Saturday, May 29
Updates coming!!!
Monday, June 29
Thoughts on Freedom in Christ from Romans 14
*14:1-12—Both “strong” and “weak” Christians need to stop condemning each other because it is the Lord, and he alone, who has the right to access the believer’s status and conduct. (by Douglas Moo)
If our convictions are lead by the Spirit and are a means to our ultimate worship of Christ, that is what matters. In the end I will give an account for my lift not the life of the person next to me (14:12).
Rom 14:6
6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
*14:13-23—The “strong” Christians must be careful not to cause the “weak” Christians to suffer spiritual harm by their insistence on exercising their liberty on disputed matters. For such instance violates the essence of the kingdom, which is to manifest love and concern for one another. (by Douglas Moo)
We get so caught up on insignificant matters of life that we make ultimate, things that were never intended to be such.
Rom 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
We so often fail at walking in the power of the Spirit (Rom 8) that it’s no wonder we pursue and fight for the things that have such little significance. Are these things such idols in our lives that we can’t set them aside for a time? Yet we are driven by the material, rather than by the eternal. We have made the Kingdom to be about food and drink rather than about the gospel. Are we more concerned with fighting for our freedom that we neglect dying to ourselves (Luke 9:23) and “pursuing what makes for peach and for mutual upbuilding” (v.19) for that time. How true is verse 20, that for the sake of “food” we so often destroy the work of God.” The gospel is not a matter of mere behavior modification, but a heart that is changed by the cross, that is filled with the Spirit, and that leads us to live differently in light of those things. Our purpose then becomes Christ and Christ alone. The freedoms that I have don’t govern and drive my life, but it’s Christ that governs and drives my freedoms.
So the gut-checking question comes out of verse 23. Is the exercise of your freedom birthed out of a faith in the gospel, a faith that knows its free acceptance in the cross of Christ alone, not your behavior (for that would be salvation by works)? Or is the exercise of your freedom rooted in simply an attempt to show that you’re free, absent of any expression of faith or life that has been changed by the power of the gospel.
The amazing thing about the gospel is that is totally changes the motivation and purpose of how we live. The gospel say -- I am more sinful and depraved than I ever thought possible, yet I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared believe. And this reality brings us to a place of putting no weight in our spiritual performance (or lack thereof) as a means of being accepted by God. In the same way, there is nothing Mikail (my daughter) can do to gain or lose my love--She will always have my absolute love and affection as my daughter. When we understand the gospel in this way, it will revolutionize our motivation for living. It will change how we view our sin and God’s grace. It will change how we view our freedom. Our response, then, to a cross-centered gospel will be a faith-centered life. As it says in Col 2:6 – “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” I came to Christ by the power of God birthing faith in my heart. I live for Christ, by the power of God continually birthing faith in my heart; and his Spirit living in out through me as I live my life on a mission to show the world the gospel. This will restore and revitalize how we view freedom.
1 Cor 10:31
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Would love to hear your thoughts!!! Please comment! Hopefully more to come from Romans 15.
Sunday, June 28
Friday, June 26
Super Summer
For the past 2 weeks, I had the opportunity to be a Team Leader at Super Summer (Summer camp for Baptist kids). It was an incredible time watching the Lord do some amazing things in the lives of students, but also in the lives of leaders. My responsibility was teaching and leadership over the 9th graders (10th if you ask them). I was given 7 college students as small group leaders that I would directly pour into as they built more personal relationships with the students. I love hanging out with college student and pouring the gospel into them. It was awesome to see God work in their lives too. We saw a number of students surrender their lives to Christ and I wanted to share one specific story that I personally was involved in. This student, Jake, attended an evangelism seminar by Bob Caldwell to learn to share his faith. Bob gave an invitation to receive Christ (how ironic is that) and Jake expressed that he had never put his faith in Christ. I talk with him about it over dinner and he had a ton of questions. It was awesome to see his eagerness to get answers. He actually told me, "I don't have enough time to sit around and not find answers to my questions." I thought that we incredible. He told me that at one dark point in his life he tried to commit suicide but looked at himself in the mirror and realize that there was a greater purpose for his life (He didn’t know at the time that it was Jesus :) ). That night during an invitation to receive Christ, Jake stood up and went with the youth pastor he came with and received council. He was still seeking, still with some doubt but another step closer to having his soul saved. The next night he came forward to get prayer and I went off with him and we spend 20 minutes looking at the Scriptures and the meaning of the cross. The whole time he was literally shaking. He told me he had felt weird ever since he came to super summer, just something inside him wasn’t right. I told him it was the Spirit of God drawing Jake to Himself. That night Jake surrendered his life to Jesus. It was amazing! I’m blown away that the Lord allows us to be apart of the power of His gospel bringing a person from death to Life. Later on I received a letter from Jake that I want to share:
Dave, thank you so much for everything. I don’t think I can ever repay you for all you’ve done. Never have I shed so many tears and questioned so much and in the end give all that up. There is a song from Flyleaf called “All Around Me” and it’s about the feelings I was having and before this camp it was just a song and the lyrics were cool, but now that I’ve had that feeling it means so much to me. And every time I hear that song I’ll think of that night when I was standing there at the worship and the power of God called me. It was a rush of indescribable emotions. And I’ll think of sitting in that hallway, crying, shaking, and listening, and giving myself to Him with your help. So I want you to find that song and listen to it. I’ll keep you in my prayers. Thank you! Jake, Finally unleashed and free!
Praise God!!! I am blown away every time I read that! The power of God in a person’s life is unstoppable. John 6:44 says, “Anyone who comes to the Father must first be drawn by Him.” How true is that in Jake’s life!! I immediately purchased the song on iTunes and WOW. What a cool story and words that describe it so well. I never want to stop being around God’s activity in the world. His gospel is supreme and his changing lives. How foolish are we to sit around and not be a part of it. God has called every one of his Children to live lives on mission for his Name and renown. Might in the end our prayer be 2 Cor 4:5, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Tuesday, November 25
The perfect gift for a perfectionist is LIBERATION!
Like I said, this goes against every journaling experience he has ever had. But since then, we have had so much fun!!! Here are a sample of some of the pages he has already "journaled" in.
NOTE: "Dedicated to perfectionists all over the world"
I think this one was my absolute favorite to watch so far. He had to think about it for a minute.
He did it!
That is a handprint of A1 sauce that he had to smear all over the page.
So...
what's Dave's next adventure with his journal.....
Sorry, there will be no pictures of this one!
Thursday, November 20
We are changing our last name to Harper.
Well....our current news is that we are trying to rent out our home, but are running into some problems. We do own our townhouse but 3 months before we bought it, a new bi-law was made that no one after that date could rent their property (we were so close!). So, we are in the middle of the process of appealing to the board of our association to let us rent short term. After our first letter for permission, we received a call saying they couldn't honor our request but we could further pursue the issue with the board. So, we did :). We were scheduled to meet with a lady at our home on Tuesday but she never showed up, so now we are back to the waiting game. It's hard to communicate through blogs but the situation is still hopeful based on our conversations with the association. Probably most of you are wondering why we want to rent and where will we move to...and all I have to say is two words-
You can just call us the Harper's! We would move into the basement at my (Danielle) mom and dad's house( sorry mom- Mama doesn't do you much justice, and dad...you aren't pictured) We have prayed and prayed and thought about how to pay off our student loans fast and this is the best option we have thought of. There are plenty of pros and cons to think about (none of which deal with any negatives of my parents or in having our own space or privacy). But it does kinda seem humorous that there is potential to move back home. This move would only be for 1 year and then we would either move back into our townhouse or sell and buy a house.
So, as humorous as it may be, we really really want to get out of debt and hate being enslaved to a bank. Please pray that our dreams come true(hehe) and the association lets us rent. Thanks!
Tuesday, November 4
This will be a L-O-N-G blog...here goes...
Anyway...alot has happened over the past couple weeks in our home... Mikail went to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard for the first time, Aunt Amy came in town to play, Mikail was dedicated at church, Dave went out of town for 4 days, Mikail dressed up like a monkey for Halloween(we had two options but the butterfly outfit was too big for Mikail), I continue to make my own babyfood *sigh* and lastly, Mikail had her 9 month old doctor appointment yesterday.
The doctor appointment yesterday went well and Mikail is still teeny tiny. Her height is 26 1/8 in. tall (15% for her age), weight is 15lbs 5 ounces (5% for her age), and 3% for her little head circum. She is still in 3-6 month clothing.
I figured the rest of the updates will mostly speak for themselves through pictures:
Mikail giving her cousin Ashley a kiss at the pumpkin patch.
Our fun outing at a Trunk or Treat
I counldn't resist putting this in the mix. I think Dave and I have more fun during bathtime than Mikail. Her bath shapes stick to her body so we have contests to see how many we can stick to her.
Mikail's baby dedication outfit minus her bow :)
Mikail's baby food...yes she eats tofu and likes it :)
These are fun pictures I took the other afternoon when it was soooo nice out. She is such a sweetie!!