A few days ago, our Great Aunt Gladys (Dad’s Aunt) passed away. We have fond memories of visiting her in South Carolina as a “layover” on our Florida vacations. Although we’ll no longer be able to do that on this earth, we look forward to visiting her again in eternity! (Perhaps she’ll have a pecan tree in heaven!)
We’re attending the funeral this Saturday. Please pray for the family that remains, especially our Grandpa and Grandma.
I’ve been reading Spurgeon’s “Pictures of Pilgrim’s Progress” lately, and really enjoying it! Charles Spurgeon was excellent at putting the abstract or allegorical into practical terms.
Here’s a little section of it for you all to enjoy and meditate on. The context is “Help”, the mysterious character in the story who pulled Pilgrim out of the Slough of Despond.
I wish I could put my Master’s message into words that would burn their way into your hearts. I desire that every church member may be a worker for Christ. We want no drones in this hive; and we want all bees, and no wasps. The most useless persons are generally the most quarrelsome; and those who are the most happy and peaceable, are usually those who are doing most for Christ.
We are not saved by working, but by grace; but, because we are saved, we desire to be the instruments of bring others to Jesus. I would stir you all up to help in this good work; old men, young men, brethren and sisters, according to your gifts and experience, help. I wish that each one of you would feel, “I cannot do much, but I can help; I cannot preach, but I can help; I cannot pray in public, but I can help; I cannot give much money away, but I can help; I cannot officiate as an elder or deacon, but I can help; I cannot shine as a ‘bright particular star’, but I can help; I cannot stand alone to serve my Master, but I can help.”
An old Puritan once preached a very singular sermon; there were only two words in the text, and they were, “and Bartholomew”. The reason he took the text was that, in the Gospel, Bartholomew’s name is never mentioned alone; he is always associated with one of the other apostles. He is never the principle actor, but always second. Let this be your feeling; that, if you cannot do all yourself, you will help to do what you can.
“Henceforth I do not call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
~John 15:15
Have you ever read a passage in the Bible that jumps out at you in a way that it never had in the past?
That’s what happened to me, as I pondered this verse not long ago. I’ve read this portion of scripture many times before, but never had I seen it in such light as this!
“…I have called you friends.”
He has called me friend. Me! The One, True God who crafted the universe and died on the cross for my sins is my Friend. WOW!
I’ll close with a few lines from the song “Friend of God” (written by Michael Gungor and Israel Houghton).
Who am I that You are mindful of me, that you hear me when I call
Is it true that you are thinking of me, of how you love me?
It’s amazing!
I am a friend of God – He calls me friend!
May God bless your day!
-Kasie
It’s been a step of faith to start our music ministry. We had no sound equipment, microphones or anything when Mom scheduled dates for us to play at local nursing homes, but God has provided all that in a wonderful way…
We told the pastor of our church about our plans to make a CD, hold worship services in our community and minister with music. He was very excited, and generously offered us the use of the church sound equipment!
“It’s the set we used when we first started the church,” he told us “but after we updated, it’s just been sitting in my brother’s garage. It’s not a high-end or anything, but it’s in great working order and served us well. Y’all are welcome to use it for as long as you need to.”
Wow. Thank you Lord!
And so, in preparation for our first ‘gig’, we packed “Homer” up with all our instruments and headed into town where the equipment is kept for a practice.
This past Sunday afternoon as planned, we set up at a nursing home and played music for almost an hour. Although we were a little nervous at first, all went well, and more residents wandered in to hear us as time went on! 
Here are a few pictures Mom took that day;
Our prayer was that we would be a blessing, and that God would be glorified. I think we accomplished just that! We received a phone call on Monday from the manager of The Wellington Place telling us what a hit we were and asking when we were coming back!
To God be the glory!
-Kasie
Well everyone, I know that we promised a “fresh contest” for you all, but sometimes God has other plans. Being “offline” for the past month, we’ve been unable to plan out anything exciting. But we’re still not about to let a contest opportunity (be it ever so commonplace) go to waste!
So, without further ado, we’d like to introduce to y’all the Reclaiming the Culture DVD series! (Did you catch that “y’all”? I’ll be a Suth’ner yet…)
I’ve noticed that when it comes to culture, Christians usually fall into 3 basic camps. First, there are those who allow themselves to be transformed by the world’s culture. Second, there are those who (for lack of a better term), “run away and hide” from the culture, and live in isolation with no influence on society. And then, finally, there are those who make it their business to neither hide from the world nor compromise the scriptures – but to instead reclaim the culture.
Our family strives to be in that latter category. The question then is, “how”? “Where do we start?”
That’s what the Reclaiming the Culture DVD series from Vision Forum is all about. It’s sort of a compilation of some of the best teachings available at Vision Forum – teachings that can transform your family. Although we haven’t watched these DVDs yet, we’ve listened to half of the talks via audio CDs – and they are of the highest quality. We were actually there LIVE in Jamestown when the Providential Nexus of Jamestown and Plymouth was filmed!
So, where’s the contest, you ask? Well, here it is. Leave us a comment, and in the comment, put a practical way we can all help reclaim the culture for Christ. The names of everyone who leaves a culture changing suggestion will be entered into a hat, and then a winner will be randomly chosen. The winner gets to choose any one of the DVDs of the entire collection!
Go ahead, browse through the titles – they’re good. We just listened to The Promise the other day. It was excellent!
To start us off in the comments, I’ll leave a small, practical way we can change the culture – Hospitality. Specifically, inviting people that might even be near strangers to you for dinner and such. Let them see in your family the difference of the Biblical family, and let God have the glory!
Oh, by the way, I am obliged by Vision Forum to end this giveaway no later than June 30th – so you better get your comment in before the end of Monday!
Happy Resurrection Day everyone!
Hello everyone! I decided that instead of writing something out today, that I would do a podcast instead – so here goes!
Now, (ahem), I am having some trouble getting Flash, LAME (mp3 encoder), and wordpress plugins working together harmoniously here, so there’s not going to be any fancy mp3 player for you.
Soooo…. To listen to the podcast, click the link above! If you have quicktime installed on your computer, the mp3 will start playing right away. If you don’t have it installed, the mp3 will download to your computer (don’t worry, it’s not a huge file), and you can listen to it at your leisure!
“The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’”
I love waking up early – how awesome it is to be the first one awake in the family. It’s amazing how much you miss if you sleep in that extra half hour!
Then again, I’m a semi-night owl. I love staying up, watching the stars, watching the fire (if there happens to be one around), and watching great movies.
I think the compromise is taking a siesta everyday. Anyway…
My family knows I’m not an early morning person. But it really is worth changing sleeping schedules to enjoy that lovely peaceful time. Read this quote – it certainly motivates me to wake up earlier!
“Early rising promotes cheerfulness, invigorates the system, and in many other ways contributes to health. It also assists devotion. There is a solemn stillness before the dawn of day, in a winter morning, peculiarly favorable to devotional feelings; and nothing is better calculated to fill the mind with grateful and adoring views of the beneficence of the Creator, than the refreshing sweetness of a summer morn. Whoever sleeps away this period, loses half the pleasures of existence. To sally forth and enjoy the calmness and serenity of such a season; to listen to the sweet warbling of the birds; to behold the sparkling dewdrops, and the gayety of the opening flowers, as all nature smiles at the approaching of the rising sun; to join the music of creation, in lifting up a song of softest, sweetest melody, in praise of their great Author, is no common luxury.”
~ Harvey Newcomb “Young Lady’s Guide” pg. 178-179
“In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day’s business.”
