Update

It's been so long since I've posted anything. I've been wanting to put up some pictures from Easter, but just have not had time to do it. It's not been a very good week so far in our house. Noah has had some digestive issues that have been causing him some pain. He's been getting up in the night crying and not able to go back to sleep. So, of course, I have been having sleepless nights along with him and am just exhausted. I've also been stressed out worrying about him. I took him to the doctor today and figured out what was wrong and what to give him for it, so hopefully he will be better soon. Also, Matt pulled a muscle in his back and has been in some serious pain. He also went to the doctor and got some medicine, so hopefully he will be better soon too.

It's a good thing that Matt and I went out of town last weekend to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We had a wonderful time in Tampa and had dinner at our favorite restaurant Bern's Steakhouse. Sunday we drove over to Clearwater and spent part of the day walking on the beach. The water and the weather were beautiful. It was a great anniversary. Thanks to my mom and dad for watching the kids for us. Especially since Noah started to not feel well over there and didn't sleep good.

Wearing Orange for Stellan

Stellan is a little baby who we have been praying for for several weeks now. He has some major issues with his heart and as I type this he is undergoing a very risky surgery on his heart. Please say a prayer for him. You can read his story by clicking on his picture on the left side of my blog.

I Dreamed A Dream

This video is so good!

One of my favorite songs from my all time favorite musical- Les Miserables

Emily, the Theologian

Last night I was reading to Emily out of the "Jesus Storybook Bible". Incidentally, I highly recommend this book to anyone with young children. Every chapter points forward to Christ. The subtitle of the book is "Every story whispers His name." It is excellent.

Anyway, we were reading the chapter about the crucifixion in preparation for Good Friday. She had lots of questions and was especially horrified about the crown of thorns that they placed on his head. Every time we see a rose bush she takes great care not to get too close to the thorns. She is very fearful of them. We talked about the great suffering that Jesus went through for us. Then, she looked at me and these are the exact words that came out of her mouth:

"Mommy, do you think he was sad? Or maybe he was happy because he knew that he was taking away our sins?"

I was stunned by these profound words that came out of my six year old's mouth. They say that the gospel is simple enough that even small children can understand it. I got a beautiful glimpse of that last night. There are many adults I know who still don't get it, so it's amazing to hear it from the mouth of a little one. Oh, that we would all have faith like a child.

Good Friday

For the past couple of weeks in preparation for Easter, I have been reading Frederick Leahy's "The Cross He Bore". The book consists of 13 meditations on the suffering of Christ beginning in Gethsemane and ending with the outer darkness. Many times while I was reading this book, I was overcome with gratitude and a desire to worship. I don't think that any of us can fully comprehend the magnitude of the sacrifice that Christ made. I tend to focus more on the physical suffering that he experienced with the floggings, the crown of thorns and the crucifixion. As horrible and awful at they were, the spiritual suffering that he endured was much more painful and sorrowful to him than his physical suffering.

Jesus repeatedly refers to himself drinking from the cup. "Shall I not drink of the cup that the Father has given me?" (John 18:11). The cup he is refering to is the cup of God's wrath for the punishment of sin. The wrath of God is not a subject that we hear about very often, but it is very real. I heard R.C. Sproul say recently that there is an idea in our culture and in our churches that God's love swallows His wrath. This is not the case. We have a holy God and because he is holy he cannot and will not ignore sin. In Jonathan Edward's famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", he compares the wrath of God to water that is stored up behind a dam that is about to burst. He also uses the imagery of a bow and arrow with the arrow bent and ready to be released. It is only because of God's grace and mercy that He holds back his wrath. But he will not hold it back forever.

In the second chapter of Leahy's book he says:

"Here in Gethsemane, we see the sinless, finite humanity of Christ in deep and terrible distress. Calvin said that Christ had horror at the prospect of death because 'he had before his eyes the dreadful tribunal of God, and the judge himself armed with inconceivable vengeance; and because of our sins, the load of which was laid upon him, pressed him down with their enormous weight..."

He drank the cup of wrath that should have been ours and will be for those who have not trusted in Christ for their salvation.

"Now he gives to his people 'the cup of salvation' (Psa 116:13). These two cups, one so bitter, the other so sweet, stand side by side: the one cup necessitated the other. One cup was emptied that the other might be filled to overflowing. The first cup guaranteed the second. Both cups are precious and bear the hallmark of sovereign grace. ' What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD (Psa. 116:12,13).

The End of Christian America

This is the cover story from this week's issue of Newsweek. I can't say that it really surprised me but it was still disconcerting to read it. One of the statements made in the article is that the number of people in the United States who have no religious affiliation has doubled since 1990. It also says that the area of the country that has the most non-religious people is now the Northeast instead of the Pacific Northwest. Considering that the Northeast was home to The Great Awakening during the Puritan era and exploded in Christian growth during that time, this information is astounding. It is becoming more and more common for people who attend church to be in the minority. When I was a child, pretty much everyone I knew attended church. This is not the case anymore. It will probably not be long before the South and the Midwest follow suit with the Northeast. North America is resembling Europe more and more. Today in Europe, many of the great cathedrals and churches from centuries ago are empty. They are cemeteries and graveyards.

This information makes it abundantly clear that the West is no longer the center of Christianity. I think it's interesting to look back on church history and follow the spread of Christianity from the Middle East westward to Europe and then North America. Now it's coming back full circle across Latin America, Asia and Africa which is now where the majority of Christians in the world live. This is no surprise to God and is all part of His good and sovereign plan. So, I guess I should not be disconcerted by it. I guess I'm more concerned about the faith that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have. This gives me an even greater incentive to teach my children about Christ and pray for their salvation.

This is an excerpt I read the other day in John Piper's "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die" :

Christianity began in the East. Over the centuries there was a major shift to the West. But increasingly now, Christianity is not a Western religion. This is no surprise to Christ. Already in the Old Testament his global impact was foretold: " All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you" (Psalm 22:27). "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy" (Psalm 67:4). So when Jesus came to the end of his ministry on earth, he made his mission clear: "that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:46-47)... Jesus Christ is not a tribal deity. He does not belong to one culture or one ethnic group. He is "the Lamb of God , who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Wildlife in the Suburbs

This is what the kids and I saw as we were leaving our neighborhood the other day.

Ironically, we were on our way to Animal Kingdom to see some animals and ride the safari. Ha! We didn't even have to leave home to see animals! We had our own neighborhood safari.

Easter Bunny

Noah's Easter Pictures

Emily's Easter Pictures