life of parent of teenager

well... while i wait for my son to come home i had a chance to clean out some old stacked up paper... came across John Piper's lecture on John Newton.... man was I grabbed and helped by the one footnote my eyes fell upon... containing these words:

the question: "Why does the Lord permit some of his people to suffer such violent assaults from the powers of darkness" ?
--not to gratify Satan, but
-- to humble and prove His people;
-- to show His children what is in their hearts,
-- to make them truly sensible of their immediate and absolute dependence upon him and
-- to quicken them if to watchfulness and prayer"

He goes on to suggest that another design (of God) of temptation is "for the manifestation of his power, and wisdom, and grace, in supporting the soul under such pressures as are evidently beyond its own strength to sustain"

RP: I read this to mean that God uses our struggles & temptations to show how HE -- and not our wit or strength-- is our sustaining strength. He gets all the glory. I get humbled, and the opportunity to praise and worship my Savior God.

the whole footnote is here

full footnote on temptation's use in believer's life

Another example of the limits of this age that make us patient with people's failings is the God-ordained necessity of temptations. He asks, "Why the Lord permits some of his people to suffer such violent assaults from the powers of darkness" (The Works of the Rev. John Newton, Vol. 1, 226). "Though the Lord sets such bounds to [Satan's] rage as he cannot pass, and limits him both as to manner and time, he is often pleased to suffer him to discover his malice to a considerable degree; not to gratify Satan, but to humble and prove them; to show them what is in their hearts, to make them truly sensible of their immediate and absolute dependence upon him [see p. 232], and to quicken them if to watchfulness and prayer" (p. 227). He goes on to suggest that another design of temptation is "for the manifestation of his power, and wisdom, and grace, in supporting the soul under such pressures as are evidently beyond its own strength to sustain" (p. 228). He gives Job as an illustration: "the experiment answered many good purposes: Job was humbled, yet approved; his friends were instructed; Satan was confuted, and disappointed; and the wisdom and mercy of the Lord, in his darkest dispensations toward his people, were gloriously illustrated" (p. 228). If the Lord has any children who are not exercised with spiritual temptations, I am sure they are but poorly qualified to 'speak a word in season to them that are weary'" (p. 231). ---taken from John Piper's incredible lecture on life of john newton

Spurgeon Morning April 25

"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."—Song of Solomon 2:10.
LO, I hear the voice of my Beloved! He speaks to me! Fair weather is smiling upon the face of the earth, and He would not have me spiritually asleep while nature is all around me awaking from her winter's rest. He bids me "Rise up," and well He may, for I have long enough been lying among the pots of worldliness. He is risen, I am risen in Him, why then should I cleave unto the dust? From lower loves, desires, pursuits, and aspirations, I would rise towards Him. He calls me by the sweet title of "My love," and counts me fair; this is a good argument for my rising. If He has thus exalted me, and thinks me thus comely, how can I linger in the tents of Kedar and find congenial associates among the sons of men? He bids me "Come away." Further and further from everything selfish, grovelling, worldly, sinful, He calls me; yea, from the outwardly religious world which knows Him not, and has no sympathy with the mystery of the higher life, He calls me. "Come away" has no harsh sound in it to my ear, for what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin? O my Lord, would that I could come away, but I am taken among the thorns, and cannot escape from them as I would. I would, if it were possible, have neither eyes, nor ears, nor heart for sin. Thou callest me to Thyself by saying "Come away," and this is a melodious call indeed. To come to Thee is to come home from exile, to come to land out of the raging storm, to come to rest after long labour, to come to the goal of my desires and the summit of my wishes. But Lord, how can a stone rise, how can a lump of clay come away from the horrible pit? O raise me, draw me. Thy grace can do it. Send forth Thy Holy Spirit to kindle sacred flames of love in my heart, and I will continue to rise until I leave life and time behind me, and indeed come away.

cover letter for FAQ sheet

Dear Christ Community,

In 1997 God, through His Church, brought me and my wife and two year old Andrew to Gainesville. I was funded, charged, and envisioned by the North Florida Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) to establish--from the ground up and in the power of the gospel-- a new congregation in Southwest Gainesville.

During the past 10 years there have been more highs and lows, joys and sorrows, victories and defeats than I can mention here. But the overwhelming theme of our corporate song has been the faithfulness of God. He has shown us time and time again that nothing will stop Him from building His Church. It has been a wild ride to be carried by the frightening and faithful God.

Christ Community, you have taken some big steps in the past three years: hiring Frank Matthews as Associate Pastor, pledging in Journey of Faith to give 1.28 million above & beyond your regular giving, electing and ordaining elders from our midst, moving to two morning services to accommodate growth and reach more people. And these are just a sampling. I am sure most of you could provide your own verse to that song.

Well, the next big step is here! We stand, as a church family, on the brink of our next opportunity to catch our breath, gulp, pray, and fling ourselves toward our mission in faith. Your elders believe that God is calling us to borrow up to $1.8 million to build a facility and renovate our church house on Parker Road. And we are bringing it to you for a vote. Please join me in focused prayer towards the congregational meeting of April 27th. Enclosed is what we hope will be helpful & envisioning information for you.

Again, let me express what a joy it is to serve among a bunch like you... a people who know they have a great need for a Savior and who are finding out, with me, that we have a great Savior for our need.

In Christ, and for the session,

Rob

Sermon on Food, extended post

AT first hearing it seems weird. You almost wonder... how will I come up with much to say. Then you start thinking about it... and thumbing through your bible... and you are at the other end of the spectrum saying, "a sermon about food??" ... shouldn't it be a sermon SERIES on food.

One day it may be, or at least a break-out class or seminar. Close parenthesis.

What about all the things that I simply CANNOT address in one brief sermon? As I've had discussions with people about food it seems that certain issues and ideas emerge. Each of them is, at least for some of us, loaded with emotion and questions.

Things like:
What i cannot talk about today:
anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or drinking, the goodness of wine, world hunger, can you pray with integrity for God to bless a fast-food meal? These and many more...

But I can't just say that I won't say ANYTHING about these things.... I got an email from a friend who wisely stated on this topic:
we have lost our way regarding food and that this shows up in many ways. I see it in everything from our vast consumption of "fast foods" and all that this says about how we live through our obsession with diets and with exercise programs and devices through various forms of disordered eating that can become very serious, through to the fact that the eating channel has now become a primetime competitor with leading cable channels. The food channel has some merits, for sure, (it is one of my personal favorites) but it is also curious to see that we now have a "food as spectacle and obsession" phenomenon.

You can get a large audience together for a striptease act--that is, to watch a girl undress on the stage. Now suppose you come to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? CS LEWIS

(What Lewis could only imagine... we have on our TV's!) All Emeril need do is mention garlic and the crowd whoops and hollers.
In other words, there are real expressions in contemporary culture of where our fallenness has taken us....encourage people to seek help for themselves and friends where the problems become overwhelming. "Don't let yourself get isolated in these struggles. These are not other people's problems, they are ours, and we need to learn better how to be there for each other and be open about these struggles, whatever form they may take."

Well said. Don't struggle alone. This week it is eating. Next week working. April 20 is sleeping. Each of these can be the source of great joy and sorrow. It is vital to look at your failures in each area in the shadow of the cross of Christ. And not just in the shadow of the cross, but with your friends in that shadow... not alone.

Enjoying Wine

Enjoying Wine by Douglas Jones

Wine is quite a miracle. It's something like the birth of a child. A man and woman mix and then create a being wholly distinct from themselves, yet with deep family traits—new and yet the same. A ripe grape contains two parts, unmarried—an interior sugar juice and an exterior skin full of yeast. But if you marry and mix these parts by crushing a grape, it will start toward creating wine, a third distinct thing, new and yet the same—a "wine that maketh glad the heart of man" (Ps. 104:15). In meditating on Christ's miracle of creating wine, Augustine lamented that we accept normal wine creation as any less miraculous, for even as water "turned into wine by the doing of the Lord, so in like manner also is what the clouds pour forth changed into wine by the doing of the same Lord. It has lost its marvellousness by its constant recurrence."

From the simple miracle of fermentation, we gain all the wonderful wine varieties of the world. In broadest strokes, wine has been divided into three general groups: table wines, sparkling wines, and dessert wines. Sparkling wines start with the same process of mixing sugar and yeast, a process which produces about equal parts carbon dioxide and alcohol. If you let the carbon dioxide escape, you move down the road of creating normal wine. If you trap that gas, you get sparkling wines, such as Champagne (French) and Spumanti (Italian).

Dessert wines, on the other hand, such as Ports and Sherries, start down the normal path, but then get fortified somewhat artificially by adding other spirits, raising both the alcohol and sugar levels. Port and other dessert wines have many fans, but I don't count myself one of them (an understatement). They lack the natural beauty and mystery of normal table wines, as well as the fact that Ports only got their push as a spite to the French during an English-French war.

The broad category of table wines divides into red and white wines, a difference that does not result from the color of the actual juice of a grape. All wines start out with clear juice. The color enters from the length of time the juice is allowed to mix with the skins. If the time is longer, then you create red wines; if shorter, then white wines.

Red and white wines divide into several major groups. Both red and white wines are now more often named for the particular grape variety in question, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc. Other wines are more generic blends of several grapes, such as Chablis, Burgundy, Rose, etc. For simplicity's sake, this division between varietal (particular grape) and nonvarietal (more generic blends) is found in both red and white wines. Among red wines, the world's favorite varietal has long been Cabernet Sauvignon. The other prominent red varietals are Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Gamay. Among white wines, the world's favorite varietal has proven to be Chardonnay, with Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Gewurtztraminer also standing tall. Various mixes and cheats also make the rounds, including such market driven inventions as White Zinfandel, a sugary, cinderella wine invented because Americans used to only like white wines, but California had an abundance of straight Zinfandel vineyards.

Enjoying wine involves experimenting with all its varieties, and the most interesting feature of enjoying wine is combining multiple senses—sight, smell, taste, and touch. We miss out on some of the best parts of wine if we concentrate only on the taste.

Sight: When you take a glass of wine, stare at it for a while before you do anything else. We don't have to be experts to enjoy its color, though color can tell the experts much about many details of the particular harvest, age, etc. Examine the wine from all sides. Is it clear or cloudy, bright or dull? More mature red wines will appear slightly orange along the edge. You can enjoy color best against a white background. Perhaps most important for delighting in the color is to use real wine glasses—thin, clear bowls on stems. Thick or colored or clouded goblets diminish the joy and elegance of seeing wine.

Smell: Then swirl the wine in the glass to release and intensify the bouquet. Place your nose deeply into the glass and inhale deeply and meditate. Supposedly, the human nose can identify up to 10,000 different smells, good and bad. Professional tasters say they learn the most from smell, insights about character, origin, and history. But for the pure enjoyment, aromas connect powerfully with our minds and memory. Notice how much emphasis the Song of Solomon places on the delights of perfume.

Taste: Finally, you can taste the wine itself. Take a sip and let it roll around your mouth for ten seconds or so. Sense it against all parts of the tongue and cheeks. They say the tongue senses four fundamental tastes: sweet, astringency (bitterness), sour, and acidity (saltiness). Our tongue tip senses sweet and salty. The sides of our tongue senses sour and salty, and the back does bitterness, with the center actually being the least sensitive. Try them all and compare wine to wine.

Touch: This also involves the tongue. How does the wine sit? Is it heavy or light, airy or smooth? Temperature plays here as well. Red wines do best at room temperature and not cooled, whereas some whites do a little better cooled. Temperature can greatly affect taste. Some reds accidentally refrigerated can taste like vinegar. Learn to enjoy room-temperature reds.

Many books are commonly available which can provide much more depth. Christ created a high-quality wine, and so we should at least be able to tell the difference as we obey the divine command, "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works" (Eccl. 9:7).

Grace in Trials

Father of mercies,
Hear me for Jesus' sake.
I am sinful even in ....

Giver of all graces,
I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me,
for it is hard to practice what I believe.
Strengthen me against temptations.

My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,
a river of corruption since childhood days,
flowing on in every pattern of behavior.