Powerful

The VIVIT band is now working on learning "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns. Very powerful song and I love the video that they have made for the movie above. I look forward to watching "Fireproof", starring Kirk Cameron. I am confident it will be excellent.

Please pray for VIVIT. They are supposed to perform this afternoon outdoors, and it once again has been forecast for rain. But then, when it was forecast for rain when they performed outdoors for their school, it stopped just in time. :-)

They also have 2 big performances lined up this summer. They are not ready to play "Slow Fade" for this afternoon, but they are working hard to be ready by the next 2 performances. When the band played for their school and the school asked for them to do another round of the same songs, on the second round Josh forgot to re-tune his electric guitar. He had just played "Meant to Live" in drop D and was not used to playing "Holy is the Lord" after that song. I was proud of him for pressing on and trying to compensate. It was impossible for him to re-tune as they went along. David Attebery told them to never stop. To press through their mistakes and keep going.... and they did. It was a tough lesson, but he pressed on as he was taught to do. A similar thing happened to Caleb, the drummer, in the middle of the "Meant to Live." His drum set began to collapse. As I and Mr. Attebery held up the frame of the drums, Caleb kept playing with a smile on his face... not missing a beat. It was inspiring to witness.

They have added 2 new member to the band. Both are homeschoolers... one of which is praying about attending Providence Academy with Josh, Brandon and Caleb next year. There is the possibility of another addition that would play keyboards who is also a homeschooler. Providence students are essentially part-time homeschoolers. What an exciting venture for these young adults that range in age from 13 to 15 as they play songs that bring glory to our Heavenly Father.

Satirical Genius!!!

Read THIS and THIS and take NOTE: Any resemblance to reality on this website is purely intentional, but hardly comprehensive.

Pray for your pastor!

We are about to end yet another month and start a new one *blink* (yep, it went by fast). What I think you ought to consider doing along with me is making a commitment to diligently pray for your pastor and his family. What triggered the conviction to pursue praying for my pastor was reading THIS POST, part 1.
HERE is part 2.

The following is a resource to get us started: 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor

I find myself ashamed to admit that I have not made such prayers a priority.

Let us send this resource to our pastors and tell them that this is what we will commit to prayer each day. Let us be sincere and diligent in this commitment. God help us.

Also, go watch these 2 videos by James White on encouragement, endurance, and patience.

Psalm 4

Christ Alone: The Object of Our Faith

The object of our faith is never ourselves, it is Christ alone.--my husband's response to Rob Bell

"We must not fondly imagine that we can do whatever we choose; but we may fairly expect that whenever God allots us a work, he will give us grace adequate to accomplish it. Peter walking on the sea without divine permission would be presumption to attempt, and an impossibility to perform; but Peter, with Christ's assent, might have walked across the Atlantic itself if his faith had not failed. So it is with you. If your Lord has called you to a work, rely upon him for the power to achieve it; he will not forsake you; but if it is merely your own whim or caprice which has thrust you into a position for which you are not qualified, you have no right to reckon upon the divine aid to speed your false steps. Blessed is he who goes to his Father and asks his counsel, for he shall always find that where God gives us guidance he will give us grace."--C.H. Spurgeon

"Peter had looked at the waves, and his faith was just strong enough to believe that Jesus could make him walk on the sea; but he had never taken the winds into his calculation. Had he thought of the winds as well as the waves, and reposed upon Jesus for the whole, I have no doubt his faith would have held out, and not have so fearfully given-way. The first two or three steps on the water had exhilarated him, and made him feel what wonders he was doing; but there came a rough blast which threatened to overthrow him, and as he could scarcely stand against so rude a wind upon so slippery a floor he began to be afraid. Something occurred which he had not foreseen, and in strange surprise he yielded to blank unbelief. Thus it often comes to pass with us. We arrange our faith according to our estimate of the perils and perplexities that lie in our path; we even plan the events that will probably happen to us, and we feel sure that we can trust God in all these circumstances; but a fresh contingency arises upon which we had never reckoned, a wind which we had not thought of, and forthwith our courage fails; we do not trust God for that."--more Spurgeon

"I have been sometimes full of joy in the Lord, and I have usually noticed that depression of spirits almost invariably follows, and that from some circumstances which at other times would have caused me the slightest disturbance. Satan knows how to use any trivial thing to spoil the lustre of our faith and the placidity of our joy. With what subtlety he will assail you! A difficulty you have been labouring under may have been removed by God's providence; you may be very grateful, and ready to set up your stone of thankfulness, and to praise the name of the Lord. Anon a new difficulty will be suggested. While you are blessing God for all his mercy, on a sudden some trouble like a squall occurs; it may not be worth mentioning, but it will assume such strange proportions that it covers up all your joys and leaves you a prey to unbelief. How watchful we ought to be against unbelief, for of all sins this is one of the most heinous. Like Jeroboam, of whom we read that he sinned himself and made Israel to sin, unbelief is itself a sin, and becomes the parent of all sorts of sins. We sometimes talk to one another about our doubts and fears as if they were infirmities to be pitied rather than crimes to be loathed, but we seldom talk to each other about the delinquencies of our conduct, such as angry tempers, hasty words, harsh judgments, unbecoming levity, or lax conversation. No; we should be ashamed to confess transgressions that are far too common among people professing godliness. Why is it that we do not blush to acknowledge our doubts that mistrust God, and our fears that stagger at his promise? Are they not quite as much sins against the commandment of the Lord and the duty of every faithful Christian as drunkenness, or dishonesty, or any offence against the moral law? To doubt the faithfulness of God is atrocious. Who can estimate the amount of virus there is in the sin of unbelief? It would stab at the very heart of God; it would pluck the crown from the head of Jehovah. Let us hate unbelief with all our hearts, and watch against it. Remember that it can attack us from any quarter of the compass unless we keep perpetual guard..."---Yep! More Spurgeon! And for the rest of this fabulous sermon go HERE

**To find out who the guy in the above video is click "comments" and read the 3rd comment.

In Memory...

Sunday Lunch: Meatloaf Stuffed Braided Bread

Meatloaf Stuffed Braided Bread will look like a fancy loaf of bread, but when you cut it, it is filled with meatloaf. You can also do this with meatballs. Just add a little spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese to the top of the meatballs before braiding the bread on top of it and serve with additional sauce.

1 loaf frozen bread dough
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ lbs. ground beef
1 ½ c. soft bread crumbs
1 8oz. jar Cheese Whiz
¾ c. chopped onion
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

1. Thaw bread dough in fridge overnight, covered. Bring to room temp.**
2. Reserve 1 Tbsp. egg for glaze.
3. Combine remaining ingredients. Put in loaf pan and bake at 350˚ for 45 min. Drain.
4. Press dough into bottom of greased cookie sheet. Place loaf in center of dough.
5. Cut 6 strips in each side of dough and criss-cross over top.
6. Brush dough with reserved egg.
7. Return to oven and bake 20 min.
8. If you want to, you can brush butter on top and sprinkle parmesan cheese and parsley flakes

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men... --Col 3:23

Don't talk back to Darth Vader or he'll get ya...

It's 3:00 in the morning...

...and I cannot sleep. Have you ever had "restless legs?"

not fun.

However, one of the good things about getting up so ridiculously early is that it is intensely quiet. A perfect opportunity to read a review on a book about prayer and then buy the book, to pray, to read Scripture, to write and to reflect on the fact that today is my 16th wedding anniversary. Thank you Lord!

Jon and I still often get e-mails and comments on the video made by Fellowship Bible Church that was uploaded onto Youtube (and can be found on my right sidebar).

One of the comments left there was: Lisa, you were the one with a heart of a stone by that time right?...my husband has no feelings for me as he used to... My question: ...your heart´s change was suddenly? How did you recover that love again for your husband?

My answer: Yes. I was the one with the stony heart. Read THIS about how God restored my marriage. My heart change was sudden unto the Lord when He drew me to Himself during that tumultuous trial. However, the recovery of love for my husband was a process. It took time. And part of that process was, by the grace of God alone, changing my expectations:

Change your expectations. Some have linked dissatisfaction to frustrated expectation. According to them, “Unhappiness is not found in what we experience, but in what we expect.” ... “The only way to find satisfaction is to have this expectation: Each day is an opportunity to delight in the Lord.”
--The Secret of Contentment

With the making of each day as an opportunity to delight in the Lord, came the beautiful but slow restoration of my love for my husband. Not only a restoration, but a love beyond my ability to articulate its depth because it is a love founded on the truth of God's Word and not the lies that we are immersed in concerning what marriage is about in this corrupt world. As I prayed that God would help me see marriage from His perspective as written in His Word of Truth, my expectations in marriage evolved. I began focusing on all the things about my husband that I respect. I began to not only fall in love with Jon, but to grow closer to my Heavenly Father as I longed to continually grow in the grace and knowledge of Him... to delight in Him, clinging to God's truth and the fact that He IS faithful and His purposes ARE good.

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,
out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock
making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.
How blessed is the man
who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud,
nor to those who lapse into falsehood. --Psalm 40:2-4

Prayers for Steven Curtis Chapman and Family

Considering I have a 5 year old daughter and a teen son eligible to start driving according to Arkansas laws, the news about Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter deeply struck my heart. Please, please pray for this family. I cannot imagine their grief. I especially feel that the teenage son needs our prayers and support:

The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.

The girl, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of the family's home Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother...--News from Nashville

For some reason, the following hymn has come to mind for them:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul...

Go to In Memory of Maria. This is a blog set up by someone close to the Chapman family. There is also a video clip there to view that you will not want to miss.

(Thank you Leslie)

Neil Greenhaw, the man that comes to our home once a week to guide our children's Christian band, use to tour with Steven Curtis Chapman. When he came over this past week to encourage the kids, he spoke of Chapman's witness on stage, as an example to the VIVIT band, of a man with a message beyond his songs, pointing to Christ, giving God alone the glory, who also has chosen something to inspire others to do for the glory of God. That something is adoption and the care of orphan's. As most of you know, that is also something very dear to our family, as we have adopted twin boys and are praying about adopting more.

I really wish I was surprised... really...

Our pastor sent the following to Jon and I:

Deepak Chopra Praises Evangelical Manifesto, New Evangelicalism

The signers of the Evangelical Manifesto have gotten the attention of one of the world's leading promoters of New Age spirituality, Deepak Chopra, and he likes what he sees. Chopra's latest book, The Third Jesus, is the most lucid portrayal of the cosmic counterfeit Jesus as has ever been written. In his commentary of May 19, he praises the Manifesto's tone and message:

The strikingly new note in the Evangelical Manifesto is that it intends to be conciliatory. In affirming that they totally identify with their faith, the writers quickly declare that their purpose is "not to attack or exclude." This seems to reverse the very impulse that brought the religious right to power politically. By erasing the line between faith and the voting booth, evangelicals absolutely excluded anyone who believes in a secular Constitution and its separation of church and state. They also vehemently attacked candidates who didn't share their viewpoint.

What's changed? We get a clue in another phrase -- "the global era" -- which points to the promotion of environmental issues among younger evangelicals, who see themselves as stewards of God's creation. If you want to save the planet, it helps not to attack the bulk of humanity that worships a different God. Beyond that, the manifesto reflects a willingness to be less intolerant. That's good news from a sector of the American public that made intolerance their marching banner in the past.

For those Christians who were deeply concerned by the message of the self-proclaimed Evangelical Manifesto, the approval of one of the world's leading New Age authors should be one more reason to take a second look at what the signers are actually proposing. Regarding his latest book on the cosmic Jesus, Chopra writes:

There is not one Jesus...but three. First, there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought. Next there is Jesus the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment."

-–Deepak Chopra on Chopra.com

As doctrinally vacuous evangelical churches grow more interested in mysticism and New Spirituality through the influence of emergent church radicals, the overlap between the two worlds is growing. Those who believe in Biblical truth should be duly wary of what the signers of the Evangelical Manifesto are proposing. If the promoter of the counterfeit "Third Jesus" finds it helpful to his agenda, what exactly does that say?

Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com

{{{shudder}}}