I found this blog, Practical Theology for Women a while back, and have always walked away from her posts blessed, and too often convicted. Today is no different.

She writes about wanting to see fruit in the lives of other believers too soon. She admits that too often we walk away from struggling friends because we give up on loving them the way Christ loves us.

"We Christians are an impatient lot. We insist on gathering grain before it grows. We want to see flowers before spring and fruit before fall. When a brother or sister is going through a tough time, we insist that the Spirit’s work be obvious. Unless they speak of their trials from a spiritual perspective, we tend to apply pressure more than we dispense grace. We rarely believe that life is hidden in the barren tree. Let a friend express his exasperation with a four-letter word, and immediately we’re more concerned with his language than with his agony."

Ouch. If you identify with that statement, let me encourage you to read the whole post and then glory in the great Gospel message of forgiveness without a timeline.

Links I've Liked Lately

Baked Lemon Pasta - There are not enough adjectives in the world to describe how much I love this dish. I think I could eat it every night. And if your family doesn't go for vegetarian meals, it would be super simple to add chicken, and just as good.

What if Starbucks Marketed like a Church? This made me laugh. Favorite line: "I know a bean's been planted."

Perpetuum Jazzile - Listen to the first few seconds of the simulated thunderstorm. And then stick around because the song is amazing, too.

This article really hit me. I've been hearing this message a lot lately, and it has me thinking. What radical thing am I doing for Christ? The author states:

The American Dream has permeated this nation, but it has also spilled across the oceans to all nations of the world. Everyone understands the American Dream, and he pursues it with all his might. While we are familiar with seeing images of desperate Cubans endeavoring to land makeshift rafts on the beaches of Florida in their pursuit of this dream, many Americans are no different. They just look better in the pursuit. But under the cover of well-clothed, well-educated, well-cared-for Americans is a relentless pursuit of the same idea—a better, richer, fuller life than what I am currently experiencing. The pursuit leaves every player exasperated for one simple reason—it’s not the way God intended us to live.
God gives us strong admonitions to live for another world, another country. Our mode of operation is to be that of a pilgrim, not a consumer. When pagans compare our lives to theirs, we should look like idiots in their eyes. But I’m afraid most of the time we look pretty normal. We should have different economic strategies (kingdom giving), different time schedules (acts of mercy; times of personal, family, and corporate worship), different family priorities (parenting God’s way, time together), and different pursuits (kingdom of God, glory of God, people of God). However, I’m afraid that when the lives of most Christians are examined, they make complete sense to the average pagan. Materially, we have houses, cars, retirement plans, and five kinds of insurance so that we can have “risk-free” living. When it comes to our time, we spend more time having fun than serving the poor. We spend more time playing with our toys than meeting as believers, provoking one another to love and good works. I’m afraid that our diversions have become our delight in America. When it comes to what we live for, I’m afraid we display Babylonian desires for the latest and greatest . . . just like the pagans.

I know that my mind is more often occupied with how to make life more comfortable for my family, and specifically, me. I know that I spend a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do someday, and it usually involves a house on a lake more than a shack in Africa.

I'm not sure what to do with all these thoughts, though. I realize there are going to be earthly pursuits that don't, on the surface, look like kingdom pursuits. But I also realize that my heart is what matters, and sometimes those earthly pursuits give a window of opportunity to bring about kingdom goals. That time we hired someone to drywall our basement? It led to some great conversations about church and living for Christ, and has established a relationship with a guy that still exists today.

Not everyone will give up their job like the author did, but we all must be willing. So my question becomes, how do you live a radical life for Christ, while still working a 9 to5, having a family and having responsibilities elsewhere?

What do you think?

More on "The Jesus Storybook Bible"

As if I haven't done enough to promote this Bible, here is one more reason to buy it! This article is an interview with Sally Lloyd-Jones and she gives the reader a glimpse into her reasons for writing the book, how she chose each story and how she views teaching children from the Bible. I loved reading it and thought you might like it, too.

Please go and read the entire article, but if you aren't motivated, hopefully this excerpt will drive you to it:


When I first saw that everything in the Old Testament, is pointing to a child—the one who is coming—it blew me away. Suddenly, here was a way to read the Bible without it leaving you condemned (I’ll never keep all the rules all the time) or in despair (how can I ever be as brave as Daniel? or David?).I found it so moving when I started to discover how the Old Testament is basically one long record of failure—the failure of God’s people time and time again to live rightly, to rescue themselves—and that the stories in the Old Testament are all getting us ready for the One who is coming. They are all signposts to the True Hero, the True King, the True Prince, the True Servant, the greater David, the greater Daniel. The Rescuer.

As a child, I thought the Bible was packed with rules you had to keep (or God wouldn’t love you) and heroes setting examples you had to follow (or God wouldn’t love you). I thought, in short, that the Bible was all about me and what I should (or shouldn’t) be doing. Until I read a Story.

It’s the Story running like a golden stream underneath all the other stories in the Bible: the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. Suddenly, I realized the Bible wasn’t about me and what I should be doing at all. It was about God and what he had done. And it changed everything.


So, throughout the mapping out of the book and writing the stories, I was resolute in my determination to avoid even a whiff of moralizing in terms of applying the stories. The absolute last thing I ever wanted to ask a child was: “And what can we learn from David about how God wants us to behave?” The story isn’t there to be an example for us to follow. If that were the point, Jesus would never needed to have come. We could have saved ourselves.

The story is there because it’s true and because it’s telling the bigger story—of the greater David who is coming. To do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, to fight the battle we could never fight. To be the Hero we all need. To be our Rescuer.

I wanted children to know this Story—and to meet this wonderful Hero in the pages of this book. Because rules don’t change you. But a story can.

ProLife Articles

If you have the chance, spend a few minutes at Al Mohler's blog and read the first three articles he has written this month on abortion. As usual for his writing, they are outstanding. After reading him on a regular basis, I am still amazed at his ability to cut to the heart of the matter, and these three articles are no different.

And, if you can stomach it, check out what John Piper had to say about the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning partial birth abortion. It is graphic, but some things need to be.

More of the "Secret"

I thought the information presented on Oprah about "The Secret" was bad, just wait until you read this post about what the book says. Incredible and sickening.
HT: Tina