Janie's Last Journal Part 7

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here.)

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 19, 2010

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1-2

Janie's Last Journal Part 6

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here.)

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 10, 2010

Why is it that God leads us in this way, allowing such a strong and constant pressure on us? One of His purposes is to show is His all-sufficient strength and grace more effectively than if it were free from difficulties and trials. "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Cor. 4:7)

Another purpose is to bring us a greater awareness of our dependence upon Him. God is constantly trying to teach us how dependent we are on Him - that we are held completely by His hand and reliant on His care alone. 

L.B. Cowman - Streams In The Desert, March 7

I do not see You, Lord, nor do I feel Your presence, but I know for certain You are graciously here - exactly where I am and aware of my circumstances.

Streams, March 10

Trust God's word and His power more than you trust your own feelings and experiences. Remember, your Rock is Christ, and it is the sea that ebbs and flows with the tides, not Him.

If we cower in the lowlands of feelings and emotions, we will find ourselves entangled in a thousand nets of doubt, despair, temptation and unbelief. "Put your hope in God." Psalm 42:5. When I cannot feel the faith of assurance, I live by the fact of God's faithfulness.

Streams, March 10

Janie's Last Journal - Part 5

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here.)

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 7, 2010

"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord." Psalm 31:24

"You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:7-8

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." Psalm 33:6

"We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name." Psalm 33:20-22

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

Janie's Last Journal - Part 4

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here.)

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 6, 2010

"The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 26:1

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy, and I will give thanks to Him in song." Psalm 28:7

Janie's Last Journal - Part 3

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here).

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 5, 2010

"For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths." Psalm 5:21

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing." Psalm 23:1

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long." Psalm 25:4-5

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil. 4:4

Janie's Last Journal - Part 2

Janie's final entries in her journal...continued (read what this is about here.)

(For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any commentary - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....)

March 4, 2010 continued

"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:7-8

"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 17:8

"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness to light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall." Psalm 18:28-29

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 20:14

Janie's Last Journal - Part 1

Janie kept journals that accompanied her daily quiet time and bible reading. Sometimes she wrote down her own thoughts, but mostly she wrote down bible verses that were very meaningful to her. She also jotted down quotes from people whose books really helped her. People like Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For His Highest), and L.B. Cowman (Streams In The desert) as well as hymn lyrics and so forth.  She wrote these things down, especially toward the end, so she could get to them quickly when she felt the need for extra courage and strength. It buoyed her to have a good word that spoke directly to what she was feeling at the time. This is a good practice which I should probably do more of.

One thing that I especially like about her writing these things down is that I can look back and see her  handwriting which is so happily familiar to me, and read 'where she was at' on any given day. Which brings me to the upcoming series that I will be doing here on the blog.

For the next few weeks, I'll be posting these quotes that meant a lot to her as she neared the end of her life here on earth. If you read them closely, you'll see a common thread there....I'll let you find it without any help from me - except to encourage you to take the entries to heart and be blessed...and perhaps store them away in your own journal....

March 4, 2010

"-Through a multitude of tests, you will learn courage. You will find yourself put in a place of training and discipline, so that when the moments of crisis come you will not become faint-hearted and you will not be the victim of unwanted fear." Come Away My Beloved, Francis Roberts, pg 72

"-By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." Psalm 33:6

"-Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm." Proverbs 4:23, 26

I Love Ya Craig Groeschel....

....but I don't think I can wait this long to download your stuff ;-)

The Bible Is Not About You

One of the best things about Rick Warren's mega-bestselling book, "The Purpose Driven Life" is it's very first sentence: "It's not about you."

Here's Tim Keller reminding us that the Bible is not about you. This is something to be happy about, actually. Something to get very, very

Don Miller On Joseph's Troubles and Yours

How Deep The Father's Love For Us

365 Days With Jesus

Happy Mother's Day!

The photograph to the left is the spot where I proposed to Janie (she said "yes," but I honestly have never figured out why haha). The view is spectacular and Janie & I had taken many walks to this spot up above her parents' cottage in Vermont.

I had gotten the ring in the summer of 1984, and I just had to show it off to the cool waitresses I worked with at the Piccadilly Deli where I was a cook at the time. Afraid of losing it, I

Pride Goeth Before A Summer

Growing up on Cape Cod in the summer is a very wonderful thing: beaches, bare feet, sailboats, bikes and...lawnmowers.

Once when I was thirteen or so, I was mowing the lawn with my family's Snapper riding mower (this one didn't have a steering wheel, but rather, strangely, handlebars like on a three-speed bike). I was listening to the radio in those pre-ipod days, so that meant wearing

Ballet In The Kingdom

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, recently told of meeting a wonderful little girl named Ella Mae.


Read on...you will be inspired.

Updike's "Seven Stanzas At Easter"

My friend Jared recently posted this on his blog, and I wanted to share it here. It's a poem by the late, great John Updike about, well, I'll let you discover on your own what it's about....

Death In His Grave

A profound and poetic description of Jesus' mission at the cross, enjoy "Death In His Grave" by John Mark MacMillan.

"The man Jesus Christ laid death in his grave!"




You can read John Mark's line-by-line commentary about the lyrics here. (thanks for the link Becca:)

Happy Easter everyone!

Spring Is Here

This brief exchange actually happened 5 minutes ago:

Carly: "Dad, will you get me something I can ride?"

Me: "Sure - let's have a look out in the shed for our bikes."

Carly: "I was thinking of something more like a giraffe."

April Fools!

My two favorite April Fools Day posts were:

http://donmilleris.com/2011/04/01/my-review-of-love-wins/

http://www.google.com/mail/help/motion.html#utm_source=en-et-na-us&utm_medium=new-features-link&utm_campaign=en

Take Advantage Of It While I Can

Here's what Bethany Hamilton, the girl who back in 2003 lost her left arm in a shark attack while surfing, said about being in the spotlight:

"I try not to make a big soap opera out of the shark attack. I would rather focus on what God has allowed me to do in picking up the pieces of my old life and adjusting to parts that are new and different for me. Most of all, I want to use my story as a way to tell people about God's story. It seems like he has given me the attention of the world for a moment, and I had better take advantage of it while I can." (from her book, Soul Surfer, 2004).

That is an unbelievably mature thing for a 14-year-old kid (at the time of the book) to say about such a loss. "Most of all, I want to use my story as a way to tell people about God's story." Outstanding. From the mouths of babes....And she feels much the same today, as her true-story movie is about to be released. The rest of the story is that she got back on her surfboard and competes....with only one arm. Fantastic.

Watch the trailer at the movie website - there are also some good interviews and such. 

This girl is inspiring. I hope I, and anyone else who catches her story, can measure up to this kind of excellent attitude in the face of a great trial!

Obsessed With Facebook

This guy Alex created this short clip for a design class, I guess. Extremely nicely done, though I don't read as fast as he can.

I feel alarmed by the statistics, though I don't know why.

I guess the thing that bugs me is: if social networking like Facebook is supposed to be about "us," why do I have this nagging feeling that somehow its still all about "me?"



The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.

Fate or Free Will?

I haven't seen the movie yet, but The Adjustment Bureau explores the concept of Fate vs. Free Will. Which controls our lives? We make our decisions every day, don't we?  Paper or plastic? Decaf or high test? Medium or supersize? Did we really make our own decision or was it decided for us? If decided for us, then by whom or what? Is our path predetermined for us, or do we truly - really - make our own destiny?

I am pretty sure the movie will have the hero exercise his own free will and defy Fate (the 'Adjustment Bureau') and get the girl and live happily ever after. Kind of a David vs. Goliath thing. I found an interesting statistic at the movie's website though: 55% of the people surveyed at the site (as of today, 3-17-11) believe that Fate decides what happens to them every day. 55%!  I confess to being a little surprised. I really thought people would overwhelmingly say that they, themselves have their own free will and that nothing can get in their will's way. "I make my decisions and live by them. Nothing controls me. Gosh darn it, I'm an American!" End of story.

All of that leads me to this: why then do people object so much to an infinite, personal, Sovereign God providentially and lovingly, directing their lives?

Just sayin.' I'm curious.

Music: For The Soul

The little electronic voice that emanates from this little blue dog toy, called a "Talking Babble Ball" is nothing like a real voice. The closest it comes is to make recognizable sounds that emulate a voice that sort of pronounces syllables to make you think you heard it a say words. Words like, "Good Doggy!" or, "Oh, you got me!" or "I'm gonna get you!" Kind of like the fake voice on the "pull the string" dolls my little sister used to have. Nothing like a real voice, right?

Admit it: you're a shower singer. Or a car singer. Or a living room conductor. We love music. We kind of need music, don't we? Can you imagine life without music? It's like trying to imagine life without trees. Picture the entire earth with no trees. Like the moon. Life without music would be airless and dry and suffocating.

Rant: What's Wrong With This Picture: Part II

What's wrong with the picture? What's wrong with the picture? I'll tell you what's wrong with the picture: how the heck old is that guy? He has got to be at least thirty years old, right?  What in the world is a thirty year old man - or a twenty year old man for that matter - doing playing a Nintendo DS?  What's wrong with that picture - that full page magazine advertisement - is that Nintendo clearly sees a viable sales demographic for their video games in the over-thirty male crowd. 

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I am irked. The problem is just not going away.

I don't very often ask for direct interaction on this blog, though sometimes some of you cool people out there add your comments, which I love.

But this time, at the risk of looking silly for asking and getting no responses, I'm asking for your feedback: what's wrong with this picture? Hint: there's nothing wrong photographically with the image.

My answer / rant in the next post........

Still, My Soul Be Still

Gospel Vs. Social Justice Smackdown?

Which should be the primary concern of Christians? Should our primary concern be to "proclaim the gospel" or to "promote social justice?" 

I think the answer is, "yes!" Actually, I'm not really sure why there has to be a tension between the two, like somehow we are expected to

Happy To Get The Bible

I saw a girl at youth group kick her bible. Not a Beckham-like drop-kick across the room or anything, but she did give it a firm 'skootch' across the floor a little ways. What bugged me was that she touched a Bible with her feet. Scripture. God-breathed. The very words of God. With her feet.

Contrast that to these people:

Every Thought Captive

Janie sent this email back in 2006. If you are struggling with panic in whatever your battle is, let Janie's email sink in and help you!


----- Original Message -----
From: chris booth
 
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 1:57 PM
Subject: Here's the latest. . .
Hey y'all!  I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath for the next installment in my medical journal.  I shall try to spare you ALL the gory details but here goes.

I finished radiation last Friday and have noticed

Rescued From Death, or, Two Years of Sobriety!!

This is a re-post from a guy named Mac Mitchell. I don't know him personally, but I'm interested in his story. Not so much because of his clean life now, but, for my re-posting usage, and for the sake of the 'older brother of the prodigal' readers (those already in the family of God), I'm interested in the paragraph 1/2 way down, the one in bold type. I'm interested because this guy Mac saw something different in the Christians around him: joy that he himself didn't have. And its significant that Mac had Christians around him, they weren't tut-tutting from the sidelines. They were there with him in the trenches...at least as much as they could have I guess. Mac knew them as his friends. So they weren't tucked away in the cloister; they were in Mac's life. That's good but it can be scary for those still in the cloister. How do they get out, right? I think by opening the door and walking....and praying.

Happy Calvinist Valentines Day

Becca just sent this to me...I wonder if Calvin ever tried any of these awesome guaranteed fail-safe lines?

Jefferson on Cairo

What Thomas Jefferson said about toppling the regime of a tyrant:

To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed—that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

 I'm glad the Egyptian revolution was so much less bloody than our own. It will be interesting to see who comes into power. The Egyptian people have shrugged off authoritarianism...will they establish a democracy in Cairo?

 

 

Being Missional May Kill Your Church

Ok, one more ditty on 'missional' church and then I'll stop for now. This is from the Resurgence and it quotes Ed Stetzer who is a church planting guru.

Stetzer gave the following list to help describe the missional 'shift' going on. I think it's a good thing, though some churches will be very uncomfortable with tweaking out their ministry paradigm or, for that matter, their very reason for existing. This is from Stetzer's book, Breaking The Missional Code. Please take your time; taste and digest slowly.

Missional Church Defined

Have you heard the term, "missional" in reference to a church and wondered what that meant? Here's a handy little guide.

Unconventional Church Plant

How many pastors like this guy have you met?



An Intentionally Missional Lifestyle from Acts 29 Network on Vimeo.

Ten Questions To Ask At A New Start

I just found this in Janie's folder in our computer. I don't know if she created this list or got it from a book or the internet, but it would have made a great New Year's Day post...

What Would Janie Do?

I'm sure that when our friend Kim Winters innocently asked Janie to write a post about God and having cancer, neither of them could have foreseen the far-reaching effects that post, called, "The New Normal," would have. We gave it out at Janie's memorial service, and many people have said they've made copies and handed it out to friends and co-workers. Thanks to the World-Wide-Computer-Net-Inter-Web, people all over the U.S. and even beyond have been blessed by Janie's simple essay.

Yesterday, I received

Forge Was Good

Several years ago, Janie & I had envisioned a worship event very much like Forge was tonight. It was really sweet to see it actually happen and I'm sure she would have liked it very much. It was just a joy to set up and watch the college-aged people filtering into this cool little downtown venue called The Brick Box for the purpose of worshiping God. We had a good time of singing and the Jared gave a really good talk from 1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." He challenged us all to, among several other things, see ourselves as God sees us:

-chosen people
-royal priesthood
-holy nation
-God's special possession

We're really hoping and praying that this would be the start of something special in His Kingdom work here in Vermont!

First Forge

If you are a 20-something and/or college student in the Rutland, VT area, you are invited to (the very first) Forge, a once-a-month worship event right in downtown Rutland! We'll meet at the Brick Box on Center Street on Saturday January 22 at 7:00 for some coffee, conversation, and a time of worship in singing as well as a message from Pastor Jared Wilson from Middletown Springs Community Church.

Friend us on Facebook.

Also save the date for the next one: Feb. 26!

See you there!

New England Church

Yeah, I've been in churches like yours, little guy. Don't be discouraged...keep at it!

Janie's Christmas Stocking Final Update

Carly, when contra-dancing, if a little kid gets in your way....take her out! Buh-bam! I'm so proud of you!

Just kidding. But we did have a contra-dance hoedown for New Year's Eve! And I must say, all ninety or so of us non-experienced contra "dancers" did alright. For myself, I know I am more 'contra' than 'dance.' Just picture Rocky Balboa staggering around in the 12th round. Oh, and to all of you whose toes I stepped on, I'm really sorry and I hear broken toes actually heal pretty quickly.

The evening was rounded out by a time of worship songs and an 'out-with-the-old-year-in-with-the-new' challenge from my friend Rob, or as I like to call him by his rapper name, L'il Robby T. It was a good way to round out 2010 for our family: a celebration and worship....just like Janie would have liked.

Speaking of Janie, it's time for