You might be a redneck if...

I really will get back to serious stuff! But for now, I'm needing some levity and God's providing...

Redneck Seafood

HT: The Blazing Center

For Patti

Looking in the mirror

Part 2

Yeah. Keep a close watch on yourself. Not someone else. I knew I should have turned it off then. But I was caught and I could feel it. No sense wriggling when the hook is set, you know?

Matt pointed out what he called the bookends of the chapter. At the front end you have the understanding that there will be those around you that are not believers, who will come and go in the church. At the other end is Paul's summary exhortation to Timothy that there is a way to live and preach the gospel that will as Paul says save yourself and your hearers. And in between instead of a bunch of things to tell them or to do for them, there are a list of instructions for Timothy. The focus is on us.

Here's the heart of what I received from his message...italicized sentences are Matt's...

Verse 6: Be trained in the gospel ~
Getting the gospel right matters. And mostly we have to distinguish between what the gospel is and what morality is. When we teach people what to do and how to live without the foundation of Christ crucified what you’ve done at best is restrain the hearts of people, but you won’t see their hearts transformed. If you don’t get the gospel right, you will inoculate your people to Jesus. You give them just enough of Him to never know Him. The gospel matters.

Translation: If we don't stop focusing on how people behave and focus them on what Christ has done, we will give them enough of Jesus to make them think they know Him, when all they will know is a how-to and how-not-to list that will never get them to the cross. We must give them Jesus. Let it stir up your affections. We must be experts in the gospel. Give them the cross so that when they see Him they not only recognize Him, but praise Him rightly.

When doctrine fades, worship fades. Seeing God rightly stirs the affections of the soul. If you see Him wrongly then even with affections stirred...to this clarify this, Matt gave a great analogy:

Let's say I just feel really stirred up toward my wife. I don't know what did it. I just know that all of a sudden I love that woman. So I walk into our house and she's sitting on the couch...and I get down on my knees in front of her and just grab hold of her and tell her, "Baby, I just love you so much. I mean my heart hurts, I love you so much. I don't know if it's your black hair or your deep, brown eyes...but I am crazy about you."

And some of you may go, "Well, that's really sweet of you Chandler." And it would be really sweet...except my wife is a blond and she has blue eyes...so it's going to go bad for me.

Seeing God rightly leads to us being transformed...leads to humility...leads to godliness.

God's already been working on me in this area. As I'm teaching through When I Don't Desire God, Piper is hammering this point right now. We must know the difference between justification and sanctification. We must know how to fight the good fight in a way that doesn't take the grace out of the gospel and replace it with all the stuff we do. Our goal must be to continue to follow Paul's example of being resolved to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.

Especially in my home with the girls this can be so hard. How many times a day do we moms have to correct behavior? Stop hitting that. Eat that. Don't eat that. Don't say that. Say that. Don't touch that. Pick that up. Don't do that. You better do that. Don't jump on that. Don't throw that. Stop. Go. Come here. Come here. Come here! AAAAHHHH! Sorry...flashback to the toddler days...

But at some point as the girls grow in their ability to understand (which is much sooner than we realize) we have to move out of do's and don't's...well, it's not so much move out of them as reveal the undergirding of it all. We have to show them Christ. We have to reveal Him as lovely as He really is...as amazing as He really is...as worthy as He really is...so that there is reason to obey. They have to see the problem of sin in them and in me. They have to understand who they are in that sin so that they can see the cross of Christ as amazing as it really is that God would send His Son to become sin for them...His enemies...while they were still mired in that sin. Christ died to free them to obey. We do it for love of Him, not to gain us anything with Him.

Oh, how hard a message it is to overcome in our kids when we've told them for years what good girls they are...especially when they do good for us. Good girl, Cassie! You cleaned your room! Wow, Brennan! You did great! Then we turn the message on them somewhere (or maybe we'll just let the Sunday school teachers do it!) and try to tell them that they are dreadful sinners in need of saving. And that their good works have earned them nothing but wrath. Hard transition, isn't it?

It hit home to me that I am as guilty as anyone out there at giving my girls morality instead of the gospel...which can leave them with the taste in their mouths that doing matters more than becoming. Oh, how far from the gospel is that message. They must know the heart of their unworthiness of God to feel the impact of the cross rightly.

Understand, I want my girls to know we're proud of them...to be their biggest encouragers...to be the first to cheer and the first to celebrate them. But there must be an undergirding that it is who they are that we delight in not in their performance. I don't want to make wives who need to achieve and want men who will perform rightly for them. I want a generation of homes which permeate the grace of God that is given while we are yet sinners. Who pursue obedience because of His great love...not to earn it. Who stand for right though the heavens fall...not because it's the ticket to God's pleasure but because God is my right.

I can hear Candace in my head...so what's that look like? Well, to start it means focusing on ourselves just as Matt has taught. The problem is what's coming out of me. I need to focus hard on the gospel. I need to understand rightly what happened on that cross. I need a clear picture of Isaiah 6...and Isaiah 50-54...and Ezekiel 16...and Ezekiel 36...and Zechariah 3...and Romans 1-16...and Ephesians 2...Philippians 2...and so many more.

It is not as easy as say this and do that...or stop that and start this...we must be transformed by renewing our minds in the gospel of Christ. We must know ourselves who we were and be amazed at this Christ. We must have a word ready to identify with their sins...to lead them to Jesus. Not to say Jesus doesn't like that. But that Jesus died for that. We must be ready to rejoice when they do any good in this world not because it means they are good little girls, but because it reflects rightly the image of God in us. We must become students of Scripture. We must know, deeply know what it is when we say gospel.

Can you feel it like can that you need work in this area? I've begun by starting a new John Piper book called Finally Alive. You can buy it here...but if, like me, finances aren't available right now, join me in reading it free online. I can't say enough how much I appreciate Desiring God and the fact that almost all of their material is free online. Also, if you just really want the book in your hands, but can't afford it...just call them. They'll let you have it for whatever you can pay. Promise.

The work is not in our words but in our hearts. And I know it. But I can feel myself wriggling on the hook. But this isn't even the hardest hit I took from his message...I know...exhausting isn't it? Now you see why I can't blog when I'm under the knife...

Blogging

Looking in the mirror

Part 1

So, Matt steps up to the stage. I already know that he's going to be talking about the shepherd and his unregenerate sheep. I've watched the videos that talked about why Piper chose him to come. I know where I think this talk is going. Basically, he's there to answer the question what do you do about all those around you who say they're sheep, but don't act like it? We've all got those people in our lives down here in Texas. Almost everyone you know goes to one church or another. Or at least they say they do.

I went to jr. high and high school in a town with less than a thousand people in it. But still, there were six churches in town. You could find five more just by driving a few miles down the highway. Most Sundays all across Texas and the rest of the south the churches are filled with people. There may only be 14 people there, but that's because it's in the middle of no where, west Texas. There may be only five houses within 15 miles of it! But they're there...Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday nights...and if you're really religious, you're there for the business meeting before the service starts.

Down here, almost everyone in the stands on a Friday night would say they were a Christian. Truly. They might be able to name one or two people they know that "don't go to church"...and they'd be able to talk about that strange, white building that went up next to the jr. high. But not them...and not their friends. They're Christians. Unfortunately, too many of those claims for Christianity come from those that are basing it on what happened one summer at VBS or on the fact that their daddy was a deacon and their family has sat on the same pew at church since their great-granddaddy helped build it...see that plaque on the side? Going to church here is simply...what you do.

I heard Don Carson last night say...

The rising secularization...does not mean the diminishing of religion...secularization does not shut down religion. What it does is shift it to the periphery of life so that you can be ever so religious as long as it doesn't matter...so long as it's a just private thing...so that if anybody wants to say that their religion ought to change how people think and act and live, what laws should be passed and the like...No! No! No! You mustn't do that!

This is an attitude Matt Chandler knows too well in the Dallas area. He starts with the story of how he got to where he is at The Village. A funny, sad, angry story. At the end of it he says...

In December of 2002, despite my anger towards evangelicals, I became the pastor of a church of evangelicals in what Christianity Today called the “center of the evangelical world.” Despite the fact that my heart had always burned for the prodigal, God sent me to the older brother.

A little pang there. Isn't that true? Too often I'm just like the older brother in that story, wanting to know where my piece of the pie is. Not concerned, not burning with desire for the lost. Just sitting back at home, feeling proud of myself for keeping the faith, wanting my goat to throw a party for my friends. Yeah. Little pain there. I needed that.

But...onto those sheep...what about them? I'm ready. What's he going to tell us to do? How do you talk to them? How can I break through to those around me? How do you convince someone that they're not a believer when they think they are? Should you even try? I wait pen in hand for him to get started.

He tells us he's going to 1 Timothy 4. Really? I'm thinking. I start reviewing what I know of that chapter...don't let anyone think less of you because you're young...set an example...keep a close watch...on yourself. Uh-oh. I don't like where this is going. Yeah. I was right. I didn't like where he was going. But it's good.

Giggling in the dark

I mentioned that I was recovering from surgery. My Mom informed me not to do this without being abundantly clear that I was talking about "spiritual" surgery and not in a hospital somewhere, lying in a bed, unable to CALL YOUR MOTHER!! Yep. We moms can get a little emotional over our little ones...even when the little one is 40 years old.

So, no...to clear up any confusion. I'm not recovering from any cutting on my body. But I am healing from some good surgery God did on my soul to sever some more flesh from the spirit he's sanctifying in me. And He got started while I was watching this talk from Matt Chandler. Before I post about his talk, let me tell you why all my girls were excited he had been asked to the conference.


Matt (May I call you Matt? Thanks.) has been used by God in an amazing way here in the Ransleben household. Brennan listens to him almost nightly. This came after months of trying to figure out how to settle her mind on truth as she lay in bed night after night, filled with anxiety...from what? You'll have to name it...because mostly she can't. Maybe it's something coming the next day. Maybe it's something happening 6 months from now. Maybe it's something that may never happen. But somewhere in that darkened room her fears would rise and her mind would race and the tears would fall. Night after night.

Then one night last summer, I was sleeping next to her in a hotel room and wasn't tired though I knew we had to turn the lights out for the girls. Don't you hate that moment? Well, I had come prepared with my iPod loaded with sermons. As we lay together in the dark, it was obvious she wasn't able to settle. We talked for a while about what might be concerning her...talked again about trusting the Lord...about talking to Him. I asked if she might like to listen to this guy I was listening to. He's pretty funny and was speaking about his kids which I thought she might like.

She pretty reluctantly agreed but soon started smiling along with me as we lay with our faces near each other, holding on to each other in the darkened room. Then giggles from her which, of course, caused her sisters to rise up to see what's going on. That made her relax even more. Mom and she shared a secret. Giggle, giggle. Her whole body sank into sleep as she listened because though Matt starts funny, interesting and even sarcastic and self-depreciating, it's not long before the truth of what he's saying penetrates deeply to the root of where I am turning from God. If you're like us, your body and mind quiet while the truth of God settles inside.

He's passionate about the Lord. His theology matches mine. His sarcasm makes me look kind. And his stories show that truth matters in real life. My kind of preacher.

Since that night, Brennan has gone to bed with earphones plugged in. She listens to the sermon from that first night over and over. She can literally quote most of it. But now she's heard almost everything he's ever said. She brings up the sermons when talking about life. She remembers them when she reads the Word. She tells me his points as well as her favorite lines as we drive together. But more than that, being under the Word through his teaching has settled the nights for her. As she listens, her mind shuts out the fears and fills with the Word. How grateful do you think I am for the gift of Matt Chandler to the church?

If you'd like to give him a listen click the link to the right under "Favorite People To Listen To". Brennan's favorite one is from 6.01.08 called "From Childish to Childlike". And when you get to the line, "That's old school, baby!"...think of her! That starts her laughing every time.

Another must hear is the series called The Cross (Parts 1-6). This was given between March and April of 2007. I can't recommend it strongly enough. I told this to Cassie shortly after Brennan began listening daily. She, I'm sure, thought like she always did when I tell her she's got to read this, listen to this, see this...Sure, Mom...whatever. I say it a lot. But she downloaded it to take on the Ukraine trip last summer with Wayne. She told me she thought she'd listen to them like Brennan does to go to sleep. Funny.

She griped at me when she got back for two reasons. First, she never got to sleep. How could I when they were so amazing?? And second, why didn't you tell me how great they were??? Everyone should listen to this!! I just said I was sorry. What can you do?

As I read back over this, you might get the impression that he's just a really good sleep aid! Promise that's not true. Even when Brennan does go to sleep during one, she immediately goes back to the last thing she remembers and starts from there. You won't want to miss anything he's teaching.

So, even though he is generally used to flay me open, I'm grateful...oh, so grateful...for the gift of teaching through Matt. Take a listen sometime and let me know if you agree. Tomorrow I'll let you know what I learned from 1 Timothy 4.

Wedding cake #1

And hopefully the last. I'm not cut out for the pressure of a bride on her wedding day. Fortunately, she was happy with it. So for all of you who care...though why you would other than to have a chuckle, I'll never know...

Let's work on our parking, shall we?

I know. I'm encouraging demeaning stereotypes. But given that I've driven with a lot of my friends...yes, you...there's a reason these things become well known. Here's just a few examples of why it's important to me to teach my girls how to drive well.

Heads up

Sometimes I think of things that I wish I had known as a young mom. This is one of them, though it falls on the lighter side of parenting. And yes, I know that I mentioned it here before, but it bears repeating...

Be careful about doing things two times in a row for your kids, especially on holidays.

Anything two times in a row.

Sometimes you'll mean to. You've got something that you're longing to impart to them so you start doing something special around Christmas or their birthday. I promise that if you do, it's stuck. It doesn't take much. But sometimes, you won't mean to. You won't even remember what you did last year. But they will.

That's why tonight the girls are getting helium balloons and chocolate for Valentine's Day. Not because there was some grand plan to teach them something profound about love...but because one night at about 11pm on the day before Valentine's, Wayne and I remember that we had NOTHING to give the girls the next morning. Thus a trip to Wal-Mart's decimated aisles where we got the only things left...balloons and chocolate. They loved it so much that we remembered the balloons the next year. And who doesn't do chocolate. But that was years ago. You'd think they'd clamor for something better now. But no. Last week I overheard them talking to each other.

Can't wait to get my balloon, said Brennan.
And chocolate, said Aisley.
Yeah and remember we get a gift card, too, Brennan added.

A gift card? When did I throw that in? I ask.
Mom. Seriously. I hear back. You always get us a gift card.
Mom, the other adds, you know that. She's just being funny.

Well, no. I wasn't. But thinking back...sure enough...for the last couple of years we've gotten them various gift cards because frankly I'm tired of the junk that accumulates in my house and at least Chik-fil-a is consumable. Also, that's the only way they'd ever get Starbucks from me because there is something about paying $4 for a drink that rubs me wrong!

So there you have it. Balloons, chocolate and gift cards. Now the trick is to figure out some amazingly deep spiritual analogy that will make them think of Christ instead of consumerism and modern day romance. Any ideas, let me know. For now, I better start thinking about what we did for Easter the last couple of years...

Real Life Valentine

There's nothing we women love more than a good love story. Sly glances, soft touches, the right words at the right time that tell you that he alone sees you as you really are...and that what you really are is all he's ever wanted. With a household of girls, there's a lot of sighing when Mr. Darcy walks toward Lizzy in the morning mist and says that if she speaks his love will forever be silenced...sigh...

But at 40 I find myself growing less enamored with love at its beginnings than in love that endures. Almost everyone finds the first...fewer than ever, it seems, find that which lasts to the end. Love that has met and faced, fought and striven, lingered and overcome. Love that has wounded and healed, worked and failed, stroked and soothed.

In August of this year, Wayne and I will have been married 20 years so that explains a lot of it. As sizes expand and blood pressures rise...as gray hair increases and winkles appear...confidence of that which once attracted wanes, but what remains is invaluable to me. I was reminded of this today when I read a posting entitled Love in the Time of Prostate Cancer. It's written by a man who's undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. In it he writes of his discovery of this very thing. It really resonated with me. (Note, moms, that it contains things which I wouldn't have Aisley and Brennan read yet.)

And since this is the day before Valentine's, let me just say here how grateful I am to love Wayne. He has endured with me patiently. He has cared for me tenderly. He has argued with me lovingly. He has corrected me gently. He has seen me through sick months and played with me through sunny days. The gift of him to me softened my heart to love my Father more. I could never tell you why Wayne looked at me that night and asked me to dance. But I know why I held on so tight. The joy in my heart today is that I still love to be in his arms everyday.

I love you, honey. Happy Valentine's Day.

Okay, okay

I know that I really need to get better at posting while pondering. But I find I have almost nothing to say during those times. And I'm finally old enough to know that nothing said is far better than something said too soon. I'll try to get better at pointing you to where I am, so maybe I won't be alone in what I'm thinking...though when you read what it's like for me, you may take a pass!

I've had a busy week, but that's not really keeping me from computer time. Mostly I've been watching some amazing talks from last week's Desiring God Pastor's Conference. If you've not seen any of them, please don't miss the talks from Matt Chandler and Michael Oh. I love Mark Dever and am so grateful for his work during this conference, especially the first talk on the gospel itself. If I could get my Impact kids to see this before we begin next month's training, we'd be ready to hit the ground running. But Mark and Michael cut me to the bone...layed me out...then stitched me up again to send me on my way to healing. I'm so grateful.

I've also been working through When I Don't Desire God... Set-Apart Feminity... Valley of Vision...and studying hard on God's Sovereignty in all our lives through all of Scripture.

So, I'll post on how the surgery recovery is going when I can breathe again...and when the wedding cake is finished. Yes. A wedding cake. Have I ever made a wedding cake? No. Am I excited? Well...excited might be going a little far (right, Mom?). But I am grateful...truly. When the Lord gives you something to do, being happy about it can be a fight...but it's a fight that must be won. He's much more glorified when we look pleased with Him than when we look like this life in Christ is a begrudging, joyless trial that keeps us from doing what we really want to do. Pray for me to have this lived as truth.

On that note, let me leave you with this quote that I read today from the ladies at Titus 2 Talk. They are a group of Christian ladies out of the UK and while they don't post often, when they do, it's gems like this one. Join me in thanking God for Mrs. Spurgeon and her call out to us all...

When my soul is tossed on the rough waves of the troubled sea of this life, if I can but cast out the anchor of hope into the depths of God's blessed will, it holds fast at once and the winds and the waves are rebuked...

God's plans and purposes for me, and for you, dear reader, were all made and determined on from the beginning; and as they are worked out day by day in our lives, how wise should we be if, with joyful certainty, we accepted each unfolding of his will as a proof of his faithfulness and love! When once I, as a believer, can say from my heart, 'This is the will of God concerning me', it matters not what the 'this' is - whether it be a small domestic worry, or the severance of the dearest earthly ties - the fact that it is his most blessed will, takes all the fierce sting out of the trouble, and leaves it powerless to hurt or hinder the peace of my soul.

~ Susannah Spurgeon in Free Grace and Dying Love

Dr. Don

There is so much that this present generation of teens and twenty somethings will never understand...

• Why we would have ever had to call when we got somewhere.
• How to reheat without a microwave.
• Having to get up to change the channel.
• Have to flip through all four stations.
• Knowing that if the Indian Chief is on the TV, and I'm hearing the National Anthem then it's time for everyone to be in bed.
• Never having a need for a password.
• Why we all sniffed our tests with the weird purple ink.
• What it was like to spend the car rides climbing all over the car and playing in the floorboard! Eeek.
  

One of those is how precious this announcement is. When God called me out of my pointless life and into life with Him, there was no internet...no iTunes...no way to hear from great men of God unless you spent lots of time reading and reading and reading. Good thing for me that I love to read! But today's generation of Christians have amazing access to teaching that so reveals Christ that we behold Him and are transformed.

Dr. Don Carson is one of those men. If you've never heard of him, I'm so grateful to introduce him. And if you have, then you'll know why I'm so thrilled that the Gospel Coalition is hosting a resource page that includes more than 400 talks he's given over the years. Topics include the Bible, marriage, culture, giving, the sovereignty of God...it goes on and on. There's also a listing of his books, his biography and other publications.

Take some time to download a few of these and give them a listen as you chop veggies, wait in the carpool line, take a walk or sit at the doctor's office. You will be so blessed.