I can only Imagine

I am fairly sure this video will make you look at your day differently ... take the time to watch the whole thing ... it is inspiring for many reasons.

"I can only Imagine"

Big Event in Morgantown - Philip Yancey

I am very excited that on Saturday, October 28th, there will be a world-class author about a mile from my house. Philip Yancey is coming to Twin Valley High School is here for an evening speaking event from 7 to 9 pm. It is a fund raiser for Bridge of Hope, a great organization that helps single moms with education and housing.

Some of the best-sellers he has written are What's So Amazing About Grace?, The Jesus I Never Knew or Rumors of Another World, and his latest book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?. He has also written Where is God when it Hurts? and Disappointment with God

To purchase tickets: email me or call me 610-913-1044, or call Bridge of Hop at 866-670-HOPE

Jerry knows how much Yancey's writings have helped me process the trauma of the accident, so he secured me a spot in an afternoon living room conversation with Yancey from 2 to 4 on that Saturday. There will be only 16 of us that get to enjoy a conversation with him that afternoon :)

Real Forgiveness

Forgiveness ... it is so personal and yet can be so public. It needs to be a mental decision and yet deep feelings are involved. It's hard for me to fathom forgiveness without help from the Spirit of God, but he doesn't do it magically, we need to make the choice to speak it, live it and give it. Today is the day to forgive and yet it is a forever process. It is messy and has no clear finish line.

I like these thoughts I read recently ....

"Forgiveness is a brutal mathematical transaction done with fully engaged faculties. It's my pain instead of yours. I eat the debt. I absorb the misery I wanted to dish out on you, and you go scot-free. Beware the forgiveness that is tendered soon after injury; be suspicious. Real forgiveness needs a time lag, for it is wrought in private agony before it ever comes to public amnesty. All true acts of courage are thus done in secret." - Andree Seu in World Magazine

'Time Heals Everything' - not

Death is an obvious loss that needs to be grieved. There are also many other losses we as people experience that need to be grieved. As for the old saying 'time heals everything' ... not true. Time and proper grieving will change the depth of the hurt, but some losses one never 'gets over' ... they will always be woven into the tapestry of the person's life.

If 'time heals everything' then the disturbed man that shot the innocent girls in the Amish School shouldn't have been tormented with stuff from 9 or 20 years ago.

Amish School Shooting

Pray for the families who have children at this school. They must all be dealing with tremendous trauma right now, along with a zillion questions. Pray for each child that is hurt ... they are in critical condition.
Also, the gunman's wife and children most be going through deep suffering

(This school is located only about 25 miles from my house)

The Bible in a Nutshell - part 2 of 2

As the people cry out to him, the creator is listening and into the picture comes a leader/savoir in the form of a baby in a basket found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. She names him Moses and as an adult, he chooses to obey his creator after a unique brush-fire in the desert. As Moses prepares to lead the Israelite out of Egypt to the ‘Promised Land’ a series of events that is hard to believe occurs involving a few million frogs, gnats, flies and locusts. The creator does some amazing miracles and finally they cross a raging river on a dry river bed and they are free.

Then some bad choices occur and they end up on a 40 year camping trip. Yea, its roughin’ it, but then again, no one has to cook, food literally falls from the sky every day! (Isn’t that every woman’s dream?) Along the way, Moses has an amazing relationship with the creator and he is given a set of rules (the ten commandants) to teach to the people. A zillion more guidelines are added as they trudge through the desert to teach them how to live. The creator longs for a connection with humans and gives them instructions for a ‘lego-type’ tabernacle they carry with them. It’s the place where they connect with the creator by smoking numerous animals (sacrifices) as they repent repeatedly of their bad choices.

Due to choices, they make along the way, the entire adult clan that left Egypt, including Moses, dies in the desert before any of them enters the new country. Joshua is the new leader that is chosen to lead the ‘young ions’ into the Promised Land (Canaan) where Abraham/Israel/Joseph came from centuries earlier. Following the instructions given, they charge in, take over and set up tent.

For a few centuries, the creator talks to his people through prophets and provides protection from the unfriendly neighbors with various judges. Then the people demand a king so they can be ‘just like everyone else’. Saul, David and Solomon choose to obey and are the first kings, followed by many others as the one nation of Israel (now also called the Jews) splits into two kingdoms. Both nations eventually succumb to attacks from neighboring kings and the people are scattered through out the earth. The prophets continue to remind everyone of the love the creator has for them and they give promises of a ‘savior’ that will come someday to give them peace.

Centuries later, in a small town in the region a person named Jesus is born. Many miraculous events surround his birth and his life. He claims to be the ‘Son of God’ and often refers to the Words (the First Testament) that were written before his birth. Some see Him as the promised Savior, but not everyone agrees, and He is executed.

At this time in history … Jesus dies and is resurrected, and as a result something permanently alters in the universe. For the first time, all people have the opportunity for peace with God. Moreover, all of human history points toward a culmination in which he will return and restore the earth to its original design.
- Philip Yancey in ‘Rumors of Another World’

Jesus has power over death and His resurrection gives all hope. His friends know He is who He says He is and they ‘tell the world’. A man named Paul has an unplanned encounter with the Creator and makes a choice to spread the good news and becomes a dynamic teacher all over the region. His writings, along with others, teach that the permanent alteration involves ‘being saved by grace.’ Jesus becomes the ‘smoked animal’ (sacrifice) that is required for ALL impurities. The way to live is now written on humans’ hearts, as God’s Spirit is sent to each one that believes, to help them connect with Him and to guide them into truth and give comfort, counsel and strength. Hearts are now the tabernacle where humans connect with their Creator if they make the choice to as they wait to be reunited with the Creator to live happily ever after.