The Lovieness of Christ

"I am in as sweet communion with Christ as a poor sinner can be; and am only pained that He hath much beauty and fairness, and I little love; He great power and mercy, and I little faith; He much light, and I bleared eyes."

Samuel Rutherford                

2007 California trip 3

You can take the Texan out of Texas...

But you can't take the Texas out of the Texan!

Calvin blows the candles out on his cake at Grandpa and Grammie's house on his 20th birthday.


Older...but not much wiser! (at least where fire is concerned) For those of you that don't already know, Calvin is a helpless pyromaniac! In his twenty years he has achieved the record of catching the most things on fire out of all the rest of our family...combined! (Excluding only Daddy perhaps.) P.S And yes, Calvin's list of things caught on fire includes himself!

Grinning from ear to ear over "The Game" as it is called.

Daddy giving his cute cheesy smirk! :)



Merry Christmas!

Grammie's pretty tree

The motley Texan crew coming down the stairs... and yes, in our pajamas! (I just realized that is slightly embarrassing to be posting on the world wide web! (Blush) Check out that knife Calvin is baring to fight off any present thieves! (He really uses it to open his presents) And by the way that isn't Robert crowning Jo with the bunny ears, that is daddy hiding around the corner.

Grammie fufilling her traditional role as Keeper of the Camera.

Jo and Becca opening presents.

Calvin and Robert opening their stockings.

Grampa Whitey opening his GPS. "For a man that has everything but a sense of direction.", said Daddy

Grammie and Mom

This is Johanna opening her knife. Calvin and Robert gave one to each of their sisters.

Calvin and Robert putting their stamp of approval on their sister's weapons.

The running joke was "This puts a whole new meaning to Bow/Beau hunting." and "All unworthy would be beaus beware!" (I know we're really warped)

Our techno Grinch.

Balancing Boowie knife Becca, balancing on the Bongo board!

We recieved this picture from our oldest sister Jennifer back home on Christmas morning. Here she is adorably four months pregnant and proudly displaying what she called "the Guppy Bowl"

Merry Christmas!

The Loveliness of Christ

"I am in this house of my pilgrimage every way in good case; Christ is most kind and loving to my soul: it pleaseth Him to feast with his unseen consolations a stranger, and an exiled prisoner: and I would not exchange my Lord Jesus , with all the comfort out of heaven; His yoke is easy, and His burden light. This is His truth I now suffer for; for he hath sealed it with His blessed presence."

Samuel Rutherford

Politics

Women Civil Magistrates?

Is it lawful to elect women civil magistrates? When the other options left to us are so bleak, it becomes a great temptation to say, "Yes!".  John McCain's nomination of Sarah Palin for Vice President has refanned this controversy in the church into a blaze. The old question is asked, "What about Deborah?". Without a doubt Sarah Palin's faith in Jesus Christ and her strong stand against the abomination of abortion makes her seem refreshing in comparison to almost every other option that has been given us in this election.  But is it really lawful by God's holy and inerrant standard to elect a woman civil magistrate? This past Sunday, due to our Minister, John Otis, being in England for a debate, our church listened to a sermon on this very subject by Pastor Joe Morecraft for the evening service.  It was a truly good sermon on this topic and I believe it was a great blessing and help to all of us to better understand this issue. I can most definitely  say it was a great help to me personally and my family, and I would urge any of you who can possibly make the time to please listen to it as well! Below I have posted the link where you can download it from sermonaudio.com.  I pray God will bless you through it! 

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=914081731428

Psalm 119:34-35

"Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law,

And keep it with all my heart.

Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, 

For I delight in them."

Below I have also attached a letter written by Becky Morecraft to Sarah Palin.

September 3, 2008

Dear Sarah,

This letter is not written with the intention to demean or insult you on any level. Rather, I have a deep appreciation for you in many ways. We have many things in common—I am a Christian wife and mother of five children (one in Heaven, lost to miscarriage) and the grandmother of seven, so far—that makes me a few years older than you! I attended public schools where my mother, aunt and grandfather taught and graduated from a liberal arts college with a B.A. in English. My family has always taken strong public stands, especially when serious issues are at stake, even as you do. When my husband ran for U.S. Congress during President Reagan’s second bid for office, my children and I threw ourselves into the battle with all our time and energy. We have since supported several political candidates and are ready to do whatever we can to bring our nation back to its constitutional roots. We have taken a strong pro-life stand and given many women with unwanted pregnancies food and shelter in our own home. Oh, and I was a soccer mom and still am with my grandchildren!

But the primary basis for this letter is not simply common interests and commitments. From what I have learned of your faith, I believe that we are sisters in Christ and, therefore, both subject to His ‘rule of law’ from Scripture. It would appear that we share the belief that, ...“in Christ Himself are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” – Col. 2:2b,3. I assume the following statement of faith, taken from the Wasilla Bible Church website where I understand you often attend, summarizes your personal faith:

The Centrality of Christ

By God’s grace everything in the life of this church will revolve around the reality of Jesus Christ – who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. In the words of the early Church “He is Lord” and will be recognized as such in this church with an absolute allegiance that lifts Him above all others in our hearts, in our homes, and in our congregation. It is His commands that we will obey, His warnings that we will heed, and His promises that we will hold. In every endeavor we will rely upon His power, cherish His presence, and honor His name. We will, in sum, love Him.  (John 14:6)

Apparently, according to this additional statement copied from the church website, we also share the belief that God’s Word is the only solid base upon which to build our lives:

The Authority of Scripture

In order to experience and enjoy the centrality of Christ in our congregational life, we will submit to the authority of the Scriptures. They will be the foundational source of information and direction guiding our exploration of Christ’s reality. The Bible will be used to determine our doctrine, to shape our practice, and even, when needed to settle our differences with the conviction that it is the very Word of God. In all the confusion of varied opinions and above all the claims of religious authority we will hold to the scriptures as the Truth for both faith and practice. In them God has spoken and to them we will listen.  (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

In accordance with these stated beliefs, I hope you agree that the serious Christian is one who wants to “think God’s thoughts after Him,” to shape every thought, word and deed according to His Word. Is God’s Word silent about the role of the woman and our relationship to men? No, it’s clear in its mandate:

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. -- …he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. -- For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.- I Corinthians 11:3, 7, 8, 9

These verses have life-wide implications. First, it would seem obvious from this passage that in the marriage relationship, the husband is to be the functional head of the home and his wife his glorious ‘help-meet,’ a position so full-orbed for those who realize it that it is unparalleled. Entire books have been penned on this subject—I’m sure you are widely familiar with many of them as a Christian.

My friend, Susan Hunt, an Atlanta-based pastor’s wife, has written her commentary on how this verse and many others apply to the role of women in the church:

… our personal pilgrimages for the last fifteen years have solidified our adherence to the position of male headship in the church. We are increasingly convinced of the theological rightness of this position. …We further contend that rather than being restrained by our exclusion from ordination, women are actually freed from the restraint of positions of authority to be exquisite expressions of the Biblical meaning of a helper-leader. When women insist on role interchangeability within the church, everyone loses. -- Susan Hunt and Peggy Hutcheson, Leadership for Women in the Church, pp. 10, 11.

If these principles apply in the realm of the home and church, surely they apply more broadly in the civil realm. Because you are so gifted, Sarah, your talents are in great demand. What tremendous sacrifices you, your husband and children have made over the past few years as more and bigger opportunities to serve your fellow-man have been set before you, not only in your community and state, but now nationally. I do not hesitate to recognize that you are a remarkably talented woman. But I have some serious questions I hope you will consider.

As a Christian woman, a wife and mother, surely you have wrestled with what has God called you to do. How are you to order your priorities according to Scripture? Are you over-stepping the boundaries His Word has set for you when you hold public office? I believe you are. Will you really be able to devote the time and energy necessary to raise your children as a public office holder? I think they will be cheated by receiving too little time from an exhausted, distracted mother. What sacrifices will your husband be required to make? He should be the head of your home not just a “figure-head”. What message are you sending to the young women of our nation concerning their God-given role? Did an all-wise God ‘forget’ that there are extenuating circumstances where a woman may be needed in leadership? No, He has a perfect standard and we must “trust and obey” believing that He Who has been faithful will never fail His people. He will provide leadership as well as the discipline we deserve when we lack it.

These are difficult questions, especially since it would appear you have already set a course that can’t be altered. But I believe the question in your mind should not be, “What am I capable of doing,” or, “What are the opportunities I have to serve;” rather, I believe only one question is a valid one for you as a Christian woman: “What does God’s Word tell me I should be doing.”

One of my favorite authors was a little-known, brilliant Southern woman of the 19^th century named Augusta Jane Evans. In her great novel, St. Elmo, through her main character, Edna Earle, she battles to save a Christian moral and social order, “taking her stand on the principle that woman can be most influential in society as a woman.” (italics mine) - Richard Weaver, Southern Tradition at Bay, p. 275.

Believing that the intelligent, refined, modest Christian women were the real custodians of national purity, and the sole agents who could arrest the tide of demoralization breaking over the land, she [Edna] addressed herself to the wives, mothers, and daughters of America; calling upon them to smite their false gods, and purify their shrines at which they worshipped. Jealously she contended for every woman’s right which God and nature had decreed her sex. The right to be learned, wise, noble, useful, in woman’s divinely limited sphere. The right to influence and exalt the circle in which she moved. The right to mount the sanctified beam of her own quiet hearth-stone; the right to modify and direct her husband’s opinion, if he considered her worthy and competent to guide him; the right to make her children ornaments to their nation, and a crown of glory to their [people]; the right to advise, to plead, to pray; …the right to be all the phrase ‘noble Christian woman’ means. But not the right … to trail her heaven-born purity through the dust and mire of political strife; to ascend the rosta [sic] of statesmen, whither she may send a worthy husband, son, or brother, but whither she can never go, without disgracing all womanhood.- p. 395

Sarah Palin, God calls you to a higher position than the vice-presidency of the United States. He calls you to be the most influential woman in the world today, perhaps in history, by taking your stand on the Biblical principle of His divine model of womanhood. I implore you to see yourself, not as a candidate for political office, but as a cherished child of Christ, in subjection to His prescribed pattern for life. I earnestly pray that you will make every effort to “arrest the tide of demoralization breaking over our land” as you call upon the mothers and daughters of America to “contend for every woman’s right which God has decreed upon us: the right to be learned, wise, noble, and useful in our divinely limited sphere…the right to be all the phrase ‘noble Christian woman’ means.” [paraphrasing Augusta Jane’s quote above]

I pray that you will demonstrate an even greater humility and strength of character than we have seen thus far by admitting you have taken the wrong path in accepting the nomination for vice president and ask to be released from this commitment. I will persevere in prayer for you and your family. May God richly bless you as you are faithful to Him. I would be happy to talk with you or to correspond in any way that may prove helpful. My contact information is at the bottom of this letter.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” – Col. 2:8