The Neon Crosses

a GOD who has scars

2010-04-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago for Resurrection Sunday our pastor preached on the last chapter of Luke (you can listen to the sermon here). In it, Christ shows the disciples his hands and his feet.

Stacy, my pastor, was quick to point out the significance of Jesus doing this because his hands and feet bore the marks of the nails from his crucifiction. Stacy said that when he reads this passage he sometimes meditates on the importance of the scars. His meditaion and application led me to meditate on the same for the past few weeks:

Why is it that when we think of our glorified bodies we imagine them as perfect? Unblemished? Beautiful? Sometimes when I'm struggling with vanity, I daydream about the day when stretch marks cease to exist and pimples don't happen, much less leave lasting impressions and Scripture tells us that our bodies will be filled with glory and immortal.

If heaven and the new Jerusalem is indeed perfection and filled with the glory of God, why does the God/man still have his scars? Because Jesus is the lamb that was slain, once for all time. His scars aren't imperfection, they are glory. His scars constantly testify to Emmanuel who offered up his life to be a ransom for many.

"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet." Luke 24:39-40

Another Week Gone By

2009-10-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything particularly profound to say on my own. What made me pause and think today was one of the latest posts by The Resurgence (it was also copied in Route 5:9).

I am passing it along, hoping it makes you think like it made me think. It was only yesterday that I got very upset at someone for rebuking me (rather graciously, I might mention). This made me remember how truly wrong I was and how undeserving of God's grace I truly am:

http://theresurgence.com/proverbs-hidden-love

"Better is open rebuke than hidden love." Proverbs 27:5

This is "the weak's end".

Why I Love My Husband

2009-09-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

Reason #1

(after getting dressed in order to attend a memorial service)

Me: "Hey hun, how do I look?"

Him: "Like you're going to a funeral but in a pretty way."

Reason #2

(late last night)

Me: "I feel really emotional right now and I don't know why."

Him: "Is it a girl thing?"

Me: "Probably."

Him: "What do you need to make it better?"

Me: "Right now all I want to do is curl up in bed and sip hot chocolate."

Him:"Do we have hot chocolate?"

Me: "No. I'll be alright."

He then puts slippers on and walks out the door: "I'll be back!"

Twenty minutes later he walks in with gourmet dark hot chocolate in one hand and a piece of Ghiardelli (sp?) dark chocolate in the other.

Disabled...

2009-09-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

I was reading some blog posts and started following links (always educational) and ran across this blog about the current consequences of prenatal testing for disabilities, specifically Down Syndrome. If you haven't read it, I would recommend it.

That's not the blog I'm pondering about right now... I then found this entry which sparked a piercing conviction. It's discussing why Jesus did so many physical healings and yet never affirmed anyone as being in a perfect condition. I have to admit that I have had the exact same questions as mentioned in the post and found it a VERY beneficial read.

This got me to thinking about a lot of things, but primarily about these statements:

" Everyone, except the Son of God, was and is marked by sin. And that is infinitely worse than any disability."

"Sin is ALWAYS much worse than disability."

I have to honestly say that I rarely live as though it's worse to be a sinner without Christ than be a quadrapalegic . I most certainly never live as though it's far better to be a Down Syndrome adult with Jesus than a brilliant scholar/ exec/ strong woman without the grace of God.

Speaking of good reads...

2009-07-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Since I wrote that last blog I have been rolling the idea around in my head of writing out all of the books I would like to actually own.

Usually I'm not very picky about owning a book because I tend to think of it as a waste of shelf space, a display for pride in intelligence, or just plain laziness (not taking the energy to go to a library or read them online). Please don't get me wrong on this point. The above mentioned reasons are my own sinful purposes behind purchasing a book. I am not trying to be presumptuous enough to claim that they are every ones reasons and am not trying to state that anyone with a book collection ought to be ashamed of themselves.

This is why deciding to buy a book is kind of a big deal for me. I usually think long and hard about whether I truly need to own it. This is mostly my criteria:

Will I be tempted to dog-ear the pages?
Am I going to want to highlight sections and jot notes in the margins?
Will I want to pass it along to friends and family?
Will seeing it worn and scuffed heighten my admiration for it?
Is the best way for me to absorb the content going to include re-reading it more than twice?
Is it not readily available to me via other venues, i.e. city library, college library, friends, etc.?
Is it beneficial?

If I answer most or all of these questions with a "yes", then I put the book on my list of books to buy. The funny thing for me is that, since graduating from school, the list has gotten much longer.

Here is the ever-increasing list, in no specific order:

Knowing God, Packer
The Pleasures of God, Piper
Respectable Sins, Bridges
Identity, Geiger
This Momentary Marriage, Piper
A Christmas Carol, Dickens
Why We Love the Church, Kluck & DeYoung
Vintage Jesus, Driscoll
Orthodoxy, Chesterton
God, Marriage, and Family, Kostenberger
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Grudem & Piper
The Attributes of God, Pink
Worldliness, Mahaney

I will probably be adding more books and
taking them down when I get them. :)

Are good reads scary?

2009-07-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm currently making my way through J.I Packer's "Knowing God", which is quite amazing and wonderfully convicting. It seems as though it was written precisely for me. Sometimes I find myself afraid to pick it up again after being impacted by the last chapter I read.

This book calls me to change because it's rooted in Scripture and Scripture cries out for souls to mold to the image of Christ.

Change is frightening and freeing.

Do you ever find yourself afraid to read a book because it's that good?

Chick-Fil-A

2009-07-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Seeing that I have read 3 blog posts on Chick-Fil-A in the past week, I have decided to write one of my own... only differently. This one is from my perspective.

Living in Montana is great. Although I don't think I enjoy it enough to be here for the rest of my life, God has decided, in His infinite wisdom, to place me here for now. It is the will of God that I be in Montana.

Now, saying this, understand that there are no Chick-fil-a's in Montana.

That means that in 147,046 square miles there is no glorious chicken sandwiches to be found! In the 4th largest state in the Union, there is not enough of a market to coax them into building a store here.

I just graduated college from a small Christian institution here and many of the staff, being retired Southerners or pastors who traveled to the South for seminary, agreed with my position. They decided to write a letter to the corporation requesting the rights to build a store here. In this letter, they assured that there would be employees for staffing the establishment by offering up the students from the workstudy program!

All of this, however, did not convince Chick-Fil-A of the great advantage of putting a restaurant in Montana. Soon afterwards we received a letter notifying us that Montana was not within their target range of expansion.

My reaction to all of this is, firstly, humor (My college requested a Chick-Fil-A!)and secondly, sadness. I will have to wait longingly for the opportunity of traveling South in order to taste that delectable food again.

I hope that anyone within driving distance considers their proximity to Chick-Fil-A a blessing and thanks God for it. I know I would like that sort of blessing.

I am wanting some waffle fries now...

iblevngod

P.S. The closest Sonic is in Wyoming and we have no Long John Silver's but that's another story.

2009-07-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome.

So I figured I should probably put something here at least for a little bit to hold this spot till I take some time to sit down and type out my first "real" post.

That one should be coming later tonight or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I decided to leave this video that always makes me laugh. Enjoy!