Today is Elizabeth's 14th birthday and Kiara and Kayla's 7th birthday!
It's hard to believe that the twins are the age Elizabeth was when they were born. It doesn't seem possible!
Here's recent pictures of the girls at Angie's wedding.
Friday, July 18, 2008
My 3 girls birthday today!!
Today is Elizabeth's 14th birthday and Kiara and Kayla's 7th birthday!
It's hard to believe that the twins are the age Elizabeth was when they were born. It doesn't seem possible!
Here's recent pictures of the girls at Angie's wedding.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
A Fun Day At The Beach
Since it was so beautiful today the girls and I decided to walk to the beach. Here's a silly moment on video with me singing the Cupid Shuffle for Elizabeth to dance!
Quote of the Month
"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...?" - Keith Green
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Family Scripture Memorizing
Bible Passages for Memorizing
by Ruth Beechick
A basic family tradition is memorizing Scripture. Your family can do this together—easily. Choose a Bible passage such as the Twenty-Third Psalm, and choose a time. Family devotions are an ideal setting for this tradition. Otherwise, choose breakfast or another meal that you share together. Even car time will work for some families with a regular driving schedule.
The Best Memory Method
To begin, you all simply recite the psalm together. Those who read may use their Bibles. Children who do not read follow as best they can, listening or saying some parts as they trail along behind. That is all for day one. The following days are similar. The goal is that in three months or so, all who are old enough will know the psalm by heart. Even the very youngest children gain in many ways, whether or not they actually memorize.
This method of memorizing is called the “whole method.” When you learn a passage this way, you end up able to recite smoothly through it all, just as you recite smoothly through the alphabet without stopping to think which letter comes next. You also learn faster with less work by using this whole method. Research documents the results of the whole method: memorizing is more efficient, takes less total time, and produces better memory results.
Most people commonly use the “part method” for memorizing extended passages. This means learning one verse, then adding the next, and so forth. This takes longer, and the result is usually a less smooth recitation, as they sometimes pause to think which verse comes next.
As you recite the psalm each day, the children who read will gradually quit following in their Bibles, or you may need to suggest that they look up from their Bible pages when they can. Occasionally you might check that a child correctly pronounces a word like righteousness. Answer questions the children have about meaning, but it is not necessary to study the psalm while memorizing it. Some books for Sunday school teachers say, “Be sure the children understand the verse before they memorize it.” This is useless advice. When do any of us fully understand a Scripture? Children can just as well memorize first and learn the meaning more fully as they grow older.
Continue reciting daily until you have not just learned a passage, but overlearned it. Then review on a diminishing schedule. For instance, for one or two months recite the passage once a week (instead of the new passage you are starting to learn). Then review once a month. Eventually, once a year will be sufficient. There is no specific rule about this schedule. The length of a passage, the amount of overlearning, and other variables all affect this, so adjust as you see a need for more review or less. The principle of a diminishing need for review will continue to apply.
If your family learns three or four passages a year—or even just two—these add up to considerable Scripture for your children to carry in their hearts wherever life may take them—to legislative halls or to enemy prison camps, to their future families or to fellow workers. After some passages of six or fewer verses, your family may feel brave enough to tackle a longer passage, perhaps a full chapter.
Bible Passages for Memorizing
Make your own selections or choose some from this list. You can shorten most of these or, in some cases, extend to make a longer portion. (My son Allen, who learned all these as a child and many whole books as a teen, says Psalm 34 is his favorite. At age 8 he recited Isaiah 53 with its big words, and said, “I like the words of the Bible; they sound so good.”)
Psalms 1, 8, 19, 23, 24, 34, 100
Exodus 20:1-17, Ten Commandments
Joshua 1:7-9, meditate on the book
Proverbs 8:22-31, wisdom speaks (Christ himself)
Proverbs 15:1-6, soft answer
Isaiah 53:1-6 (or the whole chapter), Man of sorrows
Matthew 5:3-12, Beatitudes
Matthew 5:19-24, treasures in Heaven
Luke 2:1-7 (or to 16 or 20), Christmas story
John 1:1-14, the Word became flesh
John 3:14-18, God so loved the world
John 14:1-4 (or to 14), mansions in the Father’s house
Romans 1:14-15 (or to 20 or farther), not ashamed of the Gospel
I Corinthians 13, love
Ephesians 2:8-10, saved by grace
Philippians 4:4-8, rejoice
James 1:22-25, doers of the Word
by Ruth Beechick
A basic family tradition is memorizing Scripture. Your family can do this together—easily. Choose a Bible passage such as the Twenty-Third Psalm, and choose a time. Family devotions are an ideal setting for this tradition. Otherwise, choose breakfast or another meal that you share together. Even car time will work for some families with a regular driving schedule.
The Best Memory Method
To begin, you all simply recite the psalm together. Those who read may use their Bibles. Children who do not read follow as best they can, listening or saying some parts as they trail along behind. That is all for day one. The following days are similar. The goal is that in three months or so, all who are old enough will know the psalm by heart. Even the very youngest children gain in many ways, whether or not they actually memorize.
This method of memorizing is called the “whole method.” When you learn a passage this way, you end up able to recite smoothly through it all, just as you recite smoothly through the alphabet without stopping to think which letter comes next. You also learn faster with less work by using this whole method. Research documents the results of the whole method: memorizing is more efficient, takes less total time, and produces better memory results.
Most people commonly use the “part method” for memorizing extended passages. This means learning one verse, then adding the next, and so forth. This takes longer, and the result is usually a less smooth recitation, as they sometimes pause to think which verse comes next.
As you recite the psalm each day, the children who read will gradually quit following in their Bibles, or you may need to suggest that they look up from their Bible pages when they can. Occasionally you might check that a child correctly pronounces a word like righteousness. Answer questions the children have about meaning, but it is not necessary to study the psalm while memorizing it. Some books for Sunday school teachers say, “Be sure the children understand the verse before they memorize it.” This is useless advice. When do any of us fully understand a Scripture? Children can just as well memorize first and learn the meaning more fully as they grow older.
Continue reciting daily until you have not just learned a passage, but overlearned it. Then review on a diminishing schedule. For instance, for one or two months recite the passage once a week (instead of the new passage you are starting to learn). Then review once a month. Eventually, once a year will be sufficient. There is no specific rule about this schedule. The length of a passage, the amount of overlearning, and other variables all affect this, so adjust as you see a need for more review or less. The principle of a diminishing need for review will continue to apply.
If your family learns three or four passages a year—or even just two—these add up to considerable Scripture for your children to carry in their hearts wherever life may take them—to legislative halls or to enemy prison camps, to their future families or to fellow workers. After some passages of six or fewer verses, your family may feel brave enough to tackle a longer passage, perhaps a full chapter.
Bible Passages for Memorizing
Make your own selections or choose some from this list. You can shorten most of these or, in some cases, extend to make a longer portion. (My son Allen, who learned all these as a child and many whole books as a teen, says Psalm 34 is his favorite. At age 8 he recited Isaiah 53 with its big words, and said, “I like the words of the Bible; they sound so good.”)
Psalms 1, 8, 19, 23, 24, 34, 100
Exodus 20:1-17, Ten Commandments
Joshua 1:7-9, meditate on the book
Proverbs 8:22-31, wisdom speaks (Christ himself)
Proverbs 15:1-6, soft answer
Isaiah 53:1-6 (or the whole chapter), Man of sorrows
Matthew 5:3-12, Beatitudes
Matthew 5:19-24, treasures in Heaven
Luke 2:1-7 (or to 16 or 20), Christmas story
John 1:1-14, the Word became flesh
John 3:14-18, God so loved the world
John 14:1-4 (or to 14), mansions in the Father’s house
Romans 1:14-15 (or to 20 or farther), not ashamed of the Gospel
I Corinthians 13, love
Ephesians 2:8-10, saved by grace
Philippians 4:4-8, rejoice
James 1:22-25, doers of the Word
Created To Worship-Ted Tripp
Created to Worship
by Tedd and Margy Tripp
Human beings are worshipers. It follows then, that children are worshipers. We can almost hear someone say, “Not my children, Tedd and Margy, they fall asleep in church every week.”
But nonetheless, your children are worshipers. They have been created in the image of God. The world in which they live is designed to display the glory of God, and children—indeed, all human beings—are uniquely designed for worship. Like explorers driven to find distant shores, your sons and daughters go off every day in search of excitement, seeking an answer to the question, “Who or what is worth worshiping?”
The fact that human beings are hard-wired for worship is a unique aspect of our creation. It is the reason we love to hear a symphony or watch a juggler or marvel at an athletic feat. We love to be dazzled. It is the reason we watch sports on TV. Do you know that Antarctic penguins hold no diving competitions? They perform marvelous feats without color commentary or slow-motion replays. A brown bear grabs a salmon from the Columbia River, by any account an amazing feat of timing and coordination, and yet none of his fellow bears line the shore to applaud. Human beings do this sort of thing because human beings are uniquely designed for worship. Your kids love to be entranced by something amazing because they are instinctively worshippers.
Now, what happens when children who are designed for worship fail to worship the God in whose image they have been made? These children do not cease to be worshippers; they simply worship and serve something else. The apostle Paul speaks to this in Romans 1:25: “[ They] exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (NKJV).
This is what your children do; it is what all humanity does. If your children do not worship and serve God, they substitute something for God, worshipping and serving something in the creation instead. They manufacture an idol—a substitute for God.
These idols your children find are not small statues of wood or gold; they are much more subtle. Leaving a Chinese restaurant recently with two young granddaughters, I felt a tug on my coat. “Grandpa,” one asked, pointing to a large statue of Buddha in the corner, “who’s that fat man?” The question provided a wonderful opportunity to speak to the girls about idols.
The human heart creates so many idols:
Pride and performance. Some children will lay all at the altar of performance. They are driven. The joys of performance and the praises that attend excellence stimulate and impel them.
Power and influence. Other children exhibit a lust to control the people in their world. These are the organizers and arrangers. If the game is playing school, they will always be the teachers.
Pleasure and sensuality. You may have a thrill-seeker in your family. This is the child who constantly seeks the rush of exciting, heart-throbbing, and adrenalin-pumping experiences. He finds the joys of ordinary living boring.
Possessions. Some kids crave stuff. They pore through the catalogs that enter your home. They collect stuff; they polish stuff. When they leave the house, they want assurance that no one will touch their stuff while they are gone.
We could add to the list. People are endlessly creative when it comes to finding substitutes for God. Other idols include the fear of man, the desire for approval, the longing for friendship, or simply the consuming desire to be someone or have something that elicits the response “Cool!”
All of this brings me to my point: The most important job you have as a parent is to show the glory of God to your children, who are compulsively worshippers. Your kids are hard-wired for worship, but in their fallen state, they instinctively worship and serve created things rather than God. Psalm 145 talks about this when it says,
I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:1-4, NKJV)
Your job is to be one generation commending the glory and excellence of God to the next generation. (See also Psalm 78:1-7.)
Help your children see that we find our greatest joys in the nearness of God rather than in fulfilling our appetites. “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased” (Psalm 4:6-7, NKJV).
Show your thrill seekers that the lasting joys and pleasures that people crave are found in knowing God. “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, NKJV).
Illustrate for them that the greatest deliverance from adversity is not removal from difficulty (Psalm 27:1-3), but enjoying the beauty of the Lord. “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4, NKJV).
Other Psalms to which you may turn to underscore the joys and delights of being entranced by God are Psalm 36:5-9, 63:1-5, 73:25-26, 81:10-16, and 96:1-6.
Why is this so important?
1. Your kids do not merely exist amidst the facts and circumstances of their lives. They interpret everything that happens around them, and their interpretation determines how they respond. The key to correctly interpreting life is the being and glories of the God for whom they are made. If they are worshiping and serving idols, they will never accurately interpret the circumstances of life.
2. Since you love your kids and desire their happiness, you will always be tempted to feed their idols. Many parents do just that. They fill their children’s lives with stuff and take delight in their children’s delight in possessions. Yet they cling to the hope that someday their children will see that life is not found in possessions, but in knowing God. Resist the temptation to polish your children’s idols.
3. The Christian life begins with glory. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NKJV). The Christian life continues and grows as we behold God’s glory. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV).
Perhaps the best thing you can do for your children is to go before God, behold His glory, and then move toward them with the encouragement that they have been created for a great and glorious God who longs to bring them abundant life.
Tedd Tripp is the senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Church, Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He and Margy have been married since 1968, and they have three adult children and six grandchildren. Tedd holds a B.A. in History from Geneva College, M.Div. from Philadelphia Theological Seminary, and D.Min. with an emphasis in Pastoral Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of the popular childrearing book Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Shepherd Press, 1995).
by Tedd and Margy Tripp
Human beings are worshipers. It follows then, that children are worshipers. We can almost hear someone say, “Not my children, Tedd and Margy, they fall asleep in church every week.”
But nonetheless, your children are worshipers. They have been created in the image of God. The world in which they live is designed to display the glory of God, and children—indeed, all human beings—are uniquely designed for worship. Like explorers driven to find distant shores, your sons and daughters go off every day in search of excitement, seeking an answer to the question, “Who or what is worth worshiping?”
The fact that human beings are hard-wired for worship is a unique aspect of our creation. It is the reason we love to hear a symphony or watch a juggler or marvel at an athletic feat. We love to be dazzled. It is the reason we watch sports on TV. Do you know that Antarctic penguins hold no diving competitions? They perform marvelous feats without color commentary or slow-motion replays. A brown bear grabs a salmon from the Columbia River, by any account an amazing feat of timing and coordination, and yet none of his fellow bears line the shore to applaud. Human beings do this sort of thing because human beings are uniquely designed for worship. Your kids love to be entranced by something amazing because they are instinctively worshippers.
Now, what happens when children who are designed for worship fail to worship the God in whose image they have been made? These children do not cease to be worshippers; they simply worship and serve something else. The apostle Paul speaks to this in Romans 1:25: “[ They] exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (NKJV).
This is what your children do; it is what all humanity does. If your children do not worship and serve God, they substitute something for God, worshipping and serving something in the creation instead. They manufacture an idol—a substitute for God.
These idols your children find are not small statues of wood or gold; they are much more subtle. Leaving a Chinese restaurant recently with two young granddaughters, I felt a tug on my coat. “Grandpa,” one asked, pointing to a large statue of Buddha in the corner, “who’s that fat man?” The question provided a wonderful opportunity to speak to the girls about idols.
The human heart creates so many idols:
Pride and performance. Some children will lay all at the altar of performance. They are driven. The joys of performance and the praises that attend excellence stimulate and impel them.
Power and influence. Other children exhibit a lust to control the people in their world. These are the organizers and arrangers. If the game is playing school, they will always be the teachers.
Pleasure and sensuality. You may have a thrill-seeker in your family. This is the child who constantly seeks the rush of exciting, heart-throbbing, and adrenalin-pumping experiences. He finds the joys of ordinary living boring.
Possessions. Some kids crave stuff. They pore through the catalogs that enter your home. They collect stuff; they polish stuff. When they leave the house, they want assurance that no one will touch their stuff while they are gone.
We could add to the list. People are endlessly creative when it comes to finding substitutes for God. Other idols include the fear of man, the desire for approval, the longing for friendship, or simply the consuming desire to be someone or have something that elicits the response “Cool!”
All of this brings me to my point: The most important job you have as a parent is to show the glory of God to your children, who are compulsively worshippers. Your kids are hard-wired for worship, but in their fallen state, they instinctively worship and serve created things rather than God. Psalm 145 talks about this when it says,
I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:1-4, NKJV)
Your job is to be one generation commending the glory and excellence of God to the next generation. (See also Psalm 78:1-7.)
Help your children see that we find our greatest joys in the nearness of God rather than in fulfilling our appetites. “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased” (Psalm 4:6-7, NKJV).
Show your thrill seekers that the lasting joys and pleasures that people crave are found in knowing God. “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, NKJV).
Illustrate for them that the greatest deliverance from adversity is not removal from difficulty (Psalm 27:1-3), but enjoying the beauty of the Lord. “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4, NKJV).
Other Psalms to which you may turn to underscore the joys and delights of being entranced by God are Psalm 36:5-9, 63:1-5, 73:25-26, 81:10-16, and 96:1-6.
Why is this so important?
1. Your kids do not merely exist amidst the facts and circumstances of their lives. They interpret everything that happens around them, and their interpretation determines how they respond. The key to correctly interpreting life is the being and glories of the God for whom they are made. If they are worshiping and serving idols, they will never accurately interpret the circumstances of life.
2. Since you love your kids and desire their happiness, you will always be tempted to feed their idols. Many parents do just that. They fill their children’s lives with stuff and take delight in their children’s delight in possessions. Yet they cling to the hope that someday their children will see that life is not found in possessions, but in knowing God. Resist the temptation to polish your children’s idols.
3. The Christian life begins with glory. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NKJV). The Christian life continues and grows as we behold God’s glory. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV).
Perhaps the best thing you can do for your children is to go before God, behold His glory, and then move toward them with the encouragement that they have been created for a great and glorious God who longs to bring them abundant life.
Tedd Tripp is the senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Church, Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He and Margy have been married since 1968, and they have three adult children and six grandchildren. Tedd holds a B.A. in History from Geneva College, M.Div. from Philadelphia Theological Seminary, and D.Min. with an emphasis in Pastoral Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of the popular childrearing book Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Shepherd Press, 1995).
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Kiara and Kayla's Jazz and Hip Hop Routines
In this first video, the girls are dancing to the Finding Nemo's Wipe Out song. Kiara is pretty much leading the whole crowd! We were cracking up! At the end Kayla is on the left trying very hard to keep her leg up!
Here's the last routine the girlies did, to a KJ-52 song called, Coke, Fry and A Cheeseburger. Scroll a little bit forward, like a minute as first it's KJ trying to order and coke, fry and a cheeseburger. The girls were on the right side..you can tell it's them because they have the same hair...imagine that....at the end they are both posing, Kayla stands up, Kiara knelt down. Oh and both the girls during the free styling part did the "worm" and Kiara did a stall! Very cool!
Here's the last routine the girlies did, to a KJ-52 song called, Coke, Fry and A Cheeseburger. Scroll a little bit forward, like a minute as first it's KJ trying to order and coke, fry and a cheeseburger. The girls were on the right side..you can tell it's them because they have the same hair...imagine that....at the end they are both posing, Kayla stands up, Kiara knelt down. Oh and both the girls during the free styling part did the "worm" and Kiara did a stall! Very cool!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Last Years Dance Recital
Last year we were all involved with the Christian dance studio in our area, Eternity Dance Center. Donna did a number to a very powerful sermon mix, the twins were in hip/hop and jazz together and Kayla did a clogging routine and Jonathan danced his very first hip-hop routine. He was a beginner and did so well!
In Kayla's clogging, she is the one on the very right..smallest one on the end, curly short hair. She was simply adorable!!
Jonathan is the boy with the black and white hat on in the front. He surprised up with the "rubber band" dance movement when they go off to the side, he kinda does this back flip thingie!
Then of course, Donna is the one with the really long dark hair preaching at everyone..haha...enjoy! Donna is also the scary masked person on the left. Jeff said I looked funny speaking with a mans voice..oh well! lol...
Here's Kayla's Clogging
Jonathan's Hip Hop
Here's Donna's Sermon performing arts number..scroll to about 2:46 secs as Crystal played a sermon first before our routine started...
Donna's Silly Clogging routine! Dancing..err..clogging to the 80's with Apologetix parody songs! All lyrics are Christian lyrics to these old songs, so please don't pass out!
In Kayla's clogging, she is the one on the very right..smallest one on the end, curly short hair. She was simply adorable!!
Jonathan is the boy with the black and white hat on in the front. He surprised up with the "rubber band" dance movement when they go off to the side, he kinda does this back flip thingie!
Then of course, Donna is the one with the really long dark hair preaching at everyone..haha...enjoy! Donna is also the scary masked person on the left. Jeff said I looked funny speaking with a mans voice..oh well! lol...
Here's Kayla's Clogging
Jonathan's Hip Hop
Here's Donna's Sermon performing arts number..scroll to about 2:46 secs as Crystal played a sermon first before our routine started...
Donna's Silly Clogging routine! Dancing..err..clogging to the 80's with Apologetix parody songs! All lyrics are Christian lyrics to these old songs, so please don't pass out!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Quote of the Month
(James Wells, 1839)
"They will say of Me--In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength." Isaiah 45:24
Those who are taught of God feel that they are but dust and ashes, that they are vile, carnal, sold under sin, helpless, and have no might of their own.
Where this experience is--the great truths of the Gospel become interwoven in their
souls, mingled with their minds, and so entwined about their hearts--that they are carried away in their affections . . .
from earthly things--to heavenly things;
from sin--to salvation;
from this world--to that which is to come.
Their hope is in heaven, they have no confidence in the flesh--but in the Lord alone, they have righteousness and strength, life and light, joy and gladness, glory and honor. Unto these things they look; for these things they seek; upon these things
they live; of these things they boast; and by these things they defy death, hell and the grave! They thus put on Christ, walk in Him, commune with Him--and rest ALL their hopes upon HIS holy life, and sin-atoning death.
His life is our justification.
His death is . . .
our redemption,
our pardon,
our sanctification,
our victory, and
our peace with God.
"You are complete in Him." Colossians 2:10
"They will say of Me--In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength." Isaiah 45:24
Those who are taught of God feel that they are but dust and ashes, that they are vile, carnal, sold under sin, helpless, and have no might of their own.
Where this experience is--the great truths of the Gospel become interwoven in their
souls, mingled with their minds, and so entwined about their hearts--that they are carried away in their affections . . .
from earthly things--to heavenly things;
from sin--to salvation;
from this world--to that which is to come.
Their hope is in heaven, they have no confidence in the flesh--but in the Lord alone, they have righteousness and strength, life and light, joy and gladness, glory and honor. Unto these things they look; for these things they seek; upon these things
they live; of these things they boast; and by these things they defy death, hell and the grave! They thus put on Christ, walk in Him, commune with Him--and rest ALL their hopes upon HIS holy life, and sin-atoning death.
His life is our justification.
His death is . . .
our redemption,
our pardon,
our sanctification,
our victory, and
our peace with God.
"You are complete in Him." Colossians 2:10
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sing The Word!
Our family recently purchases 2 cd's from Sing The Word. I HIGHLY recommend them! Read below, visit the website and grab your cd's today!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What makes SING THE WORD valuable to you?
Proverbs 27:2 tells us: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth". In light of this counsel, please read what a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra has to say about Sing The Word®:
Roger Nye, bassoon
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Visit their website!
Sing The Word!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What makes SING THE WORD valuable to you?
Proverbs 27:2 tells us: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth". In light of this counsel, please read what a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra has to say about Sing The Word®:
"The Heavens Declare", from the very musical Harrow family has very quickly become one of my favorite CD's from any genre. And I have to say that being a member of the NY Philharmonic, I am very particular about what I listen to when I am not performing myself. The musical and production quality alone should place this CD at the top of Billboard's charts and were it not for the fact that it is devised for a very different purpose and audience, I believe it would be. And though I could recommend this CD for purely musical reasons alone, the most compelling quality is how fully God's anointing permeates it. I have found it to be a real help in not only retaining the scripture verses used in the songs, but also as a faith builder and strengthener in times of trial. I also love the fact that I can sing the songs with my three year old and can actually look forward to extended car travels with the CD in the car! I greatly look forward to future musical and spiritual endeavors from the Harrow family. I really can't stress enough how much we all have enjoyed this CD and the others that you have made."
Roger Nye, bassoon
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Visit their website!
Sing The Word!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Joshua is 17 today!!
It's amazing how time flies..to think 17 years ago today I held this precious little baby in my arms. And now, he shaves and has acne! What happened!
Some news about Joshua's 16th year:
*Graduated 10th grade with CLASS
*He started 11th grade with CLASS
*He played softball for our church softball team
*He started his very fist job at Funtown/Splashtown as a ride operator
*He took Drivers Ed and got his permit. We're still working on the 35 hours driving so he can take his final exam.
*He came with me to Okinawa, Japan for 3 weeks on a missions trip.
His favorite things:
Paintball and paintball and did I mention paintball?
He loves his Geneva Bible.
So there's just a few highlights...I am very proud of my boy. He is growing into a spiritually strong young man. He loves talking theology with anybody who will talk. He is talkative!
Here's my boy....Happy Birthday Josh. I love you so much! I am so proud of the young man you are becoming.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
He who truly believes in Christ-J.C. Ryle
He who truly believes in Christ
(J. C. Ryle, "Do You Believe?")
There is a dead faith as well as a living one. There is a faith of devils as well as a faith of God's elect. There is a faith which is vain and useless, as well as a faith which justifies and saves. How shall a man know whether he has true saving faith? The thing may be found out! The Ethiopian may be known by the color of his skin; and the leopard may be known by his spots. True faith may always be known by certain marks. These marks are laid down unmistakably in Scripture. Reader, let me endeavor to set these marks plainly before you. Look at them carefully—and test your own soul by what I am going to say.
He who truly believes in Christ—has a NEW HEART. It is written, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature—old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17.) A believer has no longer the same nature with which he was born. He is changed, renewed, and transformed after the image of his Lord and Savior. He who minds first, the things of the flesh—has no saving faith. True faith, and spiritual regeneration, are inseparable companions. An unconverted person—is not a genuine believer!
He who truly believes in Christ—is a HOLY person in heart and life. It is written that God "purifies the heart by faith," and that Christians are "sanctified by faith." "Whoever has this hope in him, purifies himself." (Acts 15:9; 26:18; 1 John 3:3.). A believer loves what God loves—and hates what God hates. His heart's desire is to walk in the way of God's commandments, and to abstain from all manner of evil. His wish is to follow after the things which are just, and pure, and honest, and lovely—and to cleanse himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. He falls far short of his aim, in many things. He finds his daily life, a constant fight with indwelling corruption. But he fights on—and resolutely refuses to serve sin. Where there is no holiness, we may be sure there is no saving faith! An unholy man is not a genuine believer!
He who truly believes in Christ—works godly WORKS. It is written, that "faith works by love" (Gal. 5:6). True belief will never make a man idle, or allow him to sit still, contented with his own religion. It will stir him to do acts of love, kindness, and charity, according as he sees opportunity. It will constrain him to walk in the steps of his Master, who "went about doing good." In one way or another, it will make him work. The works that he does may attract no notice from the world. They may seem trifling and insignificant to many people. But they are not forgotten by Him who notices a cup of cold water given for His sake. Where there is no working love—there is no faith. A lazy, selfish professing Christian—has no right to regard himself as a genuine believer!
He who truly believes in Christ—overcomes the WORLD. It is written, that "whoever is born of God, overcomes the world—and this is the victory which overcomes the world—even our faith" (1 John 5:4). A true believer is not ruled by the world's standard of right or wrong, of truth or error. He is independent of the world's opinion. He cares little for the world's praise. He is not moved by the world's censure. He does not seek for the world's pleasures. He is not ambitious of the world's rewards. He looks at things unseen—he sees an invisible Savior, a coming judgment, and a crown of glory which never fades away. The sight of these objects, makes him think comparatively little of this present world. Where the world reigns in the heart—there is no genuine faith. A man who is habitually conformed to the world—is not a genuine believer!
He who truly believes in Christ—has the witness of the Holy Spirit. He has hopes, joys, fears, sorrows, consolations, expectations, of which he knew nothing before he believed. He has internal evidences which the world cannot understand. Where there are no inward pious feelings—there is no faith. A man who knows nothing of an inward, spiritual, experimental religion—is not a genuine believer!
He who truly believes in Christ—has a special regard to the person of CHRIST Himself. It is written, "Unto you who believe—Christ is precious" (1 Peter 2:7). That text deserves especial notice. It does not say "Christianity" is precious, or the "Gospel" is precious, or "salvation" is precious—but Christ Himself! A true believer's religion, does not consist in mere intellectual assent to a certain set of propositions and doctrines. It is not a mere cold belief of a certain set of truths and facts concerning Christ. It consists in union, communion, and fellowship with an actual living Person, even Jesus the Son of God. It is a life of . . .
faith in Jesus,
confidence in Jesus,
leaning on Jesus,
drawing out of the fullness of Jesus,
speaking to Jesus,
working for Jesus,
loving Jesus, and
looking for Jesus to come again.
Such life may sound like enthusiasm to many. But where there is true faith, Christ will always be known and realized, as an actual living personal Friend! He who knows nothing of Christ as his own Priest, Physician, Redeemer, Advocate, Friend, Teacher, and Shepherd—knows nothing yet of genuine believing!
Where these marks of which I have been speaking, are utterly lacking, I dare not tell a man that he is a true believer. He may be called a Christian, and attend a Christian church. But if he knows nothing of these marks—I dare not pronounce him a believer. He is yet dead in trespasses and sins. Except he awakes to newness of life, he will perish everlastingly.
Show me a man who has these marks—and I feel a strong confidence about the state of his soul. He may be poor and needy in this world—but he is rich in the sight of God. He may be despised and sneered at by man—but he is honorable in the sight of the King of kings. He is traveling towards heaven! He has a mansion ready for him in the Father's house. He is cared for by Christ, while on earth. He will be owned by Christ before assembled worlds, in the life which is to come!
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