:1-2 “He who dwells in the shelter of the most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” NIV
Ellen, Aurora, OH
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup – you make my lot secure. Psalm 16:5 NIV
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”.
John 14:6 NIV
Beth C, Huntsville, AL
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him
Colossians 1:19 (NIV)
Bethany Shelton – Salem OR – Romans 12:11-13 MSG – “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.”
Lichelle NIV
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…
1 John 4:18
Lanie Beth, Locust Grove, GA ‘No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls salvation and your gates praise. Psalm 60:18 NIV
Beth
Paducah, KY
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Genesis 50:20
NKJV
from Jay, OK
“The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.” Isaiah 40:8 (HCSB)
Dianna
Moneta, Virginia 24121
Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
Proverbs 19:1 NKJV
Kelly Snodgrass
Rogersville, TN
Psalm 32.7 HCSB
You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with jouful shouts of deliverance. Selah
Kristi, Gardner, KS
Colossians 3:13 NLT
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive them.
Susan K. Bradenton, FL
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
Erica, Huntington, IN
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8 NIV
Kathryn, Oceanside, “For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock?” Psalm 18:31 NLT
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
Psalm 19, V 7
Kim from Trenton, TX
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4 NKJV
Cindy from Kronenwetter WI: But you dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1:20
If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
Psalm 91: 9-10 NLT
Connie
Greene IA
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:6
ESV
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Romans 6:8,9&10 KJV
Cheri
Louisville, KY
Mitzi from Long Beach
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11: 8, NASB
Marilyn Brown, Albuquerque
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Rom.4:25 NIV
Diana—San Patricio, TX. “…but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” I Peter 3:12b (NIV)
Heather—Corpus Christi, TX. “For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands…” I Peter 3:5 (NKJV)
Courtney Eastman, Kingsport TN: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Heather H from Pflugerville, TX
Lamentations 3:23 (NIV)
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Christina, Longmont CO
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Matthew 6:24
Sandy-Dodge City, KS
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Angie W., Ffederal Way, WA
He would feed you with the finest of wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. Ps 81:16 ESV
Laura, Clay Center, KS
Colossians 4:2 (ESV)
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.