Sharpe's little blog

Great great stuff from this year’s General Assembly in Tennessee. The PCA has done a great service by providing the entire proceedings on the web in great quality video and blog form. Give a look. Some of it’s kinda thick, but there’s GOLD in them thare hills. Especially of note are the informational reports on Covenant Seminary from Brian Chapel (which I plan to blog on soon) and RUF by Rod Mays and friends.

Another cool link I found a few weeks ago that has become a staple is Glenn Lucke’s Common Grounds collaborative blog. Glenn is the co-author of the book Common Grounds, which is kinda a conservative version of New Kind of Christian (i.e. creative non-fiction on theology). For this blog, he’s gathered a TON of great seminary profs, RUF ministers, pastors, and buisnessmen and women. Always good reading.

(this is an older blog that I’m editing and reposting, not because of present feelings or circumstances, but because the concept of self-actualization still intrigues me)

I just had one of those weird moments where you’re driving along and you realize that you’re in a bad mood. Not angry, just mildly perturbed for no exact reason. Most of it is probably just being tired or hungry. It’s a good time grab a bite to eat, to write a journal entry, then take out your contacts and go to bed. Yes, that’s right, smile at the irony…now let’s move on.

What got me thinking as I drove was about the social situation I’d just left. My first inclination was to analyze the event and try to pinpoint what set me off towards feeling this way. In effect, I was looking to blame this on one of my friends. The tricky thing is that I knew I honestly couldn’t point to anything. There were no insults, no particularly grating people. Just the normal energy that comes from spending time with people – which is at once draining and rejuvinating.

But after I was unable to shift the blame on my circumstance, I got to wondering if I hadn’t kinda been feeling that way during the conversations I’d just left. Did I already have this nagging feeling that was mostly phisiological in origin working on my emotions and reactions? How could that have affected the people I was just with?

Questions like that scare me. I like to think I’m in control of my reactions, that I know how I am communicating with others. But those moments like when I’m in my car, and it finally gets quiet enough for me to realize that I’m exhausted and famished make me wonder if I haven’t been taking that fatigue out in negative ways on those closest to me.

Its times like this that I stop and say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for giving me people in my life that have shown me so much grace. I pray that He would grant me wisdom and power from the Holy Spirit to change my attitudes, make amends, and live in community in a way that reflects His Glory. As the Son and the Father are One, so let His people be One here on Earth.

I saw a bear in the wild for the first time this weekend. He made off with our hamburger buns. Stupid bear.

I had a great weekend in Harrisonburg hanging out with a dozen guys from JMU. I’m amazed how often I take these guys for granted. Not many people have a true group of friends like we have. Individually, they’re each amazing guys. Together it’s a wonderful, diverse expression of God’s work in bringing people into community. It’s rarely a shangrila love-fest. There are times where people get on each other’s nerves, where there are lulls in conversation, or someone says or does something inappropriate. More often than not, I’ve been the one to make those mistakes. I hope each of them know how sorry I am for any way I may have hurt them, and how thankful I am for the grace that they have shown me.

But I also know that I am safe with these guys. I doubt I could totally lose them, even if I am 1000 miles away. It’s good to know you’ve got friends like that. It speaks volumes to me about the goodness of God, His desire to bless His people, and His faithful answer to sad and lonely prayers. Yes indeed The Lord, He is good, and his mercy endures forever.

The other thing I got to do this weekend is visit Grace DC for the first time in almost a year. They’ve moved from the hotel where they used to meet into an old United Methodist Church in a slightly different neighborhood of Northwest DC. Considering the Westminster interpretation of the Second Commandment, it was interesting to attend a PCA service in a church with so many stained-glass depictions of Christ. Heck, the church even had a pane of John Wesley preaching. The congregation at Grace DC has grown substantially, with around 350 people attending (my best guess). Sadly, the band was trimmed down (maybe just for the summer), so there was no cello or violin or bassoon. Glen’s preaching was great. The new(ish) assistant pastor seems very talented as well as he led the church in prayer (although he has a very similar speaking cadence with Glen, which was kinda funny). The service itself was a little long, but I couldn’t have cared less. It was a refreshing and joyful thing to see how God is expanding this ministry in DC.

Oh, and they had the biggest communion wine cups I’ve ever seen. Most churches have little cups that barely hold a sip. This was a full-fledged chug. I loved it.

About a year and a half ago, I searched the net looking for the best Bible-in-a-year program I could find. I was somewhat dissatisfied with most programs that I came across, as most were too formulaic (two OT readings, two NT readings, and soforth). The best one I found was actually from a non-descript local church in Georgia. I like Lighthouse Baptist’s plan because it incorporates both the Old and New Testament each day, it includes a Psalm each day (so you go through the Psalms twice in a year), and reads a very small section from Proverbs each day (a verse or so). It was this final feature that sealed it for me. Most reading plans have the reader plow through Proverbs a chapter at a time, which I think does violence to the intention of the book. Here is a link to their reading plan.

Of course, you’ll notice something odd. This plan is written to start on Jan 1, 2005. It would seem that we are quite behind, and have some hard work ahead of us. Actually, that’s intentional. I was at a conference last month where Bob Kauflin talked about committing to read the Bible through in a year. He said he thought himself quite holy for making this kind of sacrifice. Then he met a professor from Westminster at a conference who made an off-hand comment about reading through the Bible twice a year. Then there are stories of Puritans who made a regular practice of reading through the Bible 4 or more times a year. This could very easily lead to depression and condemnation. After all, I don’t read the Bible that much. What will people think of me?

But then I’m reminded that reading the Bible is not about me. Honestly, none of my friends would be all that impressed if I read the Bible 12 times a year. Most of all, God wouldn’t be impressed. He wrote the thing! What I begin to realize is that reading the Bible is my invitation to sit at the feet of my God, to encounter Him for who He is, and learn from the words that He has entrusted to His Church. The reading of scripture should not be motivated by guilt or ambition, but a love for God and a desire to know Him, and a yearning to see that thirst both grow and be satisfied.

Oh, and Ryan Adam’s new disc Cold Roses is pretty.

1Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (Psalm 73)

I’m amazed how quickly I forget the goodness of my God. I’ve often heard it said by men far wiser than I that the key to maintaining the Christian life is the practice of preaching the Gospel to ones’ self. The Gospel is our only true hope in this world of lies, and it is both as simple as it is profound.

But I forget. This normally happens when I get a little too much time on my hands and start thinking about how my life has turned out differently than I thought it would. I remember being in college, doubting whether I should be a music major or not. One night, I actually sat down and charted out how my life would have looked if I had gone to UVa instead of JMU. It was a pretty detailed little lay-out. And it would have been so easy. In my network of friendships is the first woman to live on the lawn at “The University”, and a recommendation letter from her probably would have been more than enough to get me off the wait list. But then I get to thinking of all the wonderful blessings that God lavished on my life during my time at JMU and my sanity starts to return.

I need more stories like that. I need to remind myself of His wisdom and His guidance. I need to be reminded that the same sovereign creator is a loving Father and a jealous God. That juxtaposition of virtues alone is enough to call my heart to wonder and worship – and I haven’t even started talking about the mediatory work of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the Glories of God or the gift of revelation in the Word.

CJ Mahaney said very interestingly in Christ Our Mediator that modern Christians should be aware of how much they ask themselves “how do I feel?” rather than focusing on the more important question of “what do I know?” The point is not to discredit emotions completely. I am aware enough to know that my emotions and perceptions can be limited and misguided. The Word of the Lord, however, is ever true. It will not return void. It is a light to my path.