Who are you?

1 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’  Deut. 9:1-2

‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’

            As I read the news tonight it seems that all I see in politics is corruption, deceit and lies.  In the world of public opinion, all I can seem to read about are “reality TV shows” that are so far from reality they seem like something from a bad dream.  I heard a secular commentator say the other day that “The institution of marriage is ruined, not by homosexuality, but by pop culture.”  Celebrities who we invite into our home through our T.V.’s are married and divorced on a weekly basis, pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry, affairs are rampant and Christians when surveyed are no different than the rest of the world. 

“Who can stand up to the Anakites?” 

Who can overcome these monstrous issues of our time, who can fight them? Who can defeat them? Who… Who are you?  I have a note in my phone that I see regularly, it says: “Were you Luke? God will ask you this.”  I have not been created to be anybody but me, I have not been created to be Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon, I was created to be me.  God created me for a purpose. In philosophy we say that when something is and it does not have to be it is for a purpose.  I did not have to exist, but I do.  I have purpose.  My ultimate purpose is to Glorify God, whether I eat or drink all should be to glorify God.  I can do this by serving him, by presenting my body as a living sacrifice to him.  Though it may seem that I loose in doing so, to die to sin and become alive in him is Gain.  God will not ask me why I wasn’t as good as _______. He will ask me if I was who he created me to be. Were you Luke? 

So many people in this world are searching for who they are, they look to pop culture and style, they dress a certain way and walk a certain way to fit the mold they have created, but it is all foolishness, it will never fill.  I’ve tried it, I’ve ran one way when my purpose was another, I failed.  Now, though I may become distracted at times, I am going in the right direction, and as I draw closer to God he shows me more and more who I really am.  Sometimes I don’t like what I see, but when I see frailty and weakness in myself I can see the limitless grace, and love that is Him. 

I am a wretch deserving of punishment, He is my savior.

I am imperfect, He is the spotless Lamb.

I fail, He succeeds.

I am a sinner, He is my savior.

As long as I look for my identity within myself I will never find it, I will never be satisfied.  It is only by looking at our creator that we can see, what we, His creation was meant to be.  He has given me life. He has taken the punishment that I deserved. So who am I, I am His. 

“Who can defeat the Anakites?”

You can Christian! but do not look to destroy the giants in society, first you must look inside yourself.  First you must defeat all selfishness and pride that lies within you.  He that loses his life shall find it.  You must let go of the feeling of entitlement, you must understand that you are not your own, you have been bought with a price.  Your children, and you, can have a better future, but it will have to start with you.  Total surrender to Christ is the only real solution, all else is smoke and mirrors.  It begins in your heart, but it must consume all.  Your relationships, your work, everything.  Put Christ first in your marriage, put Christ first in your relationship with your children, forget about what you think you deserve, grow up and open your eyes, the time is now. Decide today to follow God, trust Christ, and discover your purpose.

The Answer For 2012

     It seems I always get this urge to write late at night.  Here it is 12:41 and I should be cuddled up to a hottie (my wife, just to clarify) and I am writing, very frustrating.  Last time I wrote I was somewhat of a downer, “they’re all liberal progressives run!” that kind of thing.  I thought I would change it up a bit tonight.

     It is so easy to get discouraged when we see everything going on in the world around us, so tonight I want to encourage.  What is a Christian to do?  How can we make a difference?  It really isn’t as hard as we make it out to be, we have the answer in one sentence.  Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you”.  What things?  In the preceding verses Jesus has just told the Disciples, “you are wasting your time worrying” (paraphrase) instead “seek God and his righteousness”.  He promises that if we will seek him he will take care of the rest.

     So, what would happen if every Christian said, “OK God whatever you say that is what I will do.”  It is a scary thought, but liberating at the same time.  When God is in control you do not have to worry about clothes and groceries and such, in fact Christ tells us not to.  I challenge you to tell God that you are his slave and you will do whatever he tells you to do and then just do it, no conditions or qualifiers, just be willing to do or go, whatever or wherever.   I promise you will be amazed at what he does.  You may even end up in Lynchburg Virginia.: )   

  

Do not worry, let God be your master and let him have control, he can handle it, I promise. He Promises!  The question is do you trust him?

Goodnight, Jessica here I come!!!
Luke

Conservative or Not Conservative

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 and his subsequent radical agenda was one of the best things that could have happened to our country.  It awoke the conscience of the people, and it showed what can happen when the people become apathetic.  I have never heard so much talk about politics, and granted, I have probably not been as interested in the past as I am now, but the TEA party is an example of the new resolve that has swept the nation.  The last four years have gotten us to think about what we want for ourselves, our futures and our families.  Do we want lives that are more regulated, with government hand-outs, or do we want more freedom and less regulation to do with our lives as we see fit.  This has become the dividing line of our nation, and 2012 is the time to make the choice which way we will go.  The problem is the choice is not as clear in real life as it is on paper.  There are those on the right and the left who want power and station for themselves, they do not care about Liberty or the Constitution, it is a matter of how do I get elected and get as much power as possible.  There are those, Republicans and Democrats who believe that Government is the answer to the problems, that more regulation and more government programs can fix the ills of society.  President Obama and his healthcare plan are a perfect example of this kind of thinking.  The fact is most government programs cost way more than they produce and do not accomplish anything except to get in the way of ordinary people who are just trying to live their lives and be left alone.

                So what is the answer?  Well we are all involved and awake, it’s an election year, what are my choices?  Oh… ewww…ouch…eek… are just some of the expressions that come to mind when we see our alternatives to the current administration, but we have to face facts no matter how much we dislike the choices almost anything would be better than what we have now.  Anything, that is except for possibly a fraud.  President Obama never made it a secret who he was before the election in 2008 and he was elected, O.K.  But in our field of choices we have a candidate who says that he is a Reagan conservative, the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney yup you guessed it, Newt.  Is Newt giving us the whole story?  I don’t think so and I want to lay out why I think that is.  Newt may be your guy and if he is OK, but I ask you to hear me out, if you still feel the same after reading this article by all means stick to your principles, but at least know what those principles are and whether or not Newt is with you.

                Newt talks like a conservative in these debates and gives these wonderful sounding monologues about how he is the small government guy the Ronald Reagan conservative, but he seems to forget who his favorite president of the 20^th century is, Reagan? Nope, FDR he said: “...the greatest Democratic President of the 20th century and in my judgment the greatest President of the 20th century was FDR"[1] Not just once but multiple times.  The president that gave us the New Deal and began our modern entitlement society, the Great depression was only called the Great depression in America because of FDR’s policies.  So Newt the conservative likes FDR, who let’s just say was not conservative.

                Newt can also be heard saying that he is a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, what does that mean?  Well TR was the founder of the Progressive party whose aim it was to make sure that the federal government remained stronger than the free market. Hmmm. So, conservative Gingrich aligns with a guy who wanted to increase the power of government, in order to control markets. OK.[2]

                What about the example cited earlier of Mr. Obama’s healthcare plan, surely Gingrich would be against that.  Well, he says it should be repealed but he also says that every American should be required to buy health insurance… So Ronald Reagan conservative Newt believes FDR is the greatest president of the 20^th century, calls himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, which means progressive, and supports an individual mandate.  The truth is Newt is a big government guy, he is no better than Romney and may be worse, Romney has his healthcare thing in Massachusetts working against him but on the state level there is nothing wrong with what he did, and I know there are plenty of other things to fuss about Romney, but at the same time I do not believe he is prancing around claiming to be something he is not, he is a moderate, and I think he would admit that.  Gingrich on the other hand holds to a national individual mandate, believes government can lead through regulation,  and still claims to be conservative.  It just doesn’t add up.

                The problem arises when we elect someone who says they are conservative and they really aren’t.  Their policies do not work and then it looks like conservatism does not work and then liberals are back in power.  We need to be awake, the right and the left are infected.  If we do elect another progressive republican, and make no mistake I will vote for Newt before I send Barack back, we must be very tenacious in our calls for their accountability.  Mitt and Newt say they are for small government, they better be careful, the public is watching and it will not be as easy to back pedal now.  The people are awake, and unless you want to be the next one term president you better stick to what you say.  We must stay involved and stay informed if we are going to change the course of this country, we must hold our politicians and each other accountable.  We have to do the research.  Search Newt Gingrich on the internet and find his views on the individual mandate, climate change, and wilsonian foreign policy.  Learn who Theodore Roosevelt was and what he stood for, then do the same for every other candidate, just do not make the mistake of believing that Newt is conservative, he is not.

  http://nation.foxnews.com/newt-gingrich/2011/12/13/newt-fdr-greatest-president-20th-century

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThwVp0cwOMA

I am not saying any of the other candidates are better I just want you to dig as deep as possible to find out what they actually believe.

Luke

---

[1] http://nation.foxnews.com/newt-gingrich/2011/12/13/newt-fdr-greatest-president-20th-century

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnTcWRfLTY8

Random, but Inspired

     I was sitting in History class today thumbing through the notebook I had with me, you would think it would be one designated for history… Nah, not that organized. Anyway, I came across a note I had written, I’m not sure when but I remember writing it, it said: “sin whispers to the heart of the evil man, Choose Barabbas.” I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Occupy Wall Street movement and the general direction America seems to be heading in. When Jessica and I came to Lynchburg we had a burden on our heart for our country, and we still do, but one of the things we have noticed is how inwardly focused everyone seems to be. Now that comes as no surprise, but the depth of the problem really is surprising. When you think back to the founding of our country and the principles we stood for then, it’s hard not to wonder, what happened? How did Harvard go from a Puritan Christian School to one of the most liberal institutions in our country? How did we go from mandatory church attendance for the army under General Washington to church services in the capitol building under President Thomas Jefferson, to now the courts say that Forsyth County cannot even have prayers to Jesus before their commissioners meetings? How did we get here? The Church is great at pointing to the world and letting them know how bad they are, but not so great at looking introspectively to see our own faults. The Church is failing, and if the pattern continues, in a few years it will be irrelevant. We have people in America in the streets calling for an overthrow of our government, and the destruction of the Jewish people, we dropped the ball somewhere. The good news is we can pick it back up. It starts with you, the note I had written, “Sin whispers to the evil man, choose Barabbas” comes from two passages of scripture Psalm 36 and Matthew 27:20.


Psalm 36 says: “1 Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. 2 In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.” (NLT)

Matthew 27:20 “Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.”

I can just see the priest slithering through the crowd whispering to the people “Choose Barabbas, Kill Jesus, Choose Barabbas, Kill Jesus…” Satan whispers the same thing to you today,” choose Barabbas, Kill Jesus,” Which will you choose? Whenever we choose to do that which is contrary to Jesus’ will for our life, we are choosing Barabbas, we are choosing our desires over Christ and telling him to take a backseat while we flirt with the devil for a little while. Oh Christians be careful, it is time for us to be a “respectable army” once more. One who lives up to the ideals we preach, just like Washington expected of the men charged under his command, we are held to a higher standard. We have to get it right individually before we can get it right corporately. See the wickedness of sin, take your eyes off of yourself and your neighbor, and fix the on Christ, he is the standard; deny the whispers, and Choose Christ!


Luke

November 1, 2011

May Newsletter

Unrolling....


Winter quickly faded into Spring and the pollen has definitely decided to take up residence everywhere! It seemed as though one day we had snow, the next I wake up and there are buds on the trees and flowers “springing” up from the ground. Then there was this mysterious yellow sheen on everything… Take a deep breath and the fragrance teases my senses, while the allergens infiltrate my nostrils and lead to numerous body jolts followed by a headache– yes, Spring has Sprung and the my allergies have made me aware that they are still with me after the long winter.
I must admit, I love this time of year. After the gray, cold, dreary, dead season of winter, seeing everything come back to life is amazing. This year I have the treat to see what all springs from my flower beds. I must admit I have been pleased and impressed!
I love walking out on days that I am full of allergy medicine and looking at God’s glorious design. (The days without medicine are still splendid behind a glass partition.) It is astonishing to see the beauty of His creation. Each bud that unrolls adds to the splendor of His Majesty– I cannot even begin to imagine how glorious it will all be in a world without sin.
I challenge each of you to take a moment of time to go barefoot (watch out for the bees), take a picnic (even if it is under the tree in your front yard). Take 5 minutes each day to stand in awe of God’s creation. I feel that our society is so fast paced and tech-savvy that many of us forget to stop and take in the beauty of God’s creation.

Three to tassel!!

This semester has gone by in lightening fast speed– I am just now getting to know Luke’s schedule for it to change again.
This time next year, I will be coming to you with exciting news as Luke will be graduating from Liberty University with his Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and Philosophy. We are diligently seeking God’s guidance for the next step in our journey. We have a few ideas where we are feeling led– one is to Law School. Indeed that is another 3 years of tireless nights, coffee brewing at midnight, toothpicks holding up the eyelids– but it is a much anticipated step in this journey. Luke is currently prepping for his LSAT and will be taking it on June 6.
To graduate on time, Luke will be taking several courses this summer to keep on track along with full course loads for the fall and spring.
I will admit that I have my moments of despising the textbook and laptop. I do find myself to be envious of them at times– all of the time they get to spend with my hubby… argghh! But I am trying to keep everything in perspective and look forward to the day that he turns his tassel! My face already hurts from all of the smiling that I will be doing.

Christmas Time is Almost Here!!!

The stores are packed, lines are long, kids are excited, traffic is almost unbearable and the milk is all gone– Slowly, softly and silently that first, white, fluffy flake falls to the ground. Then it sets in– Christmas is truly almost hear! Then anxiety sets in and fear strikes your heart as you realize you don’t have enough time or money left to get everything done. **Enter Satan** He wants to do everything he can to deter you from the real meaning of the season. Our sin takes over– we are blinded, agitated and annoyed because we are going to the store and fighting crowds to buy the turkey for the annual, family dinner that you are dreading because of the “one” family member that ____. (You fill in the blank) This year, we challenge you to approach the season in prayer as to how God would like you to celebrate the birth of our Savior– Jesus Christ.
Have a Blessed Christmas!

Our house in our first real snow...

Chapters and Faithfulness…

two things that have always been in my writings. I have always looked forward to seeing God’s plan for Luke and me since we have been together. With each new plan, I look at it as a new chapter in our life together. We have had several chapters since our marriage almost three years ago and in the four years that we have been together.

Never once will I say the road has been straight and nothing but pleasantries, however I will say that we have been very blessed in our journey.

Faith… –noun

1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in god or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theology . the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved. (source- dictionary.com)

Yep… something like that. Faith has been what Luke and I have been living through, taking steps and praying through them that God would show the next one to us. Through God’s faithfulness and promises, he has shown those next steps to us.
We are quickly approaching our one year anniversary of moving to Lynchburg and taking one of the largest steps of faith- thus far- in our relationship together. While there were nights of thinking: “What am I doing here? Where are we going? What do You have planned for us? Is this really the right decision? Are You walking with me through this Lord?” Those questions were answered through silence, through prayer, through other people we came into contact with. God is faithful in his commitment that he will always be there beside us.

I reflect on the nights that I called Larry crying with the door shut while Luke was studying in the other room. The comfort that surrounded me when speaking to him is indescribable. To the times of speaking to Denise and her giving her counsel to me while trying to find work and knowing that she knows God’s faithfulness. Then to the times of hanging out with Ben on the internet and lifting my sprits when they were down- sometimes just knowing that he was there to listen was more than I ever could have asked for. Going to the mailbox was and still is a time of excitement for the both of us, receiving cards and words of encouragement- they always seemed and still seem to come on the days of great trial. The entire experience of relocating has been filled with almost every emotion that I can feel.

Having the ability to see everything unfold and knowing that there is more to come, has helped build my faith and trust to great lengths. It has strengthened our marriage more than I ever thought it could have.

So a quick recap of the last year… we moved to Lynchburg to attend Liberty University- the place that I am now employed. Luke has accomplished 2.5 semesters, Moot Court and is ready to do more! I am starting back to school this fall. We have been searching for a house and after a long two months after putting a contract in on a house, doors have been opened and the contract was approved! We have started going through the mortgage process, started packing again and plan to be in our new place in August!

What a year- a great way to sum all of the above up. Thank you for joining Luke and me on our journey together and for all of your support during this time. We look forward to seeing what God has planned for us and we hope that you will remain in prayer with us during this time.

Here is to a new chapter… (pictures of the house to follow)