Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Who Turned 18?!

Today was our dear sister Rebecca's 18th birthday! She is such a joy in our home and I'm forever grateful that God gave her to me as my sister and one of my best friends! We love you lots and lots Becca (even if you do tease us endlessly =)...may God bless you richly in the coming years!!




Thursday, February 14, 2008

There is a post in the works with lots of pictures but until we get it up here is another Mutts!

Be My...

On Valentine's Day most people get a card that says "Be My Valentine" or something to that effect, but this year Mom got a very special Valentine from Micah!


Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Alexandria

This is are adorable little cousin Alexandria! She just turned one the end of January but because they live in Georgia we were not able to celebrate with her this time. Aunt Angie sent us lots of pictures though and I thought I would share some of them with you!




Friday, February 8, 2008

A fun quote!

This is not profound and it's not a picture but for all you fellow diaper changers maybe it will give you a good chuckle like it did us! =)

Diaper backward spells repaid.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Mercy and Justice

This article takes a different approach... the premise is summed up in the last line. "They are blessed indeed whose passion for justice is informed by the mercy of the Cross." A line from the hymn, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, also brings this juxtaposition into harmony.


O safe and happy shelter, O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven’s love and Heaven’s justice meet!


~~~~~

(I have removed the first paragrah due to a somewhat graphic story. If you want to read it in context, go here.)

Mercy and Justice
J.M. Njoroge

The debate raised by this case was gripping enough, but what I found to be most fascinating was the intense contest that was unfolding outside the premises where the execution was scheduled to be carried out. Both the proponents as well as opponents of the death penalty camped outside, eachside trying to drown the other’s voices. The news of the execution was greeted by a boisterous cry of triumph from those who had so vehemently sought justice for the crime. Others were left wondering where, when, and how mercy applies when the life of an individual hangs in the balance.

This drama was a classic representation of the two most disparate poles of justice and mercy. How are the guilty to be spared in cases where absolutejustice is administered? If there are no shortcuts, no bribes, and noturning of a blind eye against evil, what hope is there for those wedgedbetween the jaws of justice? The tension between justice and mercy is areality with which we all live, and depending on the circumstances, ourhunger for vindication is only matched by our plea for mercy and forgiveness.

The biblical solution to this conundrum is uniquely ingenious in bothlogical and relational terms. It was at the Cross of Jesus where God’sjustice was perfectly administered and his eternal mercy publiclydisplayed when God took upon Himself the punishment meant for the guilty. The perfect, sinless, infinitely just God devised the means whereby sinful, guilty human beings could be justly reconciled to God without an ounce ofguilt being swept under the carpet. No other proposed means of liberationfor humanity in the world even begins to address this dilemma. The rhetorical force of the question posed by the author of Hebrews oughtforever to haunt every seeker of justice, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)?

Unfortunately, some stumble over the gospel of Christ even whileincessantly seeking either justice or mercy in matters they deemthemselves entitled to judge. When our sense of justice is threatened, werarely hesitate to demand answers, whether the object of our wrath is amere child or a perfect God. This is nowhere more evident than in thecurrent attack on the character of God based on his administration ofjustice, especially in the Old Testament. But at the root of thisreaction lies the failure to appreciate the full implications of what onereally asks for when one demands justice. If justice is to be absolutelyserved, the guilty cannot go unpunished. The only recourse for the guiltyis to seek mercy, and mercy cannot be demanded.

Old Testament saints harbored no illusions about God being subject totheir standard of justice, for they were no strangers to his terrifyingholiness and hence the gravity of sin. The fact that the Israelites werehis chosen people did not keep them from facing the consequences of theirown disobedience, as even a casual reading of the book of Lamentationswill show. It was not without reason that the script writer for themotion picture Fiddler on the Roof, which chronicles the strugglesof a Jewish family, has the lead character suggest that God choose otherpeople the next time around.

Part of the reason why we are disinclined to recognize our own need formercy may be due to the fact that our clamor for justice, howeverimpassioned, is almost always skewed in our favor. Narrow indeed is thepath to the dark recesses of our own hearts. But there the light of thegospel must shine, and our strong sense of justice demands that we agreewith God’s assessment of our true condition. Nothing short of the kind ofrepentance that produces humble love within those who turn to Him can everpoint humanity towards their identity and purpose. Without a clearglimpse of our own sinfulness, not even God can measure up to ourlopsided, self-righteous standards.

But if God is anything like the Scriptures say He is, then not only shouldwe expect Him to judge sin but we can also be confident that, in the end,no one will be able to find fault with his verdict. That is why Abrahamwas able to trust in God’s righteous judgment, even beyond the grave, whenhe chose to sacrifice Isaac at the behest of his Creator. He reasoned thatGod is able to raise the dead (Hebrews 11:19). Whenever we demand justiceand obedience, we affirm the same standard that also condemns us. Theyare blessed indeed whose passion for justice is informed by the mercy of the Cross.

Copyright(c) 2008Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).Reprinted with permission.A Slice of Infinity is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias InternationalMinistries

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Playing Mercy with Jesus

There have been several things I've read recently that have dealt with different aspects of Mercy. I'm going to post a few of them but they aren't of the short, quick, easily digested type so I'll split them up by a few days. This one was a post on the Desiring God (John Piper's ministry) blog.

~~~~~

Playing Mercy with Jesus
Author: Tyler Kenney

When I was a kid I would sometimes play a game called “Mercy.” A friend and I would interlock hands and try to put each other into painful, inescapable positions. When one of us couldn't handle any more we would cry “Mercy!” and the game would be over.


Stupid game, huh? But reading in Luke 18 recently I noticed a similar theme in Jesus' parables and practice.


First, he tells the story of a widow who was seeking justice. Even though the judge was unrighteous, he heard the widow's case because of her persistence. Jesus applies the parable, saying, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?”


Next, he talks about the Pharisee and the tax collector who both prayed in the temple. Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector went home justified, because he recognized his unworthiness and cried out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”


The chapter ends with Jesus' encounter with a blind beggar who would not quit calling out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Others were telling him to be quiet, but Jesus stopped and asked the man, “What do you want me to do for you?” At the man's request, Jesus restored his sight.


In each of these instances the Lord answered prayer—prayer of a certain type: a cry for mercy, desperate and persistent. And this is how he still deals with his people.


The Lord is pleased to help us in our distress, but he doesn't always answer us right away.



Sometimes it feels like we're playing Mercy with him and he's going to twist us until all that's left is for us to beg for help.


He doesn't have to insist that we ask for justice a hundred times like the judge does to the widow. He could answer after just one prayer. Jesus could have healed the blind man without waiting for him to scream out twice. But often the Lord keeps us under some weighty trial so that we can better see our great need for him and cry for mercy.


Paul notes this in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9:
[W]e were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.


Paul was pushed to the limit, and it was by God's design. The Father's purpose in burdening us and making us wait for him is the same as it was for Paul: he wants to make us humble. He wants us to rely not on ourselves but on him.


He wants us to rely on the one who can break our addictions, make us more patient, free us from anxiety, open our hearts to our enemies, open our family members' hearts to the gospel, and give us greater affection for our Savior (to name a few things I'd like to see happen in my life).


Therefore God, in his mercy, sometimes bends us into painful, inescapable positions so that we will learn to cry “Mercy!” to him for every relief that we seek, and so that we will rely more on him who is able to cure every sorrow and pain.