The Stock Household

Lydia with the Rev. Brian Stock

2012-01-28T21:21:00.002-05:00

By God's grace, two plus years of perseverance, I passed my ordination exams and now, I'm officially a teaching elder!

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Who's going to be a BIG SISTER!?!

2012-01-21T21:36:00.002-05:00

The word is getting around so we finally decided the great news should go public. Mandy is 10 plus weeks, the baby has a healthy heartbeat and is due August 15th. Lydia is all smiles in her big sister t-shirt and tu-tu.

If you are wondering about names, right now, we have named the baby, "chicken-noodle". Mandy's original name was "snickerdoodle", but when Lydia tried to say it, it came out sounding like "chicken-noodle". Since Lydia's belly name was Chick'n-mini, we thought it was just the right fit.

Happy Birthday, Lydia!!!

2012-01-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

Today, Lydia is TWO years old! And yesterday, we had a big party! Daddy, mommy, grandpa, grandma, pop-pop, nana, uncle ben, and aunt Becky all celebrated it together. Lydia enjoyed herself sooooo much!!!

Christmas with the Stocks!

2012-01-05T20:52:00.002-05:00

Our Christmas vacation was spent with Brian's family! This year, "Grandpa and Grandma" decided to give us all a great present of a cabin in North Carolina and a day skiing! The warm weather prevented us from skiing on Saturday but that didn't stop the fun. The guys played golf while the girls shopped. That evening, my sister all took us out to a fancy restaurant (for Maggie Valley). The food was fabulous! Throughout the weekend, we played many different games: monopoly (by the rules), phase10, and other games. Sunday we celebrated Christmas with present in the morning (that's our family tradition), and then went to a little PCA church to hear the good news of Christ coming to save sinners like us. On Monday, we did get to ski. It worked out great as the holiday crowds had left and they opened up two more slopes. The skiing was great. Pictures are below:

We are here with Grandma!

Making gingerbread men with Grandma. "Run, run! As fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'll the Gingerbread man!"

The whole family is getting involved. Up first, Uncle David.

Then, daddy!

Mommy makes a cute gingerbread girl!

The final product: Daddy's with running shoes, Mommy's with a modest dress, and Uncle David's with facial hair and an attitude.

Getting ready for our annual Stock Christmas carols!

A Family Tradition: To read "Twas the night before Christmas". Grandma is acting right here... she doesn't really need the book!

Another Family Tradition: Candy Cane bread for Christmas morning! (It was delicious!)

Christmas morning!

"Wheels on the bus!"

From Nana and Papa

2012-01-01T21:46:00.002-05:00

Our second of a few more Christmas post.

Merry Christmas to the Stock Family!

2011-12-29T19:16:00.006-05:00

This is the first of a few posts on Christmas.

We want to thank all our friends and family who warmed our hearts with their Christmas cards and letters.

The Long-Awaited Immanuel (Matthew 1:18-25)

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I had an opportunity to preach my first advent/Christmas sermon a couple of weeks ago. Here is the manuscript and have a Merry Christmas!

Introduction
Have you ever had to wait for something? What was it? What was the longest time you had to wait? What was the hardest? And what did it feel like? For me, it has to be the waiting of getting engaged and marriage. Actually, it started with just waiting to find a girl who would say ‘yes’ to a date. One date. And then, when Mandy and I got engaged, the tension of wanting to be married now, and yet knowing that in the future, it will be so right and good. The anticipation. The build up. The hope of it all of coming true.

In our passage, the story of the people of God is that of waiting for centuries upon centuries for God to be with His people. They have waited hearing of promises of Immanuel, God with us. To understand their anticipation and hope of Immanuel, we must go all the way back to the beginning of the story. There we will see what the people of God once had, Immanuel. God with and among them.

In the beginning, God created everything. He lit up the heavens and set the earth spinning. He separated the sky and land and made all the trees and plants grow as edible ornaments across the earth. He filled the sky with glimmering stars, the sea with multi-color fish, and the land with animals of all kinds.

At last, in concert with the Trinity, the crescendo of creation, God made man, male and female. After His image, He made them and gave them dominion over creation. Adam and Eve, as we are, were made to reflect our Maker like a son wants to be like his dad. And even more amazing was their relationship with God. They were created to know and enjoy Him forever. And for a while, this is exactly what they had. In the cool of the day, the first man and the first woman walked with God in the garden as He designed it for them. No shame. No tears. Pure peace and harmony with God and each other. Immanuel. God was with them. He was their God and they were His people. All was very good.

But however long that blissful communion lasted, it didn’t last long. The tempter came in the form of a serpent, and Adam and Eve gave in. God made man upright, but he turn and went his own way. They disobeyed the one command that God told them. They listened to the serpent rather than God and all was lost. In disobeying God, they sought out to be their own god. No longer could God be with them for now they are rebels. The moment they broke the skin of the fruit, all of creation groaned. Lust, shame, fear, guilt,
mistrust, blame-shifting, and loneliness rushed to their hearts. There was no more peace between God and them nor each other. Immanuel was no more. Sin had entered into them. Every part of them was now corrupt and all of creation suffered. They couldn’t mend it back together even though they tried. At the end of the worst day in history, the man and the woman were kick out of the place of Immanuel, the garden, and God shut the door. God was still God, but not their god. They tried to make themselves their own gods.

Right from the beginning, we see man’s deepest longing, that is to be with God. To live for who they were made by. And to live with the one who made them, Immanuel. And we see man’s deepest problem, sin. Call it what you will, rebellion, disobedience, brokenness, sin all against God. It severs Immanuel right in two.

But because of His great love for them, God, who is rich in mercy, didn’t leave them. He is the pursuing God. They were still His people, but now on different terms. Before God removed them from the garden, He speaks with them and the tempter. What He says to the tempter was most important to their ears,
and ours, as God planted a promise seed of redemption. Let us read, Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”1 God prophesies here. God comes and says, “Sin has now come into human history. I will send a Savior for sinners. I will restore Immanuel.” What shall we look for? From the woman, from the line of Adam and Eve, from the human race, will ultimately come the seed. And he shall destroy this serpent, this devil, who holds people captive under sin, shame, and guilt. He will crush the serpent’s head. This work will restore Immanuel. But as you see, this is foretold at this point. It will be in the future. How long will the human race have to wait?

The Long-Line of Sin
As we turn to our passage, Matt. 1:18-25, we learn something very quickly from the passage before about the waiting period. The story continues. The road outside the garden was a dark path of war and strife. Generations after generations after generations failed. There is a long-line of sin.

But God never gave up on His promise to His people along the dark path were flickers of light and lampstands and luminaries in spite of the people’s darkness. He showed Immanuel in the ark of covenant, representing the presence of God. He showed Immanuel in the temple when the glory of the Lord would fall. He showed redemption in the blood of a spotless lamb. He revealed His plan to the prophets:

Ezek. 37:23
They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Jer. 31:33
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people… For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The light in which God continued to shine through the story of the Old Testament was, “I will forgive you and I will be your God and you will be my people.” To restore Immanuel. God with us in peace. Tell us who? And how shall this be? The lights which God gave to His people were through the words of promise. The people of God had heard of this rescue coming through the blood line of Abraham and they had read of Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” The echos of Gen. 3:15 are ringing. So, for them, it was anticipation. This groaning was growing after generation after generation. Knowing their deepest longing was only met by God being with him. Fully. Holy. They yearned for him. They waited for fulfillment, God come down. They waited at the edge of their sit where excitement and containment meet. They waited… like a child waiting for their dad to come home from work… They waited like a groom, eyes fixed on the back of those double doors of the church. And they waited, waited with hope. Hope in the God who rescued them along ago and has spoken to them… spoken of great promises of Immanuel.

And so, when the people of God pick up a copy of the gospel of Matthew and their eyes read across the first line “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,” they ears perked up. And when they read, “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”, one born from a
woman, yet a virgin. Their heart began to pound harder. They began to dream bigger (cf. Ps. 126). Dream of the great things the Lord had done. Expectations heighten. And then an angel appears to Joseph and pronounces, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” And the prophet Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”. Born of a woman, a virgin and it will be a son. Oh for joy! And what would they read as we do as well but “all this took place to fulfill”. The angel of the Lord announces the Long-awaited Immanuel. He is here. He’s here.

The Long-Awaited Immanuel
The announcement of the angel brought news, good news, which had long been expecting since our first parents were kick out of the garden because of their sin. All the lights which God had placed along the path were now coming to fulfillment in Jesus, Savior of sinners, Immanuel, God with us.

He was the descendent from Eve sent to crush the serpent’s head. He was the heir of Abraham’s line through whom all the nations would be blessed— born of a miracle and filled with laughter. He was Isaac’s ram caught in the thicket, God’s perfectly timed provision of a substitute. He wrestled with Israel and wouldn’t let go, giving Jacob the gracious gift of a limp to remind him of his weakness. He was the king the Lord promised David, a ruler from his own body whose Kingdom the Lord would establish forever, ancient and strong. He was Immanuel—God with his people. He would turn the hearts of fathers to their children and their children’s heart to their fathers. Where there was despair, he would be hope. Where there was brokenness, he would bring healing. Where there was sadness, he would bring joy. Where there was
bondage, he would set people free. And above all, where there was sin, sin which severed Immanuel for us. Now, Jesus, as the God-man, he came and restored Immanuel by being Immanuel. How will Jesus restore Immanuel? He restored Immanuel for us in two ways: first, by saving us from our sins, and secondly, restoring us back to God.

SIN: CROSS
The angel announced, “He will save his people from their sins.” What always separates us from God ultimately is sin. All of us at one time were or are apart from God. All were without God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All are dead in transgressions and sins. Enemies and haters of God are the line we came from. Fully of pride. Filled with unrighteousness. Our blood-line is filled with rebels, murders, liars, sleazy crooks, idolatries, haters, popish kings, lovers of fleeting pleasures, and immoral in all kinds of way. And don’t we fit right in. You just fit right in? I just fit right in. If it was left to us, even in the sight bit, we would fail as we have so clearly in the past. Our restoration of Immanuel comes alone from God. And
by sweet mercy, He has come.

This announcement from the angel, at the beginning of His birth, tells the world, “Behold, Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Taking away sin is His mission. The whole world, every nation and tribe, listen up. This is good news to all peoples: God has come in Jesus Christ and He is gathering a people from all peoples. Put down your weapons of enmity against God, your idols of this world, confess your rebellion and in mercy, trust in Christ. He has brought forgiveness to you if you would believe. And
it is through the cross. The passion of Jesus Christ was how this would be accomplished. He shed His blood to bind a new covenant, a covenant of grace, which offers total forgiveness. He said, “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” On the cross, Jesus took your sin. All the punishment, all the pollution are now on Him. It is to His account. The sin which kept you from God can now be forgiven and life, abundantly life, Immanuel, can be found. As 1 Peter 3:18 clearly proclaims, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”.

Immanuel:
The ultimate goal of salvation by Jesus is that he might bring us back to God. Forgiveness is not the end goal is nor redemption but God is. And God came down as God in human flesh. He didn’t come as a politician though His is a great king. He didn’t come as a therapist though he understands and cares for your deepest needs. He didn’t come as a businessman though he leads us with a servant heart. He didn’t come as a military leader though he fights against his, and our, arch enemy. No, He came as God.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’”. The gospel of God is the good news that at the cost of His life, Jesus did everything necessary to secure for us that God will always be there with us and He will to us our everlasting satisfaction of our deepest longing. To be with God, in his presence, know His love, enjoy His array of beauty, delight in Him forever. He will be with us now, as Matthew 28:20, sets its promise forward, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” And in the new age to come, Rev. 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” This is what we Christian long for, isn’t it? We
know in part, we see in part, but on that day, we will know fully, even as we have been fully known by Him.

And so, brothers and sisters in the Lord, celebrate His coming for our salvation and trust in Him! And, what is the hardest thing for us to wait for? His return… to see Him face to face. I long for that day. May we wait with hope. May we wait in anticipation with eagerness and expectation! Continue to press on and finish the race well. It will be well worth it!

And to those who do not hope in Christ, may I ask… what do you hope for? Can I say that at the end it is fleeting? At the end, you will hope for something that doesn’t fulfill your deepest desires, what you were made for? You were made for God and He, as we have seen in His word, has provided away back to God. Jesus came down, took your sins, and will bring you to God… if you repent and believe? Believe on Him today.

Craft Time!

2011-12-13T19:39:00.002-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows I am not crafty (neither in the sly way, or in the "Let's make our own tree skirt!" way). I cannot sew. I do not own a hot glue gun or make-your-own-jewelry kit. I made my own cloth diaper wipes before Lydia was born with Sarah (my super-crafty friend) and jammed her surger at least 4 times. I needed constant supervision and help.

Yet, alas, Lydia loves crafts. And if you've ever hung out long with an almost-two-year-old, you might know they like to keep busy. Craft-time brings a bit of structure, a little creativity (mostly on my part), and some tactical skills. Thankfully Lydia is patient with me while I attempt to cut, glue and glitter.

Here is what we have done so far (suggestions welcome!)....oh, and I know this post would be infinitely more interesting with pictures, but uh, we are currently without a camera. I'm not supposed to know but I think Brian is getting me one for Christmas.

1. Kite made from a cereal box and wooden grilling skewers, decorated with Christmas stickers. It will catch wind if you sprint!

2. Christmas tree with "sprinkles" (little dots of paper).

3. Monkey stickers glued to cardboard to simulate a favorite book, "Five Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".

4. Paper bag mask...which she refuses to put over her head.

5. Leaves stuck to paper. Really have no title for this one, but we had a lot of fun...and it was about at my level.

Tomorrow: snowman made from cotton balls!

Doubt, Materialism and my Honda Civic

2011-12-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

By:Mandy

Every so often it hits me. What are we doing?! Moving overseas means leaving behind Chick-Fil-A, baby changing tables, my Honda Civic...not to mention clean drinking water. In these moments of panic, I doubt. I worry about this whole missions thing working out. I do not like threats to my comfort, my convenience, my STUFF!

If you've never been a missionary before, let me tell you, lots of it is great. I mean, random people will say "Good for you!" and "Wow, you must be brave." (much like Tony, the Firestone guy, told me yesterday) and honestly, sometimes I believe them. And when doubt and fear come, I convince myself I'm better than that, braver than that...good for me.

I recently listened to the Desiring God missions conference as we drove up to Virginia for Thanksgiving. One speaker talked about the Great Commission. You know, Matthew 28:18-20. Missionaries LOVE these verses, most times because we think we get it. We get this commission thing, we are going! Good for us.

But one small point really hit me hard. He read the verse before. "And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." Isn't it amazing that Jesus gave the Great Commission to even doubters?! Now, I have no idea what they doubted...his deity, his authority, his actual rising from the dead? Or is it more like my doubt...his being better than anything? His promise to sanctify me and shed, tear, rip off, and break through this materialism that captivates me?

Jesus is with me in my going. By grace, he woos me back and shows me my comfortable American life is not bad until it (or my clinging to it) stalls my worship. And He will renew me in gift-giving and receiving, shopping at consumer-driven malls, and soon as we leave so much oceans away...until we leave this place and go Home.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T08:25:00.001-05:00

This year the Stock family headed up to Virginia Beach to Mandy's sister. It was a great trip from the trip up and back to our time there with Mandy's family. We talked, watched football, ate and ate some more, and played red-neck golf (or pitch the pea). Here are snapshots of our time there:

Say Cheese!

Nana and Lydia!

The bird... This year the turkey had apples and onions which made it moist and favorful. Great job mommy and aunt Becky!

Papa Joe and his great-granddaughter learning about all the animals in God's creation.

"A, B, C, D" with daddy!

Cookie!

Presenting the Thanksgiving Princess: Lydia Anne Stock in her pretty gold dress!

On the beach in November! We had great weather!

Lydia is feeding Papa Joe mac 'n cheese... who says you can't have mac n' cheese on Thanksgiving?

Fun with Nana after Lydia's bath!

Home and Halloween

2011-11-01T09:18:00.003-04:00

Fall weather FUN! About a month ago, my schedule changed at work so that I get home now around 4:45 most evenings. This has brought play time with Lydia to be quite enjoyable. We have two plus hours to play outside and in. We love to play "Daddy hide" around the pine tree and go up and down the hill in our yard.

Happy Halloween! Last Friday, I brought home a pumpkin. I know that Mandy loves pumpkins (I have pictures to prove it). But we came to find out that Lydia also loves pumpkins as well. She even hugged and kissed it! That evening, sitting on our kitchen floor, daddy, mommy, and Lydia all cleaned out and craved a pumpkin. For Lydia, she dived right into the slimy insides of a pumpkin as well. We were very proud of her. Then, this past weekend, Lydia cheered on Clemson as she was the cutiest Clemson cheerleader ever! Nana and Papa came up to trick or treat and we had a spooky-fun weekend!

Ordinary Objects | Extraordinary FUN!

2011-10-18T11:27:00.002-04:00

What would make a little girl flap her arms up and down and make her dance around with the biggest smile on her face? For our little girl, it is pink packing peanuts (try to say that three times fast). Last week, Mandy and Lydia came home to a package from Nana. Soon the ordinary object of pink packing peanuts became extraordinary hours of fun.

Then, last night, Lydia got the enjoyment of sharing her pink, packing peanuts with her friend, Mazie.

This weekend the Stock family had a much needed vacation. We actually had our first staycation. It was a great success as we had a lot of fun and laughter. As you will see, Lydia, in this first picture is just being her normal happy, cute self.

But really, she is throwing you off guard with her cuteness to beat you in a round of fencing! On-guard!

And what couldn't be more fun than a Moleskine to organize your week, month, and life. Lydia loves it because she likes to be like her mommy!

Funniest in the Family

2011-10-16T14:05:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago we took a vote, all three of us (Brian, Mandy and Lydia) to settle a raging debate within the Stock Household: Who is the funniest? Well, in the interest of full disclosure, here are how the ballots came out.

Brian: Lydia
Lydia: herself
Mandy: herself

In the end, it was a clear victory for Lydia, 2-1 over Mommy. Now, I (Mandy) contest this ruling quite frequently. I mean, first of all, Lydia already holds many titles in our Household: Smallest, Cutest, Stinkiest Feet, Messiest Hair, Best Grits Eater, etc. Does she really need another accolade? And what makes her so funny anyways? Here are the extent of her jokes: "Applesauce" and "Oat". These two words said with perfect comedic timing always seem to get a laugh from all of us, but this is obviously a limited repertoire! She makes a turkey noise "Dabble Dabble" and sticks her tongue out like a lizard and all of the sudden she is a laugh riot! Ok, so she spins in circles and dances. She puts blankets on her head and walks around. No big deal! Really, I feel like the judging was skewed. I also think Daddy is her campaign manager.

I demand a recount!

"Sweet Wheels" - Tim Mills

2011-10-12T16:46:00.000-04:00

She just gets cuter and cuter...

She's sittin' cool...

She peaks out the side window...

She's in daddy's arms...

She's has the wind in her hair and having fun!

Schmoonoos

2011-09-16T15:42:00.003-04:00

On special occasions (you know, like a Thursday), Lydia and I make smoothies. She wakes up from her afternoon nap, a little hungry, a little grumpy. But don't worry, little one! Mommy has the blender all ready to go. Just add a little fruit, yogurt and sometimes a spoon of peanut butter. Tada! Smoothie...or as Lydia lovingly refers to them: "Schmoonoos".

Notice the still-waking-up look. The Schmoonoo has not taken its full effect yet. And yes, you're right. Our child is not wearing any pants.

A Beautiful Thing: Mommyhood and Worship

2011-09-09T14:39:00.003-04:00

By:Mandy

A few weeks ago, I read the passage in Matthew about Jesus getting anointed. It's just a few days before He will face the cross and He's spending time with His friends. Mary comes up to Jesus with "an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment" and she pours it on His head. The disciplines consider this a waste. Why dump all that on one guy's head when you could have sold it to feed the poor? Good question. But Jesus simply says, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me." (Matthew 26:6-14)

There has been much written and said about this passage. In fact, Jesus next statement ("For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.") has been a personally motivating verse as I've pursued missions. What God pointed me to this time was simply the phrase "beautiful thing." That has been a continual gentle reminder these past weeks as I sit down with my Bible each day during Lydia's nap time. I reflect on the morning of reading books to a toddler, preparing meals, cleaning the highchair tray (again), cleaning, stacking blocks and kicking the ball around. Is that a waste or a beautiful thing? I think of the post-nap-hours ahead. We will play in the garden, find caterpillars, fold laundry, and sing songs. Will that be a waste or a beautiful thing?

My time is God's time, just like Mary's alabaster flask was God's. We are stewards. And I think that it matters more what my heart is behind the caterpillar-hunt with my 1 year old, than the hunt itself. Can even that be an act of worship, a beautiful thing? Can I love Jesus and fill my house with sweet-smelling perfume even while I reassemble cloth-diapers for the 100th time?

Answer: YES, by grace.

Grace is a beautiful thing.

Aquarium

2011-09-02T13:33:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back, Mommy and Lydia visited the Georgia Aquarium with our good friend, Erika Mobley. Here are some of the pictures Erika took:

14%

2011-08-19T11:53:00.006-04:00

We have started raising support; that is meeting with friends and church family to give them the opportunity to hear about what God is doing in our hearts and in South Asia and find out how they can come alongside of us as partners in this work. A lot of seasoned missionaries have told us how hard this will be, and maybe it will get there. But so far, we have had a lot of fun, been encouraged, and have seen God work in our hearts and the hearts of our friends. We are at %14 of our goal and are so humbled and happy God is moving around and in us!

Here are some interesting and encouraging things we have heard thus far:

"Thank you for going for us."
"Why wouldn't we want to store up treasure for ourselves in Heaven? This is an opportunity to do that!"
"So...you guys are going as spies?" -Owen, 8
"I can't give $50 a month, but I can give $1 a month."- Katie Beth, 12
"God has already been working on our hearts about this."
"Thank you guys for sharing with us."
"But they [Hindus] shouldn't believe that [reincarnation] because it isn't real. Jesus is." -Bentley, 7
"I really want to be intentional to pray for you guys."
"That story [about a local pastor] just gives me chills. It is so exciting!"
"Do you guys eat goat?"
"Can we come visit you?"

Every meeting has been a time of refreshing for us and renewed passion for this calling God has put on our lives.

Lydia: 18 Months

2011-08-02T10:57:00.003-04:00

Lydia Anne Stock is a toddler.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, no longer a baby, but a bona fide little walking-talking-following instructions toddler. It's amazing really. We finally got to the doctor for our 18-month check-up for Lydia's latest "stats".
Drumroll, please....

Height: 33 inches
Weight: 21.5 pounds
Body: Healthy
Cuteness: Off the charts!

Her feet have seemingly hit a growth spurt and she jumped to size 4 basically overnight. Her verbal ability is above-average. (Wonder who she got that from) But her "climbing ability" is taking longer to develop...which I am not too disappointed about. She loves her family and friends, ice cream, cheese, fruit of any kind, oatmeal, eggs, any animal (including insects), pushing the cart, her tunnel, helping clean, coloring, singing, and reading her Bible.

Jesus Seeks and Saves

2011-08-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

Jesus Seeks and Saves

Luke 19:1-10

July 10, 2011 @ Christ Community

Introduction

Please open your Bible to Luke 19:1-10. Today, our passage is the famous encounter with Zacchaeus and Jesus. We like Zacchaeus. I mean he even has a kid’s song which forever cartoonizes him. We like Zacchaeus because he was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. We like the little guy, we root for the little guy. And he wanted to see Jesus, but he was vertically challenged, he was too short. Yet, he used his clever wit and climbed a tree. And then, Jesus saw him and he had Jesus over at his house for a meal. What’s not to like about this rotten, dirt crook who steals from the poor and keeps it for himself.

This is a familiar story. It has been “Disney-ize” for masses. Today, when we examine the story, we a see a sinner, an idolater, who we can identity because we are much like him, and he is in need of a Savior much like us. By all outward appearance, he is unsaveable. His sins are too many. He is too far from God. And this Savior seeks and saves that which is lost. Let’s read our passage.

Read passage. Luke 19:1-10

He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

There are three characters in this story which we will meet: Zaccheaus, the crowd, and Jesus.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He has his sight on the cross, to die for sins, and rise in victory over them for us. And he passes through a city named Jericho. Jericho was a significance city in the story of redemption as the Israelites marched around it seven times and by the power of God, the walls came tumbling down and they took the city. The city now was a prominent city of beauty, riches, trade and culture. Jesus is walking through the city with a large following. This is the end of His ministry and by this time He has accumulated a massive crowd with Him. He was the well-known, must-see preach of His day. His popularity was at its height. Think if like U2 came to the Marietta square. Think of the massive amount of people which would come out and see them. And as Jesus was walking on the streets, there was a man who Jesus came to seek. He is our first character and his name was Zacchaeus.

The Wee-little Crook

Zacchaeus was a man of power and wealth. He sought after these things his whole life. Now, we can identify with him, men, can’t we? If I ask, “would you rather have power or no power?” Yeah, power. How about wealth and riches? Yeah, I will take some of that. Now, power and influence is not wrong nor is riches or wealth, but for Zacchaeus it was his idol. We know this by the choices he made and how he attained his power and wealth.

Zacchaeus was the chief tax-collector. Verse 2, “He was a chief tax collector and was rich.”As some of you know, being a tax collector was not like an accountant or working for the IRS today, but it meant that you were rejecting your Jewish heritage and joining up with Rome and became a dishonest, rotten crook. And Zacchaeus was the worst. He was the chief crook tax collector. His parents were not happy about this decision, I’m sure. And the way this worked would have been that Zacchaeus started as a low-end tax-collector and as he ripped off more and more people, he would move up the chain until he was became the chief. And he lived in Jericho. And back then, it was one of the three major regional tax-centers for Roman. This left Zacchaeus a very powerful man. He was a powerful man sitting on top of a massive unethical and deceitful pyramid system. You see, he received a commission from all those who were under him plus whatever he could get for himself. Simply, he pursued his idols, gained his wealth by stealing it and leaves many poor and needy. Zacchaeus was viewed in society as the sinner of sinners, an abhorrent criminal, a stench in people’s sight and beyond friendship with others and any grace from God. He was unsaveable to society.

So, Jesus has entered into Jericho. Everybody in the town wants to see this popular preach. They are lining the street, on rooftop, and anywhere they can see Jesus. This includes Zacchaeus. The text says that Zacchaeus was “small of stature”. He’s short. He is probably mid-age and a little sleazy. We also know that he is rich and powerful. Mandy pictures him looking like Danny Devito so that’s what we will go with. So, we have this Danny Devito looking man trying to look over the crowd to see Jesus. As he moved down seeking a spot to see Jesus, there are no openings for him to squeeze into so he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a sycamore tree. Nothing really special about that. Jericho was known for its trees which lined its streets and there were probably many children up in trees. Though, it would be totally awesome to see Danny Devito try to climb a tree.

As Zacchaeus was sitting in that tree, what happened next staggered him. Although Jesus had never met him before, He stopped in the middle of thousands of people, looked up in the tree, And here’s what he does, friends. He called him by name. Verse 5, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus”. How did Jesus know Zacchaeus name? Did the Holy Spirit supernaturally give it to him? Did Jesus hear of Zacchaeus corruptible ways? However it happened, Jesus called his name. Zacchaeus was curiously looking to see Jesus like you would if the President came to your home town, but Jesus was seeking Him and makes it personal. He calls his name. Jesus seeks this lost man out to save him to have a relationship with him.

Friends, Jesus always, always does this. He's always calling people out by name. When I was 17 years of age, he called for me, “Brian.” And by that personal invitation, followed by a letter of salvation the Holy Spirit changed by heart, changed my life, I became a Christian. Those of you who are Christian, Jesus called you. He called you by name. And Jesus still calls by name. And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, let me say this: Perhaps Jesus is calling you by name. He's calling you unto himself. He's calling you to know him. And when Jesus calls Zacchaeus, he calls him to a friendship, a relationship. He says, continuing in verse 5 “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today” (19:5).

One truth that has amazed me as I have studied this passage is how Jesus goes about bringing salvation to him. Jesus does it in the way Zacchaeus most needed and longed for. He friended him, and wants to hang out with him over a meal. Now this might not matter as much to you, but it mattered so much to Zacchaeus. You can see this in his response, v6, “So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”

Because of Zacchaeus’ choice of job, a tax-collector, personal character, and being rich, Zacchaeus didn’t have any friends. Zacchaeus was lonely. His money bought him loneliness. He couldn’t buy a friend. He lived alone, ate alone, drove alone, sleep alone, and work alone. When the crowds heard what Jesus did, they grumbled. There were no shout and smiles. No “good-for-Zacchaeus”. No one, not even someone, was happy for Zacchaeus. He didn’t have any friends… until now. Jesus friends him. Jesus seeks him in the way he needed to be. Yes, soon after, Zacchaeus must and will see Jesus as more than a friend, as Savior, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Sovereign, the Creator, but Jesus engages Him first with friendship.

In your relationship with non-Christians, do you know where you can enter into their lives? Where Jesus would meet them best? It is the place where their need is both sore and sensitive. Jesus invites Zacchaeus into a relationship/friendship, a place no doubt that was filled with loneliness and longing, so that He could know He was His Savior as well. If you don’t how to engage somebody like Jesus did, ask Him, pray to Him and he will show you and guide you.

That’s awesome! Isn’t He? Jesus is awesome. But, the crowds didn’t think that was awesome.

The Religious Crowd

“Zacchaeus come down from that tree” Jesus said. “I’m coming over. I want to be your friend. I want to know you and I’m seeking you to save you!” Zacchaeus rejoiced. The crowds did not. They are our second character in the story. Maybe you can identify with them. They begin grumbling. The whole crowd grumbled. They were like “Jesus, you must be mistaken. You’re talking to a crook. Nobody talks to him. He is a loser.” This reveals the crowd doesn’t understand grace. Does that wee-little dirty, crook need to clean up his act and pay us back first, and then he can be saved and be friends with Jesus. They didn’t understand grace. They are a religious crowd.

Last fall, on several occasions, the weekend would come and Mandy and I would attend social gatherings hosted by friends who were Christians. And at these gatherings there were Christians there, and … non-Christians as well. I wanted to get to know the people I didn’t already and most of them were the non-Christians there. Well, the majority of the time, we would talk about life and stuff. And most of the time I left so frustrated with these non-Christians. Don’t they know they aren’t supposed to be living together as a couple, and not be married? They just need to stop that because it is wrong and unloving and they are going to hurt each other. I had a “moral barrier” as Jerram Barrs puts it. Maybe you have thought something like that? Something which keeps you away from people in general and non-Christians in particular. Is it a moral, social, ethnical, or religious barrier? What barrier and who is it? Which sinner have you not called out but only grumbled about?

I was hindered and couldn’t be their friend because they sin in this way. And I couldn’t engage in good conversation with them. I was like the religious crowd. I had a problem understanding grace and by the grace of God, I’m repenting of this.

See grace is opposite. The crowds and I had it backwards and Jesus was right. Grace is, as Romans 4:5 states, “And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the wicked, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Is it not that God justifies the wicked so that they can stop being wicked?

That is, sinners don’t stop sinning and then receive grace. It is sinners receive grace and then that grace enables them to stop sinning. So, why do I think that those who don’t have the grace of God act like they have the grace of God. God justifies the wicked, counts them as righteous and good with the righteousness of Christ. That stops them living together or stealing or coveting or a thousand other sins. They know the grace of God.

This is what is happening in our story today. Verses 8-9, “And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” Jesus seeks by grace and saves by grace Zacchaeus. Jesus doesn’t owe Zacchaeus anything especially salvation. And Zacchaeus doesn’t deserve anything good from Jesus. But, in grace, Jesus friends him and saves him. He gives him grace. And what is Zacchaeus’ response, my friends? Repentance and restitution. [Grace enabled]. He sees what he has done is wrong and publicly confesses and practices restitution as evidence that he’d received God’s forgiveness.

Don’t misunderstand what Zacchaeus did? He didn’t practice penance. Penance is the false teaching that you need to pay God and others back so that you can be forgiven. Restitution has nothing to do with forgiveness in the sight of God. Restitution is making right to those that you’ve sinned against as a response to the work of Jesus in your life. You see this in the earlier chapters of Luke with John the Baptist where John instructs the crowds, after their baptism signifying their salvation, to show evidence of their repentance by giving back what they earned unjustly. It’s not penance. It’s a part of true repentance. Restitution reveals repentance. This leads to two application questions:

1) What sins have you tolerated, and what does repentance look like? Manage, Left in your life for a while but not dealt with it. Christian, we do not manage sin, but kill it.

2) And two, Where does restitution need to happen in your life? Who have you sin against which you need to show the grace of God by make right the wrong you committed?

The Seeking Savior

Jesus brought salvation to Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus responded in a repentant faith. This was Jesus’ task while He was in Jericho and it is a part of His overall mission to “seek and save the lost.” Jesus is the seeking Savior, our third character and the star of the show. We read, in one of the most valuable, most glorious, and most important truth ever found in Scripture, verse 10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” As far as we are concerned, this is why we are saved, because God is a seeker and a saver of those who are lost. This is true to the nature of God. He sought us in the garden. He sought us in Egypt. He sought us in the wilderness, the promise land, and exile. He forever sought us, the lost, in the incarnation. The Son of Man, Jesus, broke into this world to do one overall mission, “to seek and save the lost.”

He reveals this truth while He was only a week or so away from entering into Jerusalem as the Passover lamb, taken on our sin, to die on a cross, and then be buried. And on the third day, He arose from the grave conquering Satan, sin and death. There He completely accomplished His mission which was to seek and to save the lost. Now, by the Holy Spirit through the Word, He is gathering all those who He has saved on the cross. All of those who He took their sin on and gives forgiveness and mercy to them, He seeks since He has saved them. Who are those? They are all those who, like Zacchaeus, repent of their sins and put their trust in Jesus.

Some of you are lost and today for some, Jesus has come to find you. “Today is the day of salvation”. Jesus is calling your name and today salvation will come. It was true for Zacchaeus and it could be true for you. Like Zacchaeus, you’re not unsaveable, but you do need a Savior and His name is Jesus. He seeks you and calls you to repent of your sins and put your trust in Him as Lord. Would you receive this invitation? Repent of your sins? Follow Christ as Lord?

And for the church, those you have been found, we turn to this table before us. First, let us rejoice in gladness of who are Savior is and what He has done. He has found you. You were lost in your sin and misery. You were on a path of destruction like Zacchaeus was. But, Jesus came and sought you out. He called you by name. Let us rejoice with Him. And by this table, Jesus is seeking you, not as someone who is lost, but to draw you closer to Himself. He asks of you to repent of your sins, bring restitution to your life and others, and trust Him as Lord all the more. He is bringing more restitution by repentance. At this table, repent of your sins, the Holy Spirit will prompt you during this time. And trust in Christ’s saving work for you. Let us pray.

App. Questions:

Which sinner have you not called out but only grumbled about?

Do you know where you can enter into your non-Christian's friends?

What sins have you tolerated, and what does repentance look like?

Where does restitution need to happen in your life?

Happy "Half" Birthday

2011-07-26T09:25:00.003-04:00

On July 16th, we celebrated Lydia's half birthday. Yep, she has passed the 18th month mark. Here is a video to capture this fun day! The video is a little longer than normal (around 9 minutes). The first part is us singing and the second part is reminding Lydia what she can do at this point in her life. We love her! Happy "Half" Birthday little girl!

Our Table Display

2011-07-18T21:53:00.005-04:00

Taking on a project with design and craftsmanship doesn't exactly fit the Stock household. We have many, and I think, good ideas. But to put those ideas into reality are difficult to say the least for us. But, we work as a team, Lydia cheers us on by sleeping quietly, and we eventually have something put together. And now that we are missionaries and have to "brand" ourselves to all who would listen, we have taken the past couple of weeks to create a few things.

Here is our latest project we just finished tonight. It is our table display for when we go to churches and a booth in the lobby/fellowship hall.

After a week or so and many trips to Home Depot, the finished product!!!

Come right over, and hear about what God is doing in South Asia!

BONUS: Mommy and Lydia having a little fun with the camera.

One Step Closer

2011-07-12T10:04:00.003-04:00

Any takers?

Since we blogged last... (alternate title: "Cute Pictures of Lydia")

2011-07-08T15:11:00.005-04:00

A lot has happened.

Lydia says "Pop-Pop" all the time.

She learned how to make French toast with Nana.

She played in the water a lot.

We celebrated Independence Day.

This is still cute.

We went to the beach.

Lydia grew her hair long enough to be put in a ponytail.

She still really loves this duck.

Speaking Lyd-ish

2011-06-29T10:15:00.003-04:00

Our little girl is getting quite verbal. I understand just about everything she says, but of course I spend all day with her. So for those of you wanting to communicate with Lydia, here's a quick dictionary of words that may not sound so clear.

"plsss": please
"na naa": thank you (you can tell by the intonation...really)
"nappp": i'm sleepy
"tup"/"dinp": cup/drink
"munlk": milk
"DeeDeed": David (Uncle or two-year-old friend)
"sarah...meow": i miss Aunt Sarah, and her cats
"Halle...ZZZack": hey mom, let's go see the Carden family
"nanma": Grandma (Brian's mom)
"nammy": Nana (Mandy's mom)
"poop": well, that's pretty clear
"Daddy...See?": is Daddy around? I'd like to see him.
"Helro": phone
"apple": any fruit
"up": pick me up OR put me down
"zoom": car
"talk": chalk
"tolor?": Can I please color with my crayons?
"Dod": God (as in "Lydia, who made you?" "Dod.")

New words coming every day. Love it!

Update from South Asia

2011-05-19T11:36:00.003-04:00

Here we are in South Asia. After all the talk, preparation and packing...we are here. It is a real place! There is so much to describe: auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, cows and buses fill the streets (and the city with noise); poverty and trash crowd around us with the contrast of tropical flowers, colorful fruit and bright clothing; Hindu temples litter the landscape and the smell of incense permeates the air.

We have had a busy schedule of teaching and learning. Brian has taught several times. Here is he is preaching at a local church (He didn't know he was to preach until we arrived Sunday morning!). Later in the week he preached at a presbytery meeting with local pastors and theological education students. Mandy got to hang out with the wives (see picture below). They painted her hand with henna (a temporary tatoo in a sense) and put jasmine flowers in her hair. Later the women walked to the market, the local park with the kids, and made chai.

We miss our sweet Lydia, but we know this vision trip is being used by our LORD for His glory now and for what He has in the future for us.

Prayer Guide For Our Trip

2011-05-09T18:14:00.005-04:00

13 Days of Prayer for the Stocks!

Wednesday, May 11 – travel: safety, logistics, rest, no lost luggage.

Thursday, May 12 – recovery from jet lag: so they can hit the ground running with energy and alertness to really take it all in.

Friday, May 13 – team: they’re meeting up with the current MTW team (3 families will be there to receive them). Pray that they would be an encouragement to them and for unity.

Saturday, May 14 – shopping and paint-ball: Mandy will be shopping for a Sari and exploring the market with South Asian women and American gals from the team. This can be a very bonding experience...pray for it to be joyful and Jesus-exalting. Brian will be painting with the guys and no, he doesn't paintball. Pray for accuracy and swiftness of feet.

Sunday, May 15 – worship: that Brian and Mandy would really be able to worship Jesus in this new context!

Monday, May 16 – Lydia: she will be having fun with her grandparents. Pray for her to adjust well, sleep and eat well and keep learning how to walk! Mostly, pray that Brian and Mandy would not be distraught without her.

Tuesday, May 17 – ministry: there will be many opportunities throughout the week to minister in different contexts. Pray for boldness to proclaim the gospel and open hearts, and also for Brian and Mandy’s hearts to love the people.

Wednesday, May 18 – food and water: South Asian food is very different and harsh on the tummy at times. The water is also not safe to drink. Pray for protection from all kinds of sicknesses that could make these days not so fun.

Thursday, May 19 – language: The Stocks don't speak native tongue, but most "natives" will speak English or they will have a translator. Yet, thick accents can be difficult to understand. Pray this is not an obstacle to truly connecting with the people of South Asia.

Friday, May 20 – culture: that they will have eyes to see the culture for what it is (good and bad), and that God would give discernment for them to determine whether or not we could flourish in this culture or not.

Saturday, May 21 – calling: this is their last full day here. Pray they would have a firm grasp before they depart as to whether God is calling them to South Asia long-term.

Sunday, May 22 – church: Brian will be preaching on Sunday. Mandy will also be leading a women's devotion. Pray for the congregation to be encouraged by Brian's sermon and the Stocks’ presence there.

Monday, May 23 - communication: pray for grace, that they would be able to clearly articulate what God has done in those 12 days and how He is impacting their hearts for South Asia. Also, pray they get home safely for lots of Lydia-hugs!

Pure Cuteness!

2011-05-07T10:51:00.001-04:00

It is hard not to post these kinds of picture when we get them! Thanks Christina for the snapshot!

Moments with Mommy: Walking!

2011-05-06T10:26:00.001-04:00

Gardening Girls

2011-04-20T20:49:00.005-04:00

Warm weather has officially arrived in Georgia. This means the garden needs to be tilled and the seeds need to be sowed. Who is there for this task? The Stock girls.

Master Gardener of the Stock Household: She is all smiles as spring time is here. Beautiful, I'd say!

Gardener in Training, Lydia. She has lesson one down: Playing in the dirt is fun!

The gardeners are at their work. Tilling dirt and pulling weeds.

Here is some of the finished product... a row full of peas.

An extra picture of the curious Lydia discovering the dirt.

Learning Your Name

2011-04-13T20:59:00.003-04:00

Lion-Yo-yo-Duck-Ice cream-Airplane

Strawberry-Train-Octopus-Car-Keys

A Quarter of a Million

2011-04-11T14:48:00.003-04:00

On this day in history, my 99 Honda Civic has passed the 250000 miles or (402336 kilometers for our international readers). I have owned the car since 2005. Back then it had roughly 54000 miles. Therefore, I have put 196000 of those 250k on it. This averages out to 39400 miles per year. Truth be told, most of those miles were on the front end of my ownership as I was driving down to see and visit my girlfriend, now wife, Mandy. It was 100 miles round trip from my house to work to Mandy's and then back home. I took that trip at least three times a week. If I remember right, I put upwards to 55k that first year. Now, after two different timing belts, two sets of tires, and a whole lot of times filling up the tank, the Honda is still running good. I want to thank Honda for exhibiting their God-given able to design and make a reliable and fuel-efficient car. I also want to thank the Lord, by his most holy, wise and powerful persevering of this car keeping it running all these years. May it run for another 250k!

(Note: I did not take the picture above, but it is of a 97 Honda Civic.)

Gratitude

2011-04-10T19:57:00.003-04:00

By: Mandy

"My tongue has had a razor edge and my eyes have rolled haughty and my neck has been stiff and graceless and I have lived the filth ugly, an idolater, a glutton, and a grace thief who hasn't had time for the thanks."

Many people in "my circles" have read or at least heard of "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. My friend, Erika, is letting me borrow her copy and I have to say (although I'm only through half of it) this book is going to be life-changing. I mean, I hope so. Basically Ann chronicles her ordinary, routine-filled life of laundry, wiping kids' noses, meal prep and clean-up, etc and has that whole "is there something more?" moment. Can it be exciting to be a child of God in "regular life?" Do we have to see 1000 places before we die? Do we have to complete a bucket list? Or can we revel in an extraordinary God in the ordinary? She comes to the conclusion that she lacks gratitude...thankfulness...eucharisteo.

So, what does she do? (And I love this) She makes lists. She starts listing things she is thankful for. An open window in springtime. The leaves swaying in the breeze. A child's laugh. Etc...to a thousand little things the first year! As she does this she realizes her heart is changing, growing more humble, more alert to God orchestrating everything, and more in love with Him.

Now, I'm no Mennonite farmer's wife with six kids (as Ann is) but I do struggle so much with pride, thanklessness, purposeless-going-through-the-day. What if I made lists? I started one today. I do not intend to blog it every week (as some of my friends do); it might just camp in my journal for now. But I do hope the Holy Spirit uses a little list to help me to see gifts all around me...and more importantly, the Giver of Good, Life, Salvation, and Joy Everlasting.

Here are my first 10:
1. Territorial bumblebees in our backyard
2. Lydia's thighs
3. The way my friend Jen laughs at her husband's jokes with love in her eyes
4. Our support goal: exceeded!
5. Tilled soil
6. "May-men!" in church
7. Erika bringing me this book
8. Sarah cooking pancakes on the griddle
9. Chris reading a book to Lydia
10. 3-year-old Halle pulling 3-year-old Ellie in a wagon

Doxology

2011-04-08T15:57:00.003-04:00

The melodic line of the doxology within some sweet guitar. On the guitar itself, it is an Olson Guitar, one of the brands which will be in heaven. Enjoy!

Bull Riding

2011-04-07T09:38:00.003-04:00

The Stock girls know how to have fun! There is a party all morning and night. Today, the party includes a wild, bucking bronco, mommy, and a nerves of steel bull rider, Lydia. They say that riding is a risky sport and has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports":

The ride begins... Lydia is holding on tight. She wants to make it the full eight second!

The bull is throwing her best stuff at Lydia! She is staying cool!

Hold on! Only a few more seconds!

This is too much fun!

Lydia, world famous bull rider, has done it again! And the prize... a mommy kiss!

Cabin Vacation: Video Part 3

2011-03-27T10:59:00.002-04:00

She has risen!

Cabin Vacation: Video Part 2

2011-03-25T05:46:00.003-04:00

(There is a little extra blank space on the end... sorry)

Two Books for March

2011-03-23T23:01:00.002-04:00

The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne

Gospel ministry is about people, not programs. It is about making healthy disciples, not growing churches numerically. And yet, programs and structures in a ministry are necessary for gospel growth. In the book The Trellis and the Vine, the authors lay out a simple metaphor of a church's ministry, a trellis and a vine, to help pastors and leaders of churches put into proper perspective ministry which makes disciple-making disciples. The trellis of a church is the supporting structure. It is the "management, finances, infrastructure, organization, governance" of the church (p. 8). Though important, even invaluable, trellis work won't produce disciples nor is it the goal of a church. Growing the vine is. That is, the goal of the church is growing healthy disciples who love Jesus, trust in His Gospel, and follow Him in every area of their lives who make other disciples. This is where vine work comes in. Every Christian is a vine worker. Vine work is "a Christian brings a truth from God's word to someone else, praying that God would make that word bear fruit through the inward working of the Spirit" (p. 39). From this metaphor, the authors present a ministry model which is both biblical and helpful.

The Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson

Throughout the ages, the writings of Christian theologians on all sorts of topics of theology and the like are voluminous. Yet, the word "sparse" describes what they have written directly on the person and work of the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

My guest in why there has been such little attention to the Holy Spirit is that they foresaw Ferguson's work on the topic and said, "What could I have added?" That is, tongue and cheek of course since Ferguson himself is the living ghost of Puritan John Owen, a voluminous writer himself on the Holy Spirit, and that Ferguson's work draws heavily on Calvin, who has been called "the theologian of the Holy Spirit." The book is no less marvelous in all account even if you do not agree with him on every point (which I don't). In fact, I would say that it might be the best theological work which I have ever read on one particular subject.

With all this praise, why is The Holy Spirit by Ferguson so good and worthy of reading? There is the brevity of discussion on all matter important to the Holy Spirit. He explains or concisely touches everything concerning the Spirit. There is the constant exegesis from the Scripture to clear doctrine and articulation of truth. I like books which take larger portions of Scripture and walk their way through them as they explain these awesome truths of God and His world. There is the understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in a biblical, historical and redemptive way. That is, Ferguson takes in consideration both the forest of biblical themes and the trees of biblical texts. There is the Gospel of Christ work by the Spirit at the center of this work. On almost every page gospel themes are proclaimed and loved. And finally, there is the lay out and flow of this work is creative and he is a great writer (at least for a theologian).

Cabin Vacation: Video Part 1

2011-03-23T15:11:00.003-04:00

Cabin Vacation: Pictures

2011-03-21T18:10:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, the Stock household had a unplanned, yet needed vacation up to Mandy's Mom and Step-Dad's cabin in Brevard, NC. We rested, relaxed, and read. We hiked, shopped the downtown and went to church. The best thing was we had fun, family time with lots of laughter. This was it! If our family was on a reality show, here is what the break down of the scene would have been like: Lydia playing on the floor... Brian is reading in the chair... Mandy is reading in the chair. Next scene: Lydia playing on the floor... Brian is sleeping in the chair... Mandy is reading in the chair. Next scene: Lydia playing on the floor... ok, you get the point. The point of this trip was rest and we got it. Here are a few pictures of us in the cabin:

"Outside in my PJs works for me!"

Daddy and Lydia are learning new words together! "Ant... Apple... Bat"

Mommy and Lydia spot ducks wherever they maybe found!

Here are a few shots from our hike at Triple Falls:

Daddy and Lydia... like two peas in a pod!

Mommy and Lydia are taking a break for a photo.

Lydia is chilling by the waterside.

Lydia takes a quick dip in the water... its cold!

The Stock girls are laughing!

A Family Picture!

Booth Museum

2011-03-09T14:07:00.004-05:00

About a year ago, I won four tickets to the Booth Western Art Museum at a Reinhardt faculty/staff event. This is a little humorous since about four years ago, Mandy won four tickets to the Booth Museum, but we never used them. So, two days before they expired, we planned for a trip to the museum. We invited our good friends the Mobleys up and we headed out the museum.

Cartersville has a "cute" downtown with a train and ice cream parlor. But, the Booth Museum is a diamond in the rough. It is a little out of place for Cartersville since it is top-notch architecture and landscaping. The exhibits are well done with some surprises around most corners. On this trip, though not captured in any of the pictures, Ansel Adams, the famous black and while photographer, exhibit was on display. Here are pictures of our trip... and yes, Lydia is the star:

Madam Lydia, your ride awaits (up the elevator).

"P',WJZ" is what Lydia Stock is talking about... can I get an interpreter?

A sweet moment with Daddy riding out West!

Lydia Stock is off to races! Hold on!

Enjoying the day!

There is nothing like a rocking chair and a checker board on a midday afternoon.

Recent February Pictures

2011-02-27T16:45:00.006-05:00

February has been a good month for the Stocks. In Georgia, the weather has been fantastic and we have been taking advantage of it. We have learned one BIG thing about Lydia this month: She loves the outside as you can see from the first pictures! Here are some snapshots of this month:

Lydia's favorite place to stand! She watches for birds, cars and everything else!

After work on Friday, while mommy is making dinner, daddy and Lydia are outside discovering God's creation. We are looking at birds in this picture... a Lydia favorite!

This was Lydia's first "outside" play day with mommy and daddy. You can't see it in the photo but she having fun kicking a little ball.

When Lydia is inside, she loves to read books!

Eating and having fun are what I like to do!!!!!

I am ready to go outside again!

A New Plan

2011-02-21T20:46:00.005-05:00

Since January, we have neglected to update this blog and the readers on an important event in our life. After the aftermath in January settled down, we have reschedule our vision trip. Through our correspondence with our team leader and parents to watching Lydia, we have booked our trip from May 11th to 21st, 2011. South Asia here we come! We have applied for our visas and await their approval. We ask for pray for this major aspect of our trip. We also have a greater wherewithal on the importance of this trip. If the trip planned for January brought excitement to us, this trip adds a weightiness too truly count the cost of being missionaries in another country. We ask for your prayers as we prepare (again) for this vision trip and see where Christ to calling us to take up our cross and follow Him.

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UPDATE: We have just received word from the Consulate that our visas application have been approved and we will receive them in a few days! We give thanks to the Lord for He has opened doors for His salvation to be known to all peoples!

ANOTHER UPDATE: our trip is actually May 11-22. I hope Brian is with me for that last day. :)

A Song For My Sweetie

2011-02-17T15:59:00.003-05:00

Valentine's Day does not turn boys into poets and song writers, a girl does. Here are the lyrics to my feeble attempt in writing a song for my wife on Valentine's Day.

A Day in January

A little while back on a January day

I saw a young lady and asked her play.

As the time went by my love grew bright,

She was my sunshine, filled up my life.

The leaves turned color and I asked her, “will you?”

A little while later, on a bright spring day, we said, “I do?”

On this (that) day, I said “I do!”,

I began to truly love you

I said, “I will never leave you!”

Or let you go

A little while later on another January day

Our hope and dreams hit some gloomy days

We were both without jobs and our marriage began to fight

But on a day in March our “I dos” stayed bright

We walked through hand and hand our ups and downs

And we kept together with love sealing us bound

Five years later and January comes

This time with our little Lydia in our hands

A new adventure with joys and laughter we have seen

As our family has growth from two to three

For mom...and all the other Lydia fans

2011-02-12T13:01:00.006-05:00

So, my (Mandy's) mom is in Afghanistan. That's right. My 50-something, knitting, Grandmother-of-Lydia mom is strapping on body armor everyday to walk from her apartment in Kabul (surrounded by guards with big guns) to the "Green Zone" where she works on the military's human resources stuff for 12-18 hours a day. She will be there (and a few other middle-eastern countries) for about 6 weeks. Needless to say, this isn't a glamorous vacation. I can't imagine what "war-torn" really looks like, but I suppose it's not very fun to walk around in.

Anyways, we miss her. And I know she misses us (especially Lydia). So, here we are posting this video of Lydia just having fun on a Tuesday afternoon...dancing, crawling, waving bye-bye, etc. Hope this brings a little light to a dark place, mom.

Valentine's Day Prep

2011-02-08T15:01:00.008-05:00

Love stories always have their "really" moments. [You should read the "really" like the SNL newscaster does on weekend update]. This post explains one of my "really" moments with Mandy. It begins great and ends up, not with "at least my sweetie tried", but "really?". And Mandy is not the only one saying this, but I am as well.

Here is the following true story:

It is our first valentine's day as a married couple. I knew I had to plan something good and so I have been thinking about the evening for a couple of months. Cultivating romance is a life long quest and so I have been taking notes on Mandy's delights. I read a book about how to love one's wife well. The author explains how the husband needs to study their wife, listen to them, and then plan according. The husband studies when the wife has that twinkle in her eye, that excitement in her speech, and that spark in her step. Then, the husband makes notes of what he observers. All of this is great and every wife would love for her husband to passionately pursue her with the things she likes and loves. Husbands, we are called to love your wife and the things she loves. The husband loves to love what the wife loves because he loves her. The typically example of this is, "If the wife like to go antiquing, then the husband like to antique not because he likes to antique (and who really does), but he loves her."

Back to the story...

So, as I have been studying Mandy and her delights, I want to give her something that I knew she would surprise her. I had two things to plan: a date with dinner. Valentine's day fell on a weekday so I decided to stay home. This limited my options but this wasn't a problem. The date part of the evening was simple: a girl, romantic chick-flick. The dinner was the part where the surprise was (suppose) to happen.

Mandy's dad lives up in Cincinnati. The city is known for many thing, but most importantly, Cincinnati chili. Mandy's loves Skyline Cincinnati chili (you can already see where this is headed). I mean Mandy really loves Skyline to the point where when we visit we have to go there at twice if not three times on a couple day visit. For myself, I love it as well. I could go there almost everyday. This is one of Mandy's "twinkle in her eye."

Being the good husband, I noticed this and planned that our dinner would be Cincinnati Chili Cheese dogs [Really?]. I went online and bought the Skyline chili packets (they are expensive) and went to the store and got shredded cheese, hot dogs with buns, and oyster crackers. All of these ingredients are necessary for a Skyline experience. Then, on Valentine's day, I prepared the meal before Mandy got home and awaited her arrival.

I won't bore you with all the details but lets just say chili dogs and Valentine's day do not go together. Actually, I found out that the Skyline Chili packets make Mandy sick to the stomach. I don't even think we made it through the movie. It was a"really" moment of our romance. Hers is one of the lessons husbands should learn:

So, to all the husbands out there, yes, study your wife, but really... think before you act so that you won't have a "really" moment.

Lydia: One Year!

2011-01-29T11:24:00.007-05:00

Can you believe it?! Little Lydia is one year old now. It's amazing. What a year of grace, of learning, of humility, of what-do-we-do moments, of laughing and smiling at every little thing our girl does.

Lydia is now 18 pounds and 29 inches long. She has lots of brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, and 5 little chomping teeth. She is beginning to crawl (kind of), walks with our help (her favorite pastime), she can clap (yay!), snap her fingers (what?), and dance. She says "ball", "all done", "dada", "mama", and she waves bye-bye.

Her favorite animal (currently) is the baby donkey. She always finds him in any book that happens to have a donkey in it. Her favorite toys are all her puppets and things that make music (and require batteries). Mostly, she loves books. She has secured her own portion of Daddy's bookshelf in the living room.

We love our little one-year-old!

My Dinner Tonight!

2011-01-26T20:27:00.004-05:00

I have some pretty funny girls living in my home! And I love it and love them!

Reading Material

2011-01-25T09:21:00.004-05:00

I (Mandy) spent a lot of time reading this year...and I have Lydia to thank. She is newly weaned, but in 2010 I spent many many hours nursing her. And what do you do when you don't have TV? What do you do to keep yourself awake (and therefore not drop the baby) at 3 am. You read, well, at least I do. So, for fun I kept a list of my 2010 reading list...for your reading pleasure!

1. Feminine Appeal (again): great book for wives and moms

2. Shopping for Time: also by Carolyn Mahaney. Coupled this with her "girl talk" blog and got some good ideas for personal retreats and stewardship

3. The Bruised Reed: what's a year without a Puritan book?

4. Prodigal God
5. Counterfeit Gods: both of these are by Tim Keller. I really recommend #4. #5 is good, but wasn't as applicable to me at the time

6. Mimosa: Amy Carmichael's memoir...it was OK...

7. Orthodoxy (GK Chesterton): He rants about the Reformation a bit (he's Catholic) but has some really good thoughts about God. Worth reading slowly

8. Reflections on the Psalms (CS Lewis): should have done this while studying the Psalter...

9. Grace (Spurgeon): quotable

10. Future Grace (Piper): Good...need to read it again though

11. The Introvert Advantage: I learned a lot about my husband and most of my good friends. For some reason I (extrovert-extreme) have been blessed with introverts around me that I don't understand. This book is great...not Christian, but good sociology.

12. Shepherding a Child's Heart: Have a feeling this will be a yearly read

13. The Cross and Christian Ministry (DA Carson): very good. I like how Carson writes.

14. Jesus: Made in America
15. Why We Love the Church
16. Same Kind of Different as Me: I was on a popular Christian reading kick, but #16 was worth it. It's a story of two friends (true story) and basically their intertwined testimonies. Well-written.

17. Reason for God: Keller's apologetic manual of sorts...really helpful

18. Freakonomics: hilarious and interesting

19. Dug Down Deep: Joshua Harris' book that's not about dating. I liked the promos for this book better than the book itself...although it wasn't bad.

20. When Helping Hurts: READ THIS...enough said

21. A Lesson Before Dying: Good ol' English class fiction
22. Wise Blood: Really like Flannery O'Connor

23. Super-Freakonomics: not as good as the prequel, but worth a read

24. Francis Schaeffer's Work Vol. 1: I plan to read all his works, but it may take a while

25. Nine Lives: a survey of interesting biographies of Indians revolving around faith. If you are interested in India or other kinda-crazy religions read this book

26. The Lacuna
27. The Bean Trees: Barbara Kingsolver (#26, #27) is awesome. Still her best is the "poisonwood bible" but both of these are good stories

28. Heaven (Alcorn): a great great book on the theology of where we will live someday and where some will really want to be

29-350: Kids' books read to Lydia. I'm just estimating here!

"I need some PICTURES!"

2011-01-16T08:14:00.006-05:00

This is what I think our blog is saying to us and I fully agree so here are some pictures from January:

For New Year's, we went down to Vidalia, Georgia, home of the famous sweet onions, to spend with the Martin family. Here Lydia and Shaylee are playing together.

Home with Mommy. There is never a dull moment. Lydia is taking a voyage in the laundry basket.

"This is where I hang out all day, playing with my toys."

Happy Birthday, Lydia. Papa and Nana gave Lydia a Clemson captain's chair. Lydia is now ready to open presents! She is so cutie!

Lydia is opening presents with Violet's help. "This is nice wrapping paper."

Lydia in her adorable Sunday dress playing with Grandma's yellow school bus.

"Snow-of-the-Decade" Snow Storm Pictures:

the good out of the not so good

2011-01-15T15:30:00.004-05:00

This post are my reflections over the past two days and our current situation and how the good is coming out of the not so good. I am breaking it down in two categories which I find helpful to think through this situation. If you don't know what situation I am talking about, please read the post below.

Simple: The simple fact of why we are not in South Asia right now is that we don't have visas. Period. We should have taken the time, asked all the questions, and prepared for this trip even better. But, we failed to do that and the effect of that is that we are not in South Asia right now. This is the answer to way we are not in South Asia. It would be easy to hyper-spiritualize this situation like someone would blame the Devil for their 1980s car breaking down every thousand or so miles. No, it is the car, period. In our situation, we could ask, "Why doesn't God want us over there right now?" and come up with tons of reasons none of them biblical or healthy. Another question could be, "We weren't prepare spiritually enough or we committed some kind of sin?" Again this is unbiblical and unhealthy. God through the Gospel simply does not function in this way. Yes, we are not prepared spiritually enough. This is a given, but God will supply all our needs at the time when we need them and grow us through our brokenness not our righteousness. Yes, we sin daily not loving Him as we ought. But, God doesn't deal with us this way as our sin is on Christ. The simple, boldface fact is we don't have visas. It wasn't a sin, it was an oversight on our part and now we have to deal with the circumstances.

Complex: Now, how we deal with the circumstances is where we grow in grace and the good can come out. Paul Tripp and Tim Lane, a pastors and biblical counselors, give us a great model to consider in all circumstances in their book, How People Change. The model, based out of Jeremiah 17, is when a circumstance comes we react with thorns (we sin, get frustrated, blame-shift, try to control, etc...). Then, by the Spirit, we are moved to the cross where forgiveness is found through repentance. Finally, we bear fruit from the circumstance and grow in grace.

One thing that I have been thinking of over the past month and all that has happened in the Stock Household is the purpose of suffering and walking through troubles. Why does God lead/guide/ordain/let troubles happen? Well there are many reasons and ultimately we don't fully know. But, the one that I have been thinking of is that when troubles come, life's questions press heavy on your mind. They are shaken loose from the depths of your heart, and rise to the surface of your thoughts. They are questions which do not come from the everyday, mundane life. In the past two days, these circumstances have allowed for good questions to rise to the top and for us to deal with them by grace for His glory.

So, here are some of the good which has come out of the not so good:

1) Mandy and I have been able to spend the past two days with each other. We were able to sleep in past 8:30, spend some quality time together at Starbucks, Lowes to look at flooring (yes, we have moved closer to being our parents!), watch a movie, went grocery shopping, gone on walks/run at the park, and went out on a date to Maggiano's.

2) During the date, we were able to have a great time to talk. Mandy had a great idea of finding some questions for married couples on the Internet. Some were fun while others were a little more serious. We each wrote down about seven questions and during the date we talked through them. It was great to listen to each other.

3) Repentance. I am so thankful for repentance which leads to life. Admitting that I am wrong is a grace I need to live daily. Forgiveness is sweet because love is the goal. During the date, Mandy and I were able to ask for each others forgiveness in many areas. Thankfully, our song is the cross of Christ where life-bringing forgiveness comes from. Also, we were able to ask for forgiveness for our thorny response of frustration and blame-shifting to our circumstance to each other and others.

4) Lydia. Lydia is having a ball at the grandparents. She is laughing and giggling all day. Apparently today, while getting pictures at Walmart, she drew a crowd during her photo shoot. The best thing is that she is spending time with the grandparents. Yes, one of the hardest things about living a missionary, is being away from family. So, all the time that she can hang out with family brings the blessing of her to them. Another great thing is that we get to be with her for her birthday (the 16th)!

Trip Cancelled...

2011-01-14T14:02:00.002-05:00

What is the best way to tell some shocking, confusing, and somewhat embarrassing news these days? Have a blog or Facebook and post all your confessions on it. So, here we are... in Cartersville. As many of you know, we should be in South Asia (Ind*a) right now. But, there was one major oversight that we, and everybody else, somehow missed. To be in this country, we need to have visas and we didn't. Through all of our international travels (Mandy - all around Europe; Brian - South America; both - Thailand), we have never had to have visas. It wasn't even a consideration.

So, yesterday, we had our bags packed, said our good-byes to Lydia in grandma's arms, and my dad drove us to the airport in the ice weather. We walked up to the baggage/ticket claim man. We are laughing and having a good time. We just heard that we can check our friend's bags which are heavy through the whole flight. This was great because we had a long layover in Chicago. There we could go out the city and get some famous deep-dish pizza. Then, the baggage/ticket guy said, "Now, can I see your visas?" We said we don't have visas and then he said "you can't go." This is the truth. We felt like we were punch in the gut, breathless, turned upside/down and inside/out.

We finally made it back to Cartersville (without Lydia - we left her at the grandparents for a couple of days) and began talking to other missionaries (thanks, John and Sue), people in the missionary headquarters (thanks, Bobbi Jo), and eventually our team leader (thanks, Cartee). We learned that visa problems happen a lot with this country. Through all this, we are still moving forward and are looking at a trip in May, Lord willing.

Simply Awesome: Jesus!

2011-01-07T09:59:00.003-05:00

Here is Lydia's first catechism video!

Suffering and the Goodness of God

2011-01-03T10:49:00.005-05:00

Suffering and the Goodness of God :: What does “good” mean in Romans 8:28?

Preached 01/02/2011 @ Christ Community Church

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011. Please open your Bibles to Romans 8:28-39. Typically, a “new year’s sermon” consist of making resolutions, looking up to new horizons, and desiring to change. Read the Bible in a year. Pray more. Go on more date nights with your spouse. All are good if done by the grace of God. I want to go a very different way. A dose of reality living in a Genesis 3 fallen world. CJ Mahney, a pastor, says, “If you are not suffering know, you will soon – preparation is so important”. Life is made up of light and shadows, day and night, joy and sorrow, shalom and suffering. Because I love you, I want to help in that preparation so that when the storm comes rock, not sand will be your footing.

Romans 8:28-39 ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

INTRODUCTION

Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. It’s a Saturday. The sky is a cobalt black filled with glimmering stars. The temperature outside is 24 degrees without the wind chill factor. Inside, the covers are warm and the pillow is soft. “I got to get up. I got to get up.” I roll out of bed. In the dark, I find my pile of clothes I laid out the night before. As I get dress, I think to myself, “people think I’m crazy, but it is not that cold if you put the right amount of layers and facial protection on.” So, I open the door. Its is dry and cold. Really cold. I start my car and slowing drive over to Scott’s house. He is waiting outside pacing back and forth. We begin the 5-mile loop we do almost every Saturday. After we chat about running, we move to life. I listen week in and week out. Pain. Severe pain. Headaches. No sleep. Can’t eat. Feet and toes swollen, blistered. Can’t walk. As many of you know, these are the severe conditions of Scott’s wife, Heidi. Scott discloses another hard week about Heidi’s health. Where is God? Angry. Does He hear? Where is hope? What is “good”? How can we “know that for those who love God all things work together for good”?

In the beginning of my running with Scott, I might share a story of a saint who struggle, John Bunyan’s imprisonment for preaching the gospel, Charles Spurgeon’s deep depression, or Calvin’s struggle with serve headaches or his lost of his first child after two weeks in which he wrote “The Lord has certainly inflicted a severe and bitter wound in the death of our baby son. But He is Himself a Father and knows best what is good for his children.” How does a believer write that? What is good?

I have come to find out that the Internet is a dangerous place. Not for the reason you are thinking of but it is dangerous because we see and know so much more. Across the top of the screen, a big red line appears. Earthquakes around the world, shooting at a school, sin, fallen, brokenness are our breaking news. This is the world we live in. Is their hope and redemption? Yes. In God. In His Word. In His Voice.

We go back to the text. God’s word. He speaks hope, truth, unswerving promises to his children. In this passage, I want to focus our intention on one verse, actually one word with one question, “What does “good” mean in verse 28?” Before we move to answering that question, let us look at three observations from Romans 8:28 which will shape our answer.

FIRST THREE OBSERVATIONS FROM ROMANS 8:28:

1) “For those who love God”

Exclusive. This promise is exclusive. Paul is speaking to Christians, to those who love God. For those in this room who love God, this promise is for you. God is for you in this promise.[1] The “good” whatever that might be is ON BEHALF of believers.

2) “All things”

Paul here is inclusive. All things: All fender bender, birthdays parties, times of peace, times of war, in plentiful and in want, all joys and sorrows, all evils and any good, all life and death. He says it this way in Ephesians 1:11, “In him [that is Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” So, the answer is “Yes” to the question, “what about this [fill in the blank] that happen in my life?” Yes God has a purpose and a part in everything. Not in the same way, but all things are orchestrated by His hand of providence.

3) “God works together all things… his purpose”

The best illustration that I have heard on how God works together all things including sin and suffering is that of God, as an artist, he is taking all things/all events and weaving together so that on the one side of the picture, our side that we see, it is mess. To our eyes, it looks like knots, tangled, random events, chaos. But, on the other side, God’s side, he is weaving together a prefect picture of His glory. And that picture of His glory is His main purpose in the universal which is to magnify Christ crucified. I say this because in the book of Revelation, we read about a book: the Book of life of the Lamb that was slain. And when was this book written? It was written before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Which I take to mean, that at the apex of the eternal plan of God was a crucified Savior. So, when the day is done and eternity dawns, beginning the forever day in glory, on His throne when He turns the picture around so that all creation can see, it will be Christ with His wounds from the cross.

So now, we get to the question that I am after, “What is the meaning of “good” in Romans 8:28-39?”

WHAT “GOOD” DOES NOT MEAN?

In a healthy and wealthy nation, we filter the word “good”, “all things work together for good” as

- Better, big, brighter house… we think good is always increase your wealth and possession.

- A clean bill of health… if you have cancer, we would think “good” equals cured. [Is that what it means?]

- You lose your job… “good” means you are going to get a better job than you had before.

- If you struggle with a particular sin… “good” means in one, five, ten years (that might be to much), no more fight, no more struggle with this particular sin

- Ultimately, “good” for you is your life will be safe, security, healthy, wealthy, happy, and retired.

So, when we hear and read the words, “all things work together for good”, we are thinking that all things will work for my safety, my security, my health, my wealth, and I will eventually end up retired, fat and happy. And as Christians we take it a step further and say, struggle, demand to God, you must give this to me. You say, no I don’t…

Heart Check. When do you get angry with God? Is it when your definition of good doesn’t come your way? Is it over something like “He didn’t give me this possession?” or “I don’t feel safe?” or “Why do I have this illness?”… “I thought you’d said “I do” forever, now this?” Yeah. We define “good” in these terms and it reveals our hearts. But, God doesn’t define “good” this way.

WHY “GOOD” DOES NOT MEAN THAT?

God tells us in His word. In this text, in this passage, it shows it is the exact opposite. It shows it as the exact opposite of a safe, security, healthy, wealthy, happy, and retired definition of “good”. It shows it in two ways. First, we see it in the life of Paul and the early Christians. Let’s read it:

Romans 8:35-36, “³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

The life of the early Christians and Paul was a life of suffering. If Paul is our test case for a moment, he explains the list in more detail in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Paul goes on in 2 Cor. 12 about a personal struggle and the sin of pride in which the Lord would not take away. Paul’s list is filled with physical suffering, emotional and mental suffering, suffering from the sins of others, and personal sin. I didn’t see in the list anything about safety or security or healthy in this life.

In v36, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long”. So, day after day after day, Christians were and are being killed for their faith or dying because of famines/plagues. Why does Paul go there? Go with me. Paul is taking you there. He goes there because he wants to take you there, mentally, emotionally, spiritually [think/feel - “My child just died, I buried them today, where is your faith, where is your God?... I just found out that I have cancer, it is terminal meaning it will kill me in such and such a date, how is this good for me or my family?], with the full weight of all this life’s suffering, and gives you, the one who loves God, a place to stand and be victorious in the suffering that will come.

So, Paul didn’t think good meant relief from suffering or an easily life. The second reason that we see why “good” can’t mean an easily life is the life and death of Jesus, our Lord, Savior and King.

Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son” and 8:34 “Christ Jesus is the one who died”

Jesus was a poor, Galilean pleasant who came from a small rural town, think Emerson (do you know where Emerson is? It has been called the arm pit of Cartersville). Nobody came from Nazareth (John 1). These people were simple, blue-collared, illiterate, dirt poor people. Jesus stayed this way throughout his life and ministry. On one occasion, he did not even have enough money to pay His temple tax outside of a miracle in a fish which He performed (Matt. 17:24-27).

The death of Jesus was anything but easy or safe. He was flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails which entered into His skin and then was yanked out pulling skin, muscle, and tendons. He wore a crown of thorns crushed into His head and blood flowed down His face. He was betrayed by one of His closet followers, Judas. He was rejected by His only people who led the false trials and continued to mock and insult Him. He was crucified, nailed to a cross. He experience nakedness, shame, and embarrassment on the cross. Crucifixion was a hideous grotesque scene. Ultimately, the worse pain of all was when His Father forsake Him, “O God, O God, why have you forsaken me?”, when He becoming sin for the glory of God and the salvation of us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”, and when He being crushed by His Father, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10)

And you know it to be true because you are beneficences of His suffering on a cross: Salvation to you! Sin cancelled! Death overcome! New Life Awakened! Enjoyment forever in God!

For us, if we are being conformed to the image of His Son as v29 states, and in the image of His Son there is great suffering, then we must not think we that we are above suffering (1 Cor. 4) but will be faced with it most necessarily. Paul clearly says in Romans 8:17 that we are “heirs of God and fellows heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

So, if suffering is necessary to enter into glory, then we should not be surprise by it when it comes to the point of losing our faith. So then, if God is good and all things work together for good, what does “good” mean especially in the midst of suffering?

WHAT DOES “GOOD” MEAN?

“All things work for good” and the good means “on behalf of believers that they would know and be known by God’s never-stopping, never-giving up, unbreakable, always and forever love”. The good is to be love intimately and deeply by God forever. Your deepest longing in all of life is to be loved by God and to love Him. The Psalmist David said, “the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (Ps. 63:3). Augustine wrote in the Confessions, “The single desire that dominated my search for delight was simply to love and to be loved“.[2] The good is that every event whether in the moment or in hindsight awakes a deeper love for God and expands your understanding of how much God loves you for His glory. This is the promise. And this is the promise as it is grounded in God’s saving acts:

THE GOLDEN CHAIN IN GOD’S LOVE (Romans 8:29-30)

Foreknown = He has loved us with an everlasting, eternity love.

Predestined = God lovingly planned beforehand to conforming us to His Son so that we can know His love. The more you are conformed to Christ, which will include suffering, the more you know His love.

Called = This is God’s sovereign, effectual call to dead, unloving hearts. He has pursued us in love and awakened us in love

Justification = Christ died for us in love. At the cost of His life, Christ took our sins upon Himself so that God could love us (Romans 5:7-8). God does not love you outside of Christ. He can’t, you’re a sinner. Condemnation is due. But in Christ, by faith alone, God is totally for you! “If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ”

Glorification = He will love us forever as He is our God and we are His people.

Because of all these saving acts of God to His people, Paul answering the question “Who shall separate from the love of Christ?” Answers: No one and nothing. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God has loved us by giving us what we need most: Him. His ever-presents. His constant love. This walks us through life and its ways.

I have been thinking about this sermon for two years now. And this fall, I decided to preach it the next time I had an opportunity to preach. Little did I know, how much I need it personally. As some of you know, in December, Mandy and I miscarried our baby of eight weeks. We walked through the valley of the shadow of death, where the shadow was coming from our child in the womb of eight weeks… who had no heartbeat. And now we are on the path of suffering and in the process of grieving. So, this theology is not theatrical, but immensely real and needed and life-sustaining.

APPLICATION

As I move into application, I want to speak to those who are in the midst of the darkness and it seems it will not lift. Or maybe you know a friend or love one who is experience suffering. How does one go through it? God + Grace + Time is a great healer.

God.

When Mandy and I did lose the baby, it was the hardest day of my life. And now we are in the path of grieving with hope in God's almighty hand of love. But, where can I turn? There is only one place: the Scriptures. I am so thankful for the Scriptures and what God has revealed in them. They have been a light in a dark time, a rock in a hurricane-like storm, and ringing bell sounding out in the middle of black night (See Job 1-3, Psalm 50, 2 Cor. 1, 2 Sam. 12). When I read the Psalms or Paul’s life or look at Christ, I see horrific, profound suffering, sin, and waiting yet so much hope, joy, and redemption. I see God answering prayers from His people comforting my heart (2 Cor. 1:16-17). I see His promises that “he will never leave me nor forsake me”, that nothing can separate me for the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord. Jesus will meet you there in the dark hour by His Spirit through the Scriptures. The Scriptures are your life if you are suffering like oxygen is who has been suffocating. Because they are God’s voice.

God + Grace

Grace does teach us that we don't deserve anything, but it also points us to the cross. Look to the Cross. Gaze at the Cross. The Cross of Christ is the sweet fount of sustaining grace. It is the streams of healing rejuvenating the soul. And when you are ready to receive it, it is, if the picture at the end of the universe is the Lamb that was slain then, it is the only answer for suffering and evil. Would you receive Christ on the cross?

God + Grace + Time

When a tragedy happens, give yourself, give others time. Release yourself from this “always positive, never pain” fake life. The Scriptures given you permission. When you are wounded (physically), it can take days even months to heal. When suffering happens, you are wounded spiritually and it can also take days, months, even years to heal. During this lose of my child, I feel like something has been amputated from me. When my child died, a human being was amputated from my soul. Now, amputations heal, but not quickly. It might take one, two years. But there will be a time where it won’t be tender anymore. But what won’t change is there will always be a numb on my soul which if rubbed will remind me something is missing. But, through God, grace, and time, it will heal and you and I will love God more as the saint in the past have. Let’s pray.

[1] For those who do not love God, How do you love God? Because you want this promise… that all things work together for good. First, you recognize/confess that you don’t or haven’t love God, but have different love affairs with everything including yourself. You’re supposed to love Him and you don’t love Him. This is bad, sinful, wrong. Then, you see that God has loved you first (1 John 4:11). He showed His love for us in that while we were still not loving Him, His Son died for us and our sin (Romans 5:8). Last, you receive the love in His Son on your behalf which gives you love for Him.

[2] Augustine. Confessions. (Oxford.: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 24

Lydia Likes...

2010-12-17T17:31:00.003-05:00

Lydia likes...this giraffe.
She'd like you to have it...but you have to give it back.

Lydia likes reading (and Aunt Becky)

Lydia likes eggs, a lot. (If you are a pediatrician or hypochondriac mom...please note these are not eggs. I would never feed my child eggs before her 1st birthday! These are merely egg toys Lydia is playing with.)

Wearing only a diaper and having control of the remote.
Thanks Aunt Kelly.

Lydia likes Mommy. And we sure look cute all bundled up for the winter weather.

Lydia likes this barn. It's the Little People Farm Set. She plays with it everyday.

Lydia likes "helping" Mommy wrap Christmas presents. Our ribbons will never be the same.

Slow Healing

2010-12-15T13:41:00.002-05:00

The sight on my arm where I had my IV started itching today. Not a bad, infected kind of itching. But the healing kind. The bruise is starting to fade, but it's still sore. My IV sight is obviously not the biggest deal after a surgery like I had last week (I really can't bear to say the official name of the procedure), but it really does remind me of my need for emotional healing.

Many people have read my last post about losing our baby. Brian expressed the same thing I was thinking...we could write many many posts about this because the grieving and thinking through this is so complex in our heads, hearts and relationships. Of course, not all thinking is meant to be in public, and certainly not via social media. But here's where I am a few days later.

Healing. Not completely, not as fast as my body is healing. I am distracted most times by life, by Lydia, by just everything that needs to be done. I kind of like that...it means I don't have to dig deep. But then, the hurting catches me by surprise. I will see something about the size our baby was (3/4 of an inch) like this word. It may sound silly, but then I think of him and I cry. A friend will call or email to let me know they are grieving with us and praying for us. It's so good, but also hard to respond to. Our pastor preached a great sermon on Sunday about Mary's song...and I just couldn't stop crying. Thankfully Brian didn't care what his shirt looked like after I leaned on him! And it's hard for me to get into Scripture, because I know the Word is powerfully and active...meant for my good, yes, but penetrating.

It isn't easy being pursued by the Holy God who loves me. He works in the quiet moments and in the moments I am thinking of laundry, lunch or Christmas gifts. He's working through the body of Christ, my family...even Lydia, and just in my heart. It's terribly exposing and vulnerable. It comes in quick hurt, tears and heartache. It comes with slow healing and, Lord wiling, intimacy with this Pursuer.

Grieving through the Loss of Our Baby

2010-12-13T16:47:00.004-05:00

About 3 weeks ago, Brian and I rejoiced to find out we were expecting our second Baby Stock! Soon after, we started sharing the news with family and close friends, and I started feeling very sick and tired (just like when I was pregnant with Lydia). We bought a "Big Sister" shirt for Lydia, wrapped it and put it under the Christmas tree.

On December 6th, we had our first ultrasound. We saw our little baby, measuring 8 weeks and 5 days...with no heartbeat. The doctors were sympathetic and asked us to come in for tests and another ultrasound at the end of the week. Throughout those (extremely long) 5 days, I had hope. I still felt just as pregnant (I was almost happy every time I got nauseated). I read and prayed through Psalm 139 which tells of God "wonderfully and fearfully" creating and caring for every person even in the mother's womb. I knew that grace had ripped control out of my hands and I had to wait, pray, and hope.

So, Friday came and another ultrasound revealed our tiny baby still with no heartbeat. The doctor quickly explained the medical reasons behind this and scheduled me for a surgery that afternoon. Closure came quickly, in some ways, yet my heart is an open wound and I thought was stronger than this hemorrhage.

Where is my hope? Where is grace? And what of my Father who loves me and desires to give His children good gifts (Matthew 7:7-11)? Our baby dying does not seem like a good gift. It actually doesn't seem like a gift at all, but a curse, a punishment, or maybe a cruel hurtful way to teach me a lesson.

This is not like losing my job or a delay in our plans that I have seen work out for good. I look back and say "God knew what He was doing! It seemed bad at the time, but it all worked out for the better." Will I look back, remember that still silent ultrasound picture and say "See, God had a plan for my good. It all worked out."? I don't know. Maybe in Heaven. But I haven't enough faith and maybe too much honestly to confess that thought isn't very comforting.

I went to seminary. I like the logic of theology. I like how when I dig deep enough I can explain mysteries. I like to fool myself into thinking that I completely comprehend our Lord. I imagine if I could hug Him, my fingers would touch on the other side.

The truth is I would like a hug. One where I am enveloped in Him. One where I know He understands because He cries with me. One where I can be weak because He is supporting me as I tremble. I have to admit an explanation sounds nice. Seeing this tragedy rewritten for good (Romans 8:28) would be wonderful and it sure would make a great story. But a hug sounds better.

So, I continue to lean on my husband who I know grieves with me and still supports me as I fall weak in his arms. I depend so much on my family and friends who have comforted me and just listened. I am so thankful for my church body, the body of Christ, who have hugged me, cared for Lydia, cooked for us, and walked alongside of us without explanations or trite answers.

And even through my honest frustration, sadness and confusion with God, I love Him so much. I am thankful for His promises that are bigger than my understanding. I am thankful that no matter how tight I squeeze my arms will never hold all of Him. And I am truly thankful that His arms now hold our baby when I cannot.

Christmas Story from the Jesus Storybook Bible

2010-12-13T11:09:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving: Lydia

2010-12-03T14:01:00.010-05:00

This was Lydia's first Thanksgiving. In fact, this was her first major family holiday (sorry love, I don't consider Groundhog's day as a major holiday). Holidays are always more eventful than normal vacations. The stays are a little longer. It is a more lively around the house and this Thanksgiving was no different. Except it is was different in that Lydia was there. For Mandy and I, going to family holidays are no longer coming as individuals or even as a couple, but as a family. What a great blessing to be thankful for to the Lord. Furthermore, having a baby around wherever you go makes things different.

One of the best "different" parts of this past Thanksgiving was watching Grandma and Aunt Kelly play, adore, and smile with Lydia. It was neat to see my sister warm up and become closer to Lydia more and more and laugh with her.

However, there is one confession which I will make on Lydia's behalf. She missed her first Thanksgiving feast. Well, kind of. Lydia needed to take a nap right about the blessing and toast. Actually, it was a great blessing for daddy and mommy as we were able to enjoy the feast and conversation with our family unhindered. For those who might be disappointed with Lydia's Thanksgiving siesta, I want to inform you that she did wake up at the tail end of the feast and ate some mashed potatoes and squash. Here are a couple of snapshots of Lydia's meal:

Daddy's getting Lydia ready for the Feast -

Lydia thinking, "Look at all this food... why did I take a nap?" -

Thanksgiving: The Feast

2010-11-29T18:23:00.012-05:00

Everyone knows the three elements of a good Thanksgiving: the Feast, watching Football, and hangout with the Family. Mandy, Lydia, and I were at my parent's house this year. We arrived at my parents house a little after five on Wednesday. We were both surprised at how light traffic was during the busiest travel day of the year. This early arrival was very important as my mom made her famous homemade spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage and meatballs. I love spaghetti and my mom's is the best. We can call this our pre-meal to the feast like preparing for a road race the next day.

Our Thursday, with the Macy's Day Parade in the background, every in the household had a job to do. For hours, there were potatoes peeled, casseroles mixed together, tables and chairs arranged, and of course, the turkey with stuffing in the oven. The family didn't go hungry during these hours of cooking. My dad, the day before, had cajun-seasoned/smoked a turkey for us. OH MY! It was delicious! Juicy. Flavorful. Mouthwatering good! Also, my mom, in her normal motherly-good fashion, had orderves of shrimp and cheese-in-crackers. I want to highlight one kind of cheese we had for a moment. I don't know the brand of this cheese, but it was a pepper jack cheese. Why does one pick a pepper jack over, lets say, a medium cheddar? Spicy. You want the cheese to have a little punch. Sometimes, may I say, most of the time, you don't get that spicy you were looking for in the pepper jack. Well, this cheese which my mother put out was perfectly spicy. It brought the punch I was looking for in a piece of pepper jack cheese.

Getting Ready to Feast:

(my brother and my dad having a little laugh; my sister and her friend enjoying the day)

(Mandy sitting down to give thanks)

I turn to the Feast itself. The Feast at our house was especially delicious this year. I don't think I can remember of having a tastier Thanksgiving. Here is the 2010 Stock Thanksgiving Meal Menu:

1 Juicy Brine Turkey

1 Out-of-This world Cajun Smoked Turkey

1 Spiral Ham

Stuffing

Oyster Stuffing (a family recipe)

Home-grown vegetables from my Uncle's garden in Maine:

Potatoes (mashed)

Acorn Squash

Brussels Sprouts

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Delight (with the big mash mellows)

Biscuits (my Dad made them)

Pickle/Black Olive/Banana Pepper Tray

Two Cranberry dishes

Pineapple

(just finished!)

5 Gospel Essentials: Application to Us

2010-11-29T16:10:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday our church, as many others around the world, celebrated the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means "coming". During this season, the Church remembers the first coming of the Lord Jesus and anticipates His second coming in the future. One common passage read during the Advent season is Luke 2 and the account of the shepherds in the fields. On that cobalt starry night, a heavenly host announced God's breaking into this sin-filled world to save it from itself. In Luke 2:10-12, Luke records the eye-witness testimony of what the angel announced that evening, "And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." When I read this passage I can't help but think of Linus reciting it from memory to Charlie Brown in explanation of what Christmas is all about. Glorious!

Anyway, in this passage, it is filled with the essential truths of the Gospel which we have looked: 1) It is historical: "this day", "City of David", and "you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger"; 2) It achieved and accomplished salvation: "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord"; and 3)It is by faith alone: The very fact that God had to come into this world screams that we can't, at any point, save ourselves or do anything which could help us along the way.

But, all these essential truths of the Gospel are only "good news of great joy" if they reach us. The Gospel must come to us and change us positionally and practically. That is, there is an application to the Gospel. If somebody makes a delicious homemade apple pie with crumb topping like Mandy did for Thanksgiving and it doesn't reach the taste buds of somebody, the apple pie and all the hard work is not good news. Apart of the "good" in the good news is receiving, tasting and delighting in the apple pie. Here are some application or change which the Gospel brings:

- New Identity: "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3).

- A Child of God: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:4-7)

- Peace through Justification by Faith: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ” (Romans 5:1).

- Forgiveness of Sins: “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).

- Eternal Life: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The great news is that as the angels continued to proclaim, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). The application of the Gospel is to all with whom God's pleasure rests according His good pleasure.

Sick Day!!!

2010-11-18T11:11:00.007-05:00

On Monday, the Stock family was under the weather. Daddy had sinuses and mommy had sore throat. Our little girl, Lydia, has a top, front tooth coming in. She won in the category of "Ouch!" We all stayed in our pj, drank tea and water, and enjoyed playing together and napping . It was a fun day as well as a sick day could go. As of today, Thursday, we are all feeling much better though not 100%.

Here are a few snapshots that we took during the day:

Lydia in the Laundry -

Mommy and Lydia reading and learning the alphabet Dr. Seuss style... "Big A, little a, what begins with a?"

Daddy and Lydia hanging out on the couch while daddy was talking to his friend, Dusty.

Thank You, Veterans!

2010-11-11T11:29:00.002-05:00

To all those who are or have served in the military, thank you! By the way, I love the commercials done by the Marines. I think they are the best commercials done by anybody. After every one of them, they really get you to think about joining their team. This is the latest one that I have seen. It is pretty cool.

The Effects of Being A Pumpkin

2010-11-08T06:51:00.002-05:00

The Cutest Pumpkin Ever

2010-11-03T09:25:00.009-04:00

Lydia was a pumpkin for Halloween. She, in our opinion is cute in anything, but here she is a little orange gourd. She didn't like getting dressed up much...if you look closely you can see a tear. But all in all trick-or-treating went well. Daddy carried her from door to door in our friends' subdivision (we went with a big group of toddlers, babies and parents). Lydia graciously donated all her candy to Mommy and Daddy. We, in return, gave her green beans and yogurt. Apparently she found this fair.

MORE PICTURES: Family Photo, Trick or Treat, Pumpkin Photo Shoot #'s 7, 2, 5, 6

5 Gospel Essentials: Free Offer by Faith Alone

2010-10-29T09:26:00.005-04:00

The past Sunday was Halloween. (For those who read our blog for Lydia updates - Lydia was a pumpkin. Pictures coming soon.) But more importantly, it was Reformation Day--when the church celebrates Martin Luther nailing a paper of 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg University's Castle Church to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God's providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation.

As Martin Luther, along with others, questioned the Church's teaching on matters of selling of indulgences, the treasury of merit, and purgatory he would conclude that salvation by faith plus works or by faith was the issue.

"This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification," insisted Martin Luther, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness." He also called this doctrine the article of the standing and falling of the church... "if this article stands, the Church stands; if it falls, the Church falls." Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ's righteousness alone is the gospel, the core of the Christian faith around which all other Christian doctrines are centered and based.

Luther read passages like Galatians 2:15-16, " We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

In this passage, we find that we are not justified (or accepted/approved/made right with God) by obedience to the works of the Law. That is, what we do, either good or bad, or our merit cannot be the base for our relationship with God. In fact, no one can be made right with God by their faithfulness to the law or own moral standing. It is clear as day that all have broken, disobeyed and rebelled against God and His law. Is there another way?

Yes, "through faith in Jesus Christ". God works, obeys, and lives for us. It is Jesus Christ's perfect obedience to the law of God. It is His righteousness and goodness given or credited to us. We believe in what God has given to us. Faith is essentially a receiving of what someone else does, and not what we do on our own. We look away from ourselves and to Christ as our Savior, Lord and Treasure. Now, we are justified/accepted/approved/made right with God by God in Christ. God only sees Jesus over those who believe in Him.

This is the Gospel. It is a free offer of Christ and His perfections for anyone who would believe, not in themselves, but in Him alone through faith alone.

------------

Other passages:

Romans 3:26-28 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Playdates, Daddy-time and Lydia's Future Alma Mater

2010-10-26T19:16:00.005-04:00

A hog-podge of pictures for your enjoyment, dear blog-reader.

"Here Lydia, this is how you do it." -David

Moments before David exited the wagon and asked my permission to give Lydia a kiss. Of course I said yes. It was too cute.

A favorite time of the day for me. Brian gets home from work on Friday, takes Lydia outside to look at the garden while I prep dinner. Here I'm not prepping dinner, but taking pictures of this sweet moment at the Stock Household.

"How are the cayenne peppers doing Little Girl?" -Daddy

Chris and Sarah (both Georgia Tech grads) invited me to come along to the Clemson/GT football game this weekend. The Tigers won, of course. Before the game we all toured the campus and Lydia posed in front of Tillman Hall. Her mommy's hope is that she one day calls Clemson home too. Well, I told her she could go anywhere she wants to...besides University of South Carolina.

Rock Ranch Adventure!

2010-10-21T11:32:00.008-04:00

Mandy's birthday present this year from her mom and step dad was season passes to the Rock Ranch's Family Fall Days. The Rock Ranch is a 1250-acre working cattle farm, owned by Chick-Fli-A founder, Truett Cathy, south of Barnesville, Georgia. It is a wonderful place for families to spend a day enjoying Rock Ranch's many activities, each other, and God's glorious creation. They have a whole days worth of activities: train rides, tiny town, petting zone, land slide, paddle boats, corn maze, family dodge ball, face painting, and so much more! This fall, we have had the enjoyment of heading down south to the Rock Ranch two times. The first time was just the Stock family and the second time Papa and Nana came up from Tampa to enjoy a Saturday with us.

The video captures the first weekend with the Stock family. Underneath the video are pictures from the second trip. Enjoy!

Lydia's first adventure of the day was to sit on a giant cow with the help of Daddy! Mooo!

During this Family Fall day at the Rock Ranch, they had Hot-Air balloons. They are always a neat sight to see!

Adventure Mommy with her sidekick, Chickin' MINI, on her back!

We are at the petting zone, Lydia's favorite adventure in the whole-wide world (at least, as of now!). Papa and Lydia are feeding the goats.

Lydia and her new found friend, pony!

At this point, all I could hear from Lydia was "Pony. Pony. I want a pony. I want a pony. Please. Please, come home with us. Pony, Please!"

Nana is showing Lydia all the cool adventures at the Rock Ranch from the train!

Lydia: Nine Months

2010-10-20T14:34:00.007-04:00

3/4 of a year "on the outside"! Since she was born a few weeks early, Lydia has now been in the world as we know it for as much time as she was inside Mommy. Kinda weird to think about, but amazing how God is growing her.

We went to the pediatrician this week for a flu shot, a really long questionnaire on her skills and a weight and height check. Our little gal is weighing in at 17 lbs 7 ounces...which was way off our guesses (more like 20!). She has also grown 2 inches since our 6 month appointment, so she is now 26 inches long. She is consistently in the lower percentiles for weight and upper for height. Although she may not look tall and skinny now, that's what the stats say... it seems she may take after her Daddy in this as well!

Her fine motor skills (grasping, moving things from hand to hand, figuring out how to get a toy out of something else, etc) are excellent. Verbally she's also got mad skilz! However, in the gross motor skills category (crawling, pulling up, etc) not so much. We are not worried, but must continue to refrain from holding her all the time. :/ Everything else checked out great...good heart, kidneys and lungs (she even screamed at the doctor to demonstrate).

We love love love her so much...and if you are reading this blog, I assume you do too. Keep praying for her to grow, learn and love the Lord Jesus Christ with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength.

5 Gospel Essentials: Achieved and Accomplished

2010-10-18T09:18:00.003-04:00

[My last post in this series was this summer in June. I have struggled writing anything since then as my mind desired to take a break after finishing school. Writing nor reading comes easy to me and each is a painstaking task. But, Lord willing, I will press on forward and begin to write again. Now, to the post...]

"What is the News?"

News matters. Just the other day, after more than two months of survival, miners from Chile were rescued. When the mine caved in on August 5, the men were all thought dead in yet another of Latin America's litany of mining accidents. But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit. During those 17 days of silence, what was the difference for the wives of the miners?

On August 5th, the news to the wives was, "there has been a mining accident and your husband and father of your children is dead. We have a rescue mission planned, but..." Then, seventeen days of silence. No phone calls. No emails. No touch or kiss or hug. No tucking children into bed. Dead. Forever. On August 23rd, they received a phone call. "Against all odds, they are alive. We have drilled a tiny hole to where they are. We are sending down food and water for the miners." The difference for the wives of the miners is one word, NEWS. The miners were always alive. The wives weren't a part of the rescue. They relied on news. It was the news to the wives that changed everything during those despairing days.

Roughly two-thousand years ago, a poor, Galilean peasant carpenter turned Jewish teacher walked upon this earth. His name was Jesus of Nazareth. What is the news in that? The news in that is in who He was and in what he did.

He was Emmanuel, God with us. He was the Son of Man, the Ancient of Days. He was the Christ, the Anointed One. God has come to earth. The Creator has entered into His creation. He has broken down the barrier between the infinite and the finite, the holy and unholy. The news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ in life, death, and resurrection achieved and accomplished salvation. All of the acts of Christ in his life, death, and resurrection means redemption, reconciliation, and rescue.

All these acts, along with a hundred others, are done by Christ and are outside of us:

Absorbed WRATH: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'" (Gal. 3:13; cf. Rom. 3:25-6)

Bore our SINS: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24)

Performed PERFECT Righteousness: "he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8); "so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19)

Defeated SIN and SATAN: "By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Col. 2:15)

Victorious RESURRECTION: "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:12, 17). "It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:24-25).

This is the news that truly changes everything. As sinners and rebels, who are dead in our sins and are dying into eternity, the Gospel is the only news which breaks the silent and brings power of new life, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Crazy Hair!

2010-10-14T08:55:00.002-04:00

Most people, upon seeing Lydia, comment on one of two things: "Look at those blue eyes!" or "I love her crazy hair!".

We don't style, comb or really do anything with her hair. There's pretty much nothing you CAN do with it. Bows fall right out. Combing doesn't take. And really, we are not going to put product in our baby's hair. It starts to lay flat after a few days without a bath, but once we wash it...and especially after a nap it's back to it's awesome crazy self.

Here she is after a bath, nap, and oatmeal.

And just the "do"

Cute and crazy

Laughing along with me

Moments with Mom (Part 2)

2010-10-07T20:27:00.003-04:00

Please excuse the rather long and semi-anti-climatic video, but we really do think every little thing she (that is Lydia) does is magic. Well, not really magic...but cute and worth spending five minutes watching her just have fun with a toy phone.

An Application for Dating My Daughter

2010-09-30T18:50:00.004-04:00

A few weeks back, Lydia wrote a letter to her future husband. She was quite please with it and as I a dad who loves his daughter, I was thankful to see that she is beginning to think about these important matters even at such a young age. But, as a dad who loves his daughter, I saw the letter lacked in key areas. It wasn't as strong as it could have been. So, here is my application for dating/courting my daughter:

Application To Date My Daughter

1. Name_________________________ Date of Birth____________

2. Height _________ Weight________ IQ________ GPA________

3. Social Security # ______________ Driver’s licence #__________

4. Boy Scout Rank_____________________________________

5. Home Address_____________ City/State ____________ Zip____

6. Do you have one male and one female parent? ____________

If no, explain answer _________________________________

7. Number of years parents married ________________________

8. Do you own a van? _______ A truck with oversized tires?______ Do you have an earring, nose ring, or belly button ring? _______ Do you have a tattoo?_________ (if yes to any of #8, discontinue application and leave the premises)

9. In 50 words or less, what does LATE mean to you? ____________ ____________________________________________________.

10. In 50 words or less, what does “DON’T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER!” mean to you? __________________________________________________________.

11. Do you love Jesus? __________ Church you attend _______________ How often do you attend? ______________________

12. When is the best time to interview you father, mother, and pastor? Father ____________ Mother___________ Pastor__________

13. Answer by filling in the blank: please answer all questions freely, all answers are confidential (that means I won’t tell anyone ever — promise)

A. If I were shot, the last place I would want to be wounded is in the __________________

B. If I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my ____________

C. A woman’s place is in the _________________________

D. The one thing I hope this application doesn’t ask is________________________________________

E. When I first meet a girl, the thing I notice about her first is ______________

14. What do you want to be “if” you grow up? ________________

15. Are you willing to wear an electronic tracking device? _______

I swear all information supplied above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge under penalty of death, dismemberment, crucifixion, electrocution, Chinese water torture, and red hot pokers.

Signature ________________________

Thank-you for you interest. Please allow four to six years for processing. You will be contacted in writing if you are approved. Please do not try to call or write (since you probably can’t, and it would cause you injury). If your application is rejected, you will be notified by two gentlemen wearing white ties carrying violin cases.

(HT: Anyabwile)

All God's Critters

2010-09-25T19:51:00.004-04:00

Every couple of weeks, mommy and Lydia go to the library. At the library, mommy picks out five or six different children books. This time mommy checked out "All God's Critters", a song-picture book. Tonight, daddy had a chance to read it to Lydia and she really enjoyed it. When daddy was just finished, mommy found the song on youtube. It is a fun, knee-slappin' song!

ALL GOD'S CRITTERS

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to-do
The old cow just goes MOOOOO

The dog and the cat pick up the middle
While the honey bee hums and the cricket fiddles
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old coyote howls

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the top where the little birds sing
On the melody with the high note ringing
The hoot owl hollars over everything
And the jaybird disagrees

Singin' in the night-time, singin' in the day
Little duck quacks, and he's on his way
The possum ain't got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

It's a simple song of livin' sung everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
Grumpy alligator and the hawks above
Sly raccoon and the turtle dove.

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Lydia: Eight Months

2010-09-21T18:39:00.005-04:00

We're a few days late posting this Month Update. Our little girl is keeping us busier and busier as she interacts more, demands puppet shows and takes a really really long time to eat (solids, that is...she has nursing down to an efficient science).

Lydia has started to communicate in a variety of ways. She rubs her eyes when tired, waves at passing cars, and flaps her arms which means (as far as we can tell) "pick me up", "I'm excited" and "I'd really like to grab that cat's tail". Verbally she was running with "dadadada" much to Brian's delight, but has recently added some "mamama" and a whole lot of "babababa" sheep style.

She is currently not yet mobile, aside from rolling over, but you'd be surprised how quickly she can reach for and grab things! Her hair continues to be spiky and crazy. Her eyes are Daddy-blue and those chubby kissable cheeks remain.

I suppose we say this all the time, but Lydia is a really fun baby. She is so great to be around, lighting up our home and anywhere she goes (the grocery store and library are much happier

places when she's visiting). Praise our Heavenly Father for this wonderful gift made in His image.

Happy 29th Birthday Mommy!!!

2010-09-18T06:00:00.002-04:00

We love you!!! Thanks for being an awesome mommy! Here is a little gift for you!

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

2010-09-13T11:13:00.005-04:00

Last Friday, Lydia got to visit Daddy at work, the newly named-changed Reinhardt University! Apparently this was a very fertile year for the faculty and staff of Reinhardt, so they decided to get all these new babies (and their parents) together for a brunch and photo shoot.

As you may imagine, that many babies in one room at 930 am...well, not everyone is gonna smile for the picture. Nevertheless, the group shot turned out just fine (notice our little gal not looking at the camera...along with almost all of the other babies).

After brunch, Lydia toured the campus visiting all Daddy's friends and co-workers. She was quite a hit (of course) and loved spending time with her very favorite Reinhardt alum...Daddy.

Lydia & Co.

2010-09-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

As a Stock Household blog reader you probably already agree, Lydia is a very popular gal, even at the age of just 7 months. Each week Lydia and Mommy have the opportunity to play with/babysit several of Lydia's pals around the area. Each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning little Addyson comes over to our house. She is 3 months younger than Lydia. They have so much fun playing together (mostly watching each other chew on toys...although Lydia's starting to want everything Addyson holds). Their favorite time is just facing each other and "talking".

On Thursday afternoon we go to our friends' house to watch this sweet pea and her brothers who come home from school at 4:00. "H" (3 years old) and Lydia entertain each

other and laugh together. "H"'s favorite Lydia adventures include watching Lydia eat (she helps feed her), dancing together (wearing out Mommy in the process) and performing puppet shows for the eager audience (usually ends up in a giant pile of stuffed animals). She recently started calling her by her nickname "Lyd" since she's convinced she knows Lydia well enough to be on a one syllable basis!

Fridays are the most dangerous (in Brian's opinion) for our little girl. David (almost 2 years old) basically says "Lydia" all day long and goes in for hugs and kisses (which she does not object to) at leisure. Protective Daddy is ready to sit down with this boy for a long talk! :) Lydia likes watching him run around the room and takes advantage of his cool "exersaucer".

All in all, Lydia and I have a great week playing and seeing her interact with kids at various stages. I think she enjoys them all and they don't seem to mind their weekly visits from Lydia.

Photo Shoot #439 (approximately)

2010-09-07T19:12:00.007-04:00

"Excuse me, Miss Stock."

"Yes, we are ready for your photo shoot."

"Yes, more like this. Great!"

"NO! Please don't grab the camera!"

"Hey, where did this guy come from? Is he with another agency?"

"Yes, I love this angle. Very nice."

"And I see we're done."

Shepherding A Child's Heart (Part 4)

2010-09-03T08:53:00.003-04:00

Here is the next installment of "The Shepherding A Child's Heart" series. In this video, Dr. Tripp teaches parents how to give kids an understanding of themselves which is deep, thorough, and biblical. Simply, we learn how to help kids understand their heart, "the wellspring of life" (Prov. 4:23). This lecture will help parents go against teaching behaviorism and moralism.

What do the Stocks do on a Friday night?

2010-09-02T08:38:00.008-04:00

Last Friday, as Lydia was fast asleep in her farm-themed crib, daddy and mommy had some fun! Yes, we had an in-home date packed with looking at pictures and EAR-WAX candles. They say that the ear is a self-cleaning organ. Q-tips aren't really the best as they shove most of the wax down into the ear canal. So, every once in a while, we use ear wax candles for a good clean and a good laugh.

Mandy started. The flame is lite and the wax is coming out!

Now, its Brian's turn. There is nothing like a quick nap and an ear-wax job!

The results are in and they are... gross!

changes of motherhood

2010-08-30T18:24:00.004-04:00

Everyone told me becoming a mom would change things, everything. Brian and I prepared for what we could: we got all the "equipment" from the pack n' play to the boppy, bumbo, and bottles; I read some "wifely" books to remind myself of the human relationship that should come first (aka the one to my incredible husband, Mr. Stock); I even figured out (theoretically at least) a schedule that included me-time (reading, working out, gardening, etc).

Over seven months later, I guess I'm still seeing the tip of the iceberg. I am a stay-at-home-mom. So, yes, I "gave up" my career. But, since I lost my job before Lydia was even born it's not that big of a deal. Plus, I always looked forward to being home with the Stock babies!

I gave up some social time, which as an extrovert is still really hard to do. I soon learned though, that babies are quite portable and you sure get to talk to more people in the grocery store when you have a cute baby girl with you!

Currently, I'm giving up lots of stuff at church. I haven't sat through a service in 9 Sundays (yes, I'm counting). I can't sing up front anymore. We have stopped volunteering with the Youth Group at night (basically I was just rocking a sleepy baby the whole time anyways). This week, I also found out that I won't be able to lead a small group as I have for the past few years...a lot of circumstances play in here, but mostly (again) revolving around that cute little baby girl.

How do I deal with all this? Well, in the big scheme of things I'm not giving up much. Lydia is actually a really good baby. Plus, less money, time and convenience is not so bad when compared to lots of others' situations. And of course, she's worth it right?

And here's the problem. The solution to my pity party is an equation that doesn't make sense. I am willing to not complain or go through these little inconveniences because the sacrifice is worth it. Here's the equation:

Lydia (being a stay-at-home-mom, good wife, etc) > everything else that changed.

Of course Lydia is worth it. She is greater than missed opportunities. But if I continue to serve or sacrifice because it makes sense mathematically, I am not serving to the glory of God. I'm constantly bargaining with God: "Ok, I'll do this one thing for you, but it better be worth it. I better get a good relationship, an obedient child, recognition, etc out of this!"

Service (and living!) to the glory of God is saying "yes, Lord" when we can't see that it's worth it, when we are commanded to serve, when we are given a role or a gift to be a faithful steward of. I admit I have been failing at this as I serve my family and church.

Yep, motherhood does mean a lot of changes. I hope most of those are in me for the glory of our God.

Lydia: Seven Months

2010-08-16T09:57:00.007-04:00

Seven months! Lydia is growing and learning so many new things. She is truly a joy to be with, making us smile and laugh...and act quite silly in public sometimes.

No official measurements this month since we won't return to the doctor until October. We can just guess her weight is around 16 pounds, although Brian tried to weigh her on the produce scale at Walmart this weekend.

New skills include rolling over (see the EPIC video Daddy made of this historic event). She now rolls to her belly to sleep and often when she is playing. Rolling back over is a little rough and she usually cries to be flipped when she tires of tummy-time. She is attempting to crawl, but is still figuring it all out.

She can ALMOST sit up. We barricade her with pillows and make sure she doesn't face-plant (too much). Brian likes to put her in "training" for a few minutes a day. He is convinced she will earn the "I can sit up" sticker within the week.

Teeth (well, one so far) have also started to appear. After months of drooling and chewing on anything she can get her hands on, we finally see a little tooth peeking out on the bottom gum. Thanks to Nana for the "Bonjella" (British "orajel") imported just for Lydia since my mom swears it's better than the American version.

She has also started solid food this month. We are feeding her at least two meals a day but haven't worked into any consistent schedule. She has enjoyed a varied menu of vegetables, fruit, yogurt and oatmeal. We are making our own baby food and having fun experimenting with different entrees (squash, peas, and oatmeal anyone?). Diapers are also much different with the introduction of solids (read: lots of fiber!). This is where the cloth-diaper-decision gets serious. Thankfully, before making that decision I discovered a little gem called "diaper liners", flushable liners for when your kiddo starts solids. It saves me from the whole rinse-and-dunk in the toilet technique. I know, you may be thinking this is cheating or really not cost-effective. I can get 100 liners for about $7 and only use them when I think she is going to well, need them. Brian and I agree...they are worth it!

And speaking of worth it, this whole baby-thing...the diapers, feeding, wiping off faces, bathing, changing, rocking, carrying, kissing...it's definitely worth it. What an absolute joy to spend all this time with our adorable daughter created in the image of our wondrous God. It's been an amazing 7 months.

Shepherding A Child's Heart (Part 3)

2010-08-13T10:41:00.003-04:00

Here is the third installment of Dr. Ted Tripp's "Shepherding a Child's Heart" Parenting Conference Video. In this video, Dr. Tripp teaches us a proper understanding of authority. "Authority" is not a popular word in our culture. In fact, since the Fall, we all have a nature spurring any type of authority whether it is from God or other people. We long to be "autonomous", a law unto ourselves, believing the lie from Satan that we could be gods. This path only leads to pride and/or despair and it ends in enslavement and loneliness. The Gospel lays out the different path. Only when we submit ourselves to Christ and trust in His person and work, then we can live free the way we were created (See John 8:31-34). We find ourselves here loved, cared for, and free living before God and others in community. Enjoy...

What a face!

2010-08-10T18:10:00.007-04:00

Here are a few new pictures of our precious little face. We love all the expressions!

You looking at me? Lydia vs. Avocado

"Welp."

Already taking after her daddy!

Lydia vs. Squash

Hanging out and loving it!

Shepherding A Child's Heart (Part 2)

2010-08-05T11:47:00.002-04:00

Giving Kids a Vision for God's Glory

Here is the next installment of the excellent series by Ted Tripp on Biblical Parenting. In this video, Dr. Tripp expounds on living for the glory of God. It could be called a modern day exposition on question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." As he is explaining living for the glory of God, Tripp applies it to parenting your children. This is a "big picture" lesson:

>>> THE EPIC >>> ROLLOVER

2010-08-04T13:32:00.005-04:00

A life is made by moments. Moments of greatness. Moments of conqueror. EPIC moments. Watch and see before your very eyes:

(Tissues and high-fives may be necessary.)

Shepherding A Child's Heart

2010-07-29T10:44:00.003-04:00

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).

Six months. It has been six months that Mandy and I have been parents. We would both say with the biggest smiles on our faces, "We have been truly blessed! It is delightful to be the parents of Lydia." We are just beginning as parents and have much learning, growing, repenting, and rejoicing ahead of us. Learning how to guide our lives in God's ways as parents. Growing in grace between each other as a family and to Jesus. Repenting of our faults, failures, and foolishness to Jesus, who is our Advocate, and each other. And rejoicing each day as new adventures and joys come our way by God's hand of providence.

Over the past couple months, Mandy and I have been reading, learning, and thinking over godly parenting. Now to our "dorky" side. A fun evening for us, though not all the time, is to sit down on the couch and watch a sermon or lecture on whatever. The topics are usually over a practical issue such as marriage or parenting. One of the resources which has been extremely helpful is a video series by Ted Tripp, the author of "Shepherding a Child's Heart". We share it with you because we love you and it is very good. So, be a dorky like us and sit on the couch (even with some popcorn) and learn for God's glory and your joy! There are five of them. Here is the first:

Must love dancing...

2010-07-25T15:42:00.004-04:00

Dear Future Husband,

I know I'm only 6 months old, but my mom says it's never too early to start thinking of what kind of man you'd like to marry. I already have a list of a few preferences. So, to all the boy babies and toddlers out there in the blogosphere: have your mommy or daddy read this to you and if you are interested, see me (well, my dad first) in about 20 years.

1. Must love Jesus. And I mean, love Him with a passion.

2. Must wear clothes for men. I know this seems obvious, but there has been a recent trend in men wearing pink, purple, and jeans that are a bit too tight. No thanks. Pink is for girls.

3. Must love to dance. I thoroughly enjoy dancing. I mean, have you seen my parents? You are gonna have to love this crazy-fun-who-cares-if-we-look-cool-or-not dancing.

4. Must be OK with drooling, bald spots, chubby cheeks, my ardent desire to chew on toys. Mom says I'll grow out of this, but just in case...

I don't have facebook, twitter, or a cell phone. So, if you want to get in touch with me please contact my dad. I have a feeling that's how this is gonna have to be done years from now anyways.

Love,
Lydia

P.S.- A degree from Clemson is a bonus for my mom. When you talk to my dad just bring up Jonathan Edwards, ketchup, or running.

A Lydia First: Eating With A Spoon!

2010-07-21T12:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, at our six month doctor check-up, we received the go ahead on solid foods. This morning, after Lydia's first nap, we strapped her up in her high chair and this is the result:

I love the "yum-yum-Mommy-this-is-so-deliciously-tasty moments"!