FURTHER UP AND FURTHER IN

HOW DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT THE DEATH OF BIN LADEN?

2011-05-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

As we all know on May 1st Bin Laden was killed by a US Navy Seal team in Pakistan. I immidiately read many posts and Scripture verses on Facebook and Twitter stating how we should respond to the terrorists death. I have for the most part thought that these posts and verses were not painting the whole picture as to how I should respond nor what God thinks about Bin Laden's death. I began to think about this blog and what I wanted to say, then I read a blog by some guy named John Piper (sarcasm), who said almost everything I wanted to say. So instead of giving you my thoughts I have just posted the article below for you to read if you would like. I believe that it gives a full description of God's view of the subject.

www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/is-god-glad-osama-bin-ladens-dead

WHAT WILL OUR HEAVENLY BODIES BE LIKE?

2011-04-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was Easter, the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we celebrate Easter, we are also praising Christ for the results we receive from His resurrection. There are countless benefits for us as a result of the Father bringing His Son to life; but one of those is that all those who accept Christ will be resurrected unto life as well. Probably the most frequently asked question when thinking about our resurrection is, "What will our heavenly body be like?" It is a great question, but we are not given all the answers we would like. Here are a few things that I think Scripture reveals to us as to what we will be like as we live on the new earth.

1. Our bodies will be like Christ's body
We are told in Phil. 3:21 that our bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. Whatever our bodies will be they will be like Christ's body was after His resurrection.

2. Our bodies will be a real, physical body
Christ did not simply rise from the dead spiritually. It was a real, physical resurrection, and so will our resurrection be. We will have a real, physical human body. In fact, you will be more human than you have ever been. We will not be spiritual ghosts floating around. No, we will have physical, tangible bodies.
Jesus appeared to Thomas after the resurrection and told Thomas to touch His hands and feet and place his hand in His side to see prove that he was in fact alive. You can't touch a ghost!!! But you could touch Jesus. So it will be with our bodies as well.

3. Our bodies will not deteriorate
Even though our bodies will be a real physical body, because the curse of sin has been removed there will be no deterioration of it. No more sickness, fatigue, or pain; these are results of the fall and once we are resurrected the curse is lifted and our real, physical bodies will be perfect.

4. Our real, physical bodies will be recognizable
We will recognize saints for who they are. Our bodies, while drastically different will still be recognizable as us. As to how this is possible or how old we will be, we do not know, but we will be recognizable nonetheless. When Jesus appeared to the disciples they knew it was
Him. They recognized Him as the one they walked with and talked with. He, while looking glorious, still looked like the Jesus they had always known.

5. Our bodies will do what they have always done
Our bodies were designed with certain things that will not be done away with upon the resurrection. Our senses for instance will be with us forever. We will see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. In other words we will do some ordinary activities in extraordinary ways. The post-resurrected Jesus walked, talked, touched, ate, and even cooked. We are told that we will feast upon the return of Christ. I just would like to add that all of this will be enhanced infinitely due to the radiation of Christ's glory bathing it all.

6. Our bodies, while physical, will be able to do some extraordinary things
At this point I just want to say that this is more conjector on my part than Scriptural fact. One thing that we see the resurrected Christ doing that we will possibly be able to do as well is to pass through walls or teleport. On the road to Emmaus Jesus seems to appear and vanish by thought. While the disiples are in the upper room, Jesus just appears in their midst, seemingly passing or walking right through the wall.
Now, I do not know if we will have this same power or if it is just reserved for Christ. But it is certainly interesting to think about and would be really cool if we could.

There are other points that I could have discussed and I could have elaborated further on these six points, but my main objective was to try to help us see that because of Christ's resurrection we too will be resurrected bodily, and that we will not be ghosts, angels, or just some bodiless spiritual beings. As Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 24:38-39, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

N.T.S.

HOW CAN WE BE OF ONE MIND WITH SOMEONE WE DISAGREE WITH?

2011-03-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, or Jack and Tollers as they called one another, were the best of friends. They would meet every week in a pub to discuss God, Scripture, philosophy, literature, and anything else their brilliant minds could think up. However, if you were to secretly listen in on one of their conversations, they would certainly not sound like best friends, at least not how we define best friends. Lewis and Tolkien would argue about everything. Lewis would even make tongue-in-cheek comments on how he and Tollers disagreed on everything. Now how could these two men disagree on so much and yet maintain such a close brotherly friendship?

I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day and we began to discuss this very issue. I have had tons of spiritual conversations with my friend, on a whole variety of issues, and we disagree on a lot. I will give you one of the biggest ones. I am a Calvinist, he is not. That may seem like a short and simple seven word sentence, but it is not that simple. This means that we disagree on a whole host of doctrinal issues. We both study God's Word, pray for the Spirit to lead us into all truth and think long and hard on what we should believe, yet we come to different conclusions. How can I be friends with a guy who does not agree with me on a issue that I hold very dear? The question of how you could be close to someone who disagrees with you on something you think is important, is somewhat perplexing, given what Scripture tells in Philippians 1:27. In this verse we are told that we are to stand firm in one spirit and one mind.

I think many Christians have a misguided understanding as to what it means to have one Spirit and one mind. I have seen people stop worshipping together over disagreements ranging from losing their "assigned seat" in the auditorium to the afore mentioned Calvinism. But does having one spirit and one mind mean you agree on everything? Should we run, with hurt feelings and anger, away from those who disagree with us? If that is the case, then I certainly could not worship with my wife. And given how I disagree with myself from day to day, I would rarely be able to worship with myself either.

I think verse 27 actually gives us the hint as to what it means to be of one spirit and one mind, and it has nothing to do with being in complete agreement, but agreeing on one essential thing. We are told to stand firm in one spirit and one mind striving side by side for the sake of the Gospel. There it is!!! That is what our spirit and minds should agree upon. The key to unity is the Gospel. This is why Jack and Tollers and why my friend and I could be the best of friends while in disagreement, because we are united in the Gospel. We can disagree on all kinds of stuff, but if we agree on the Gospel then we are brothers in Christ, and what a testimony that is to the world.

In fact Philippians 1:28 states that our striving side by side for the sake of the Gospel and not being afraid of our opponents is a clear sign of their destruction and our salvation. So let us disagree, discuss our disagreements with respect and love, learn from one another, and in the end with brotherly love strive together for the sake of the Gospel.

N.T.S.

Love The Lord Your God With All Your Mind

2011-03-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been scared while watching a movie? It is actually ridiculous when you think about it. You are sitting either in your home or a theater and something happens on a screen and then you react by either screaming or jumping, or both. Now, you are in absolutely no danger whatsoever, what is happening on the screen is not happening to you, but you react as if it were.

Why do we react this way? What causes us to freak out? The ultimate answer is our mind. Our mind controls our body and our emotions. When you sit in a movie, your mind makes your body believe that it needs to jump or scream. You actually are in no danger, but for a split second your mind thinks you are, and your body follows as well. Our mind is a powerful thing, and we must understand this power in order to rightly use it to worship God.

The Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Now many believe that this battle is about their circumstances, behavior, or relationships. The ultimate battle for the Christian is not found in any of these things, but is found in the mind. The mind is ground zero for the spiritual battle that we are in. It takes place in our thought life. Satan knows that if he can get us to think wrongly or believe wrongly then he can paralyze our spiritual growth.

When a Roman soldier was all geared up and ready for battle, an attendant would bring his helmet to him and place it on his head and help him secure it properly. The soldier understood that his skills in fighting would be rendered pointless if he were to take a blow to the head without it being protected.

It is interesting that in Ephesians 6:17, the helmet that is to be worn in this spiritual battle is the helmet of salvation. I take that to mean that the greatest protection for our minds is to rightly understand the great truth and security of our salvation and its effects upon our everyday lives.

We wear this helmet of salvation in two basic ways. First is to understand that we are saved, and the great depth of what that means. I am always amazed when people tell me that they don't like to get into deep doctrinal discussions. It is in the understanding of these deep doctrinal truths of salvation that we are strengthened and encouraged. Doctrines like regeneration, justification, and propitiation are vital for us to study and understand, so as to grasp how great this salvation truly is.

The second way we wear the helmet of salvation is to renew your mind daily
(Romans 12:1-2). This is not something you do by a short little prayer in the morning to get a little protection. This is not a casual thing. It is meditating, studying, and thinking on the Gospel, and the promises and truths of Scripture in order to use them to defeat the attacks of the enemy. Satan will fire fiery darts and the shield of faith will extinguish them (Eph. 6:16). However, faith can only function around the truth in which we know. That means that we cannot have faith in what we do not know. We must know truth in order to believe truth.

Jesus commanded us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, MIND, and soul. And I feel like many times we neglect loving God with our mind, and thus we think wrongly and our emotions and body follow. Unlike being scared in a movie, which has no real consequence, except for the ears of those around you, wrong thinking in our spiritual lives will have us fighting spiritual battles without our helmet properly secured and therefore we take massive blows from the enemy.

N.T.S.

Speaking Biblically About The Disaster In Japan

2011-03-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

Friday is my day off, and while most Friday mornings involve a glass of milk, Pop-Tarts, and Boy Meets World with my kids; that was not the case last Friday. Right after I woke up, I did what many do in today's electronic age, I jumped on Twitter. However, instead of seeing tweets about sports, movies, and even quotes from sermons; I saw post after post about an earthquake in Japan. I immediately turned on the news to hear that not only was there an earthquake that registered 8.9 on the Richter scale, but at that very moment a tsunami was destroying a great deal of the country as well. I was heart-broken and shocked, like many others in the world, as I watched the video of the devastation that was left from both the earthquake and the tsunami.

However, I was just as heart-broken if not more so about the commentary that I heard on why things like this happen in our world. I heard it on social networking sites, websites, podcasts, and television; people giving their opinion on why things like this happen, what it means, and how we are to respond. I have heard that this is great evidence that Christ will return soon, that this is God's punishment on wickedness, or that God was not in control at all and this was nothing more than random natural tragedy.

In times like these it is important not to make statements that are based on opinion, human reasoning, or even anger. There are things we can and should say, and there are things that we should not and cannot say. The only place to find these answers is in the Word of God. My desire is for the people of God to say what God says on these issues and not shy away from those opportunities. Here are a few thoughts on what we should and should not say regarding the disaster in Japan.

1. We should affirm God's sovereignty and His absolute control over natural disasters

Amos 3:6 states Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it? Isaiah 45:6-7 makes it even more clear when it says, That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

A quick reading of Job 38 will bring even more light to God's control over snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, ice, and floods. Remember the God we are talking about spoke to the wind and waves and they obeyed.

2. We do not know why natural disasters happen

We can and should say that God is sovereignly in control of natural disasters, but we make a terrible mistake when we try to speak for God and say why these things have happened. Unfortunately during times like these we hear that this is God's judgment for some specific sin directed at some specific people.

Remember Job's three friends? The reason that God became angry with them was not that they said God had done all these things to Job (property, finance, servants, children all taken away), but that they claimed to know why God had done it. They, along with Job darkened council by words without knowledge. (Job 38:2) They uttered what they did not understand and spoke wrongly of God.

Listen, could God have sent the earthquake and tsunami to Japan in order to judge them for some sin? The answer is yes, He could have. But do I, or anyone else know that this is the case? The answer is no! This may have happened for reasons that have nothing to do with judgment, but grace. Let us tread cautiously here so as to affirm God's sovereignty, but avoid speaking for him in regards to His reasoning.

3. We should be careful not determine our eschatology (study of end times) by current events

Over the last 2000 years of church history the only thing that has been agreed upon when it comes to escatology is that the Lord is coming back. There are so many different views as to how endtime prophecies should be interpreted, and given how hard these things are to get a grip on, it might be best for us to hold our eschatology loosely.

Since I was a child, I have heard after every disaster and major tragedy that the event was a sign that Christ is coming soon. However, every generation in church history has believed that Christ was returning in their lifetime, and ours is no different. We are told in Scripture that no man knows the day or hour that the Lord will return (Matthew 24:36-44). And given the varying possibilities of how endtime prophecies could be viewed, we must be careful not to view current events as an aid to interpret Scripture.

It is proper to tell people that the Lord may return at any moment, and that we are to be prepared, but that is different than kneejerking at every disaster or Middle East event as a sign that it will be in our lifetime.

4. We should use natural disaster to instruct all men everywhere to repent

In Luke 13:4-5, we are told about 18 men who were killed when a tower fell upon them. Jesus made a remarkable statement, giving insight into how we should approach disasters. He states that the men who died were no worse offenders than anyone else, yet they were killed. Jesus then tells those listening that unless they repent, you will likewise suffer.

That is how I think we should view natural disasters. We should not presume to know why God has done certain things, but affirm the sinfulness of all men everywhere, and call them to repent and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, putting forth the consequence that if they fail to do so they will perish.

There is more that needs to be said on this topic, but it is vitally important that Christians speak carefully and Biblically when commenting on disasters such as we saw last week.

N.T.S

How Do You Pray?

2011-03-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

We live in such a fast paced world, where the motto of most people's lives is "get it to me as fast as possible". Have you noticed how fast everything has become in your life? We can just swipe our card and get gas, download movies, music, and games straight to our televisions or computers. Smart phones have propelled this speedy society into hyper-drive. We can literally get almost anything and everything we want quick, fast and in a hurry. While in one sense this is a huge benefit, it does not bode well for our spiritual disciplines.

A friend mentioned to me the other day that one thing he was trying to do in his life was to SLOW DOWN! I have been thinking about that lately and I started to realize that all the spiritual disciplines we struggle with, come as a result of our lives being so fast. Reading and studying Scripture takes time and effort, it is not something you can rush through and still get the full benefit of learning and thinking deeply. Prayer is another one of these disciplines that suffer due to our lack of being able to slow down. Scripture tells us to "pray without ceasing", but we will never get to that kind of attitude because most of us cease to pray.

Why is it so hard for us to pray? Have you ever thought about that? We know that there is great spiritual benefit to being people of prayer, yet we struggle so badly in this area. While I believe that there are many reasons for this struggle, one glaring problem is that we do not know what to pray. If you are like me, then most of your prayers are just a grocery list of things we think we need. I find that most of my prayers are completely focused on myself. I struggle with how to pray.

But I have been learning recently about the power of praying Scripture. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this in relation to praying God's words.

The child learns to speak because the parent speaks to the child. The child learns the language of the parent. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken and speaks to us. In the language of the Father in heaven God’s children learn to speak with God. Repeating God’s own words, we begin to pray to God. We ought to speak to God, and God wishes to hear us, not in the false and confused language of our heart but in the clear and pure language that God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ.

God’s speech in Jesus Christ meets us in the Holy Scriptures. If we want to pray with assurance and joy, then the word of Holy Scripture must be the firm foundation of our prayer. Here we know that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, teaches us to pray. The words that come from God will be the steps on which we find our way to God.

If you struggle to know what and how to pray, let me encourage you to go the Psalms and pray the Word. Praying the Psalms is so beneficial because of the wide range of emotions that are involved that you will find yourself identifying with. As one author said, "I feel like I know this writer", and you will probably feel the same way. In our speedy, fast-paced world of smart-phones there should be no excuse for us to not know what to pray. Download a Bible app. and starting praying the very words of God today.

N.T.S.

No, Mr. President

2009-05-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have many favorite writers and preachers, but you do not have to hang around me long to hear me talk about John Piper. His faithful to the Word of God as well as his extreme desire to teach people about God's sovereignty is encouraging to say the least. I subscribe to his podcast, read all his books, and am trying to make it possible to attend his national conference this year to celebrate the 500 anniversary of John Calvin.

His Desiring God ministry has an awesome media department. And when you combine the preaching of John Piper and a terrific media team there are times when they strike gold. I want everyone to see this video that Desiring God made following the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Enjoy!!!

Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOtT3Cho4a8

The Legacy of Jim Elliot

2009-02-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

On June 8, 1956, Jim Elliot, along with four other men, flew into a remote jungle in Ecuador in order to share the Gospel with the Auca Indians. On that glorious day all five men were martyred for the cause of Christ at the hands of the very men they had came to reach.

Jim Elliot was only 29 years old when he was killed. He left behind a young wife and a baby daughter, but he also left an incredible legacy of faith.

Even at the very young age of 29, Jim Elliot had learned what it meant to walk in intimacy with God, and displayed an enthusiasm for the lost greater than most men twice his age.

Here is a prayer that he wrote on August 14, 1953.

Lord God, and Father, I call upon Thee to enter all the avenues of my life today and to share every detail of it with me. Even as Thou hast called me to share with Thee thy life, and all the wonders of it. As I am entering Thy treasures, Thou must not come in to possess all mine. As I am to share the destiny, glory, and future affairs of Thy Son, so would I now have Him share this small destiny of earth which is mine, the joys of it, and all its small matters-that we should be One, Thou and I, even as we are in Christ.

Jim Elliot was not content just going to Heaven, or using Jesus for earthly treasures. He longed to walk with God in Oneness and fullness every day. Oh that we should desire to walk with God and proclaim Him to others as this young 29 year old displayed.

Why Are You Looking Forward To Heaven?

2009-01-29T09:46:00.001-08:00

Why are you looking forward to heaven? Really another question needs to be asked before that one; why did you get saved? The answer to the last question ranges depending on who you are talking to. I have heard answers such as; I wanted my guilt removed, I wanted to be forgiven, I did not want to go to hell, I wanted to be with my family members that have gone to heaven before me, and I want to go to heaven myself. But are all these answers valid? Is there one right answer to this question from someone who has truly been born again? The answer is, “YES”!

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul states that the gospel is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As John Piper states, “the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment”. What Paul and Piper are saying is simply this; God is the Gospel. There is no gift Jesus can give that is greater than Himself; not forgiveness, not righteousness, not the removal of guilt, not the missing of hell, not the gift of heaven, none of them are greater than God Himself. In fact, those gifts such as forgiveness, righteousness, the removal of the wrath of God, are there to get everything out of the way so we get the greatest gift-God.

I agree with Piper when he states that, the critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: if you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

The answer for the true born-again believer is a resounding, “No”! Christ is our greatest treasure and our most valued gift. He is not a means to an end, He is the end. The answer to our two questions are the same. Why do you get saved? Why are you looking forward to heaven? Jesus Christ. If you answer those questions in any other way, then you have never truly met the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

For more information on this topic please refer to John Piper’s book God is the Gospel.

The Impact of C.S. Lewis On My Life

2009-01-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to
remain awake. -C.S. Lewis

I laid in bed as my mom told me that she had a new book she wanted to read me. As an eight year old boy I was not excited about reading for myself, but was okay with my mom reading to me (it at least let me stay up a little bit longer). It started simple enough...Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Little did I know that this book would turn out to be one in a series of seven that my mom read to me over the next year.

The Chronicles of Narnia was my introduction to Clive Staples Lewis, an English professor from England who was one of the greatest Christian minds in the last century. Over the last
twenty-two years I have read most of what Lewis has written and I can say without a doubt he has had the greatest impact on me over any other author I have read. He sees God everywhere; in places that the average person does not see Him, but where He nevertheless dwells.

The thing that I love about Lewis is his ability to explain and defend the Christian faith in a way that children can understand and theologians stand in silence. I have tried to model this element of his life in my own. I want to be the kind of the student of the Word that can sit down with little kids and explain the great Biblical truths that can change their life, and also be able to sit down with theologians and discuss the complexities of Christianity.

I so believe in his insight and wisdom that our student ministry is about to begin our second study on the Chronicles of Narnia on Wednesday nights. It is a great tool to be able to have these beautiful illustrations of God's beautiful truths.

I would encourage anyone and everyone to read the writings of C.S. Lewis. I trust that you will be moved and challenged much like I have been. Who knew that a story about a talking Lion would mean so much to a eight years old's life.

Why I Lie To My Kids About Christmas

2008-12-24T11:33:00.001-08:00

We will not hide them from our children,but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,and the wonders that he has done. Psalm 78:4

Okay, Okay I know that Santa Clause and flying reindeer do not exist, but I told my kids they do. Caden believes that tonight, Santa will come down our chimney and bring Him toys and gifts that the elves made. He believes that Santa will arrive at our house by way of flying reindeer that are powered by the Christmas spirit that lives within the boys and girls of the world. The craziest thing about Caden believing all this is that He believes it because I told him that all of this is true. That is right I flat out lied to my son about Christmas.

I have a reason for my deception, and will not apologize for my kids believing in Santa Clause. There is a wonder and magic about Christmas that you cannot find in any other area of an unsaved child's life. I will never forget the first time that Caden watched The Polar Express this year. As soon as it was over Caden ran to our front window. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was waiting for the Polar Express to come to our house. I was floored. I could not believe that he was so enthralled. This is what lying to my kids get them. It tells them that there is magic and wonder; something worth being WOWed over. Something to believe in. Something to get excited about.

One day my kids will realize that Santa is not real, just like I did. But the idea of wonder and amazement has already found residents in my kids' hearts. I believe this is good for them. I pray that one day Another will come, the real One that will amaze and WOW my children. This One will be more powerful and awe inspiring than any fake story about a man in a red coat coming to bring them gifts. It will be a story of the greatest gift Jesus could give, Himself.

I do not believe my children will be scarred by me lying to them. I believe they will thank me that I gave them a magical night each year that made them believe. Then they will thank me even more that I told the next generation about the One who is truly worth our wonder and amazement. That I told them of Jesus' glorious deeds, his might and his wonder. The true wonder of Christmas.

Jesus, I pray that you will use this magical time of year to infuse in my children a wonder that will be with them the rest of their lives. I ask that you would open the eyes of their hearts at a young age to see the wonder and amazement that only you can bring in completion. Use Santa Clause, elves and flying reindeer to draw my children to yourself. Amen

The Lord is Good, because The Lord is Good.

2008-12-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

"I say to Jehovah, you are my Lord, I have no good apart from you." Psalm 16:2

"For the LORD is good;his steadfast love endures forever,and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100:5

I was in the process of doing what I always do at 4:30pm on the second Friday of December... preparing for the Refuge Christmas Party. The teenagers would be arriving in a little over an hour, and things were not quite ready for them to.

My phone rang, and it was my sister telling me that my mother had been in a head on collision, and that she had hurt her back. I headed toward the accident site, not knowing what to expect. I saw an ambulance headed off and assumed my mom was in the back...I was right.

My mom had a combustion fracture of her L3 vertebrate. They moved her to Parkland Hospital, where my family met together to await word from her doctors on whether they would perform surgery or not. They eventually informed us that based upon the type and location of the fracture, surgery would not be necessary. We were then informed, however, that she would remain in a rotating bed for three weeks without sitting up, followed by three weeks of rehabilitation.

The prayers began immediately. My mom had literally hundreds maybe even thousands of people praying all over the nation that the Lord would supernaturally touch her back. Through this entire ordeal the Lord has shown his grace. First, it was a blessing that my mom was not killed. The other driver was going roughly 50 mph, when they collided. Second, we were told that there were two spine doctors at Parkland that we should ask to look at my mom in order that we could receive a second opinion. My mom had two doctors that asked for her case and they were the same doctors that were recommended to us. She literally had the two best spine doctors in the Dallas area working on her, and there was no need for the second opinion when the first is the best. Thirdly, we were told that we were looking at four to six weeks in the hospital. She was released today with a brace. Ten days after the wreck she is home!!! One doctor used the word "amazed" when describing how well my mom was doing.

I could go on and on about how gracious the Lord has been through all of this. However, one thing has been pressing on me, as I have been thinking about everything that has gone on over the past few weeks. When people found out that my mom was coming home today almost all had the same response, "the Lord is good". While the Lord was indeed good to us and got my mom home earlier than we expected, He is not good because he got my mom home earlier than we expected.

The truth is that the Lord is good, because the Lord is good. What would I say if she had died or if she were paralyzed, and horribly burned. I hope that my response would be, that "the Lord is good". Our God is not good because he does nice, gracious things for us, He is good, because it is who he is. No matter what we are put through, or where we find ourselves. His goodness is not contingent upon Him making my life easier to deal with. His desire to glorify Himself, in fact, sometimes puts us through the ringer (i.e. Job), and we, in our flesh don't like it at all.

I want to say as the Psalmist did, "I have no good apart from you." No matter where that takes me or what I go through. I have no good except Christ. We have no good except Christ. We must never question His goodness, His love, or His faithfulness. I throw myself down upon His grace and thank Him for what He did for my mom and our family, but I do not worship Him for what He does for me, but for who He is to me.

Thank you, Jesus that you sought fit, in your grace to give my family a great gift, by getting my mom home for Christmas. But Christ I ask you to give me such faith that I would praise and worship you the same even if you had not. Amen