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
Rev. 22:14
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid: do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!” Joshua 1:9
Deborah, Markham, VA
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ”
-Psalm 139:23, 24 (NIV)
Kristi, from Campbellsville, Kentucky
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
ESV
Whoops, forgot the reference!
Isaiah 66:2
Raven, Atlanta, Ga
“God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Numbers 23:19 NIV
Nancy Lakewood, CO
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
Micah 7:7 NIV
Michelle from Norman, OK. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6 NASB.
Kelly Womack Fort Smith, AR
Colossians 3:16 HCSB
“Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Sherry Youngblood – Jay, OK
The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephania 3:17 (NIV)
CHRISTIE Graham, WA
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”
Philippians 3:10 NASB
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 5:3 NKJV
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. ~ Ps 34:5 (NLT)
Pamela
Missouri
Lori Grundy, Vivian, LA
“From the end of the earth I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
Psalm 61:2
Caitlin Crowder
Gray Court, SC
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
Proverbs 31:25 NIV
1 John 5:4 NLT
“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this through our faith.”
Regina, Birmingham, AL
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. IS 43:15, ESV
Stephanie Hamburg Ar. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew5:14 NIV
In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust. I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me. (Psalm 25:1, 2 NIV)
Mimi Versailles Ky:”my soul finds rest in God alone;my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation;he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Ps:62:1-2
Stephanie, Columbus, Ohio – NIV Luke 20:41 “Martha, Martha”, the Lord answered, “You are worried and uupsent about many things, but only one thing is needed.”
Miriam Tinsley, SC
“Love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Melissa, living in Gruitrode, Belgium
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
2 Thessalonians 3:1
New King James Version (NKJV)
Kristen from Allen, TX But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)
Liz, Geismar, LA
” instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, The LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. “. Isaiah 61: 7-8 NIV
Angie, Aberdeen, SD:
Psalm 18:2 (ESV)
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Jolene, Suwanee, GA
“But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirt.”
1 Corin. 6:17 NIV
He replied, “You sound like foolish women, are we to accept good from God and not trouble?” In ALL this he did not sin against God in what he said.
Job 2:10 NIV
Help me to accept good and trouble and not sound like a foolish woman!!
Alaina // Tyler, TX
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ”
Psalm 139:23, 24 (NIV)
Janet, Lenoir, NC: When I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3 NIV
Kelly, Chesterfield, MO- Working on James1;1-27 NIV
James 2:8-9 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show
favoritism.
Suppose a man come into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes,
and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
Julie, Tallassee, AL
I am not sure if I have posted or not for this time so here goes…
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:13-14, ESV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,the conviction of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1 NAS
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
Rita Brown
Midland, TX
Kristin, Trinidad CO
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:5-6 KJV
Lauren Spence from Decatur, TX
” And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
To the Jews, I became a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law, but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel so that I may share in its blessings.
I Cor 9:20-23
‘And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ.’ Philippians 1:6 ESV
Cayla
Gray Court, SC
Truthful lips endure forever but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. NIV
Proverbs 12:19
Adele-Alys from Matthews (Charlotte), NC
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
1 Timothy 617 ESV
Cindy Alton NH Psalms56:13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of life. ESV
Sherry, OK
Psalm 64:4 NLT
“I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hand to you in prayer”
Susan
Corinth, TX
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
Michele, Liverpool, NY
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε, γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ
Col 4:2, NRSV, NA27
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7/NIV
“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11 NRSV
Kari from Katy, TX
“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” James 1:26 NIV
Albuquerque, NM
Psalm 100:3
“Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that has made us and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. KJV
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” Psalm 116:15 God’s Word Translation
Rae, Greenwood, AR. ” He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” NIV