Thanksgiving: The Feast

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

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!!!

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!

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

The Cutest Pumpkin Ever

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

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.

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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

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!

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

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

[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).