"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." -Romans 8:18
God does not tell us "I know some days are rough and some days are not, but just keep your chin up and maybe tomorrow will be better." That would be a weaker God, more removed from our suffering. We would not be impressed by what that God has to say, and He would not have our trust. His indifference leaves much to be desired. Humanity has some pretty nice accomplishments too, after all, and we could probably come up with something better than the tentative promise of a "better day."
Ah, but this is not the God of the Bible. This is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of David is not weak, the God of Daniel is not indifferent. He is bold, He is faithful, He is Truth. He says to us "I know some days are unfathomably sorrowful - this is the world as it stands. Your sin has separated us, but only for a time. Stick with me, child, because with me some days are going to be so incredibly amazingly awesome that you won't hardly recall what you did yesterday and pretty soon that's going to be every day because I've got this plan I'm working on and if I showed you all of it at once it would BLOW YOUR MIND!"
God has a better imagination than George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, J.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Gene Roddenberry and C.S. Lewis put together - and He doesn't write fiction.
~~JBH
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Life v2.0
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." -Revelation 21:3-5
A few years ago we miscarried our third child. I remember thinking two things that day: 1) How in the world do people without the Hope of Christ manage this? 2) Someday, this won't happen anymore.
Even as I (Will) write this my eyes cloud up, because the idea that some day I'll wake up and no one will have died - that's just foreign to my mind. And what does that say about our fallen world? Someday nobody will die. And starting that day, and continuing forever, no one ever will. Just let your mind dwell on that for a few minutes. If that thought doesn't affect the rest of your day in a profound way I don't know what will! God, our Father and Creator and Giver of life, promises us He will one day Himself wipe away our tears. There's hope in that, but also a promise: until then, expect tears. Expect and accept them for now, knowing that every sorrow will one day cease.
God has this project, you see, and we're part of it. We're in a kind of trial version of life right now, Life Lite if you will. Everybody gets a free copy in the mail to try it out, but not everyone takes full advantage of the offer. We can choose to throw it out with the other junk mail and not give it a second thought, or we can pop it in and see what's up. It's still a little buggy and needs some work, but it's admittedly not the final product. For those who are able to endure the trial version, there'll be the chance to upgrade later on.
And folks - Life v2.0 is going to rock.
~JBH
A few years ago we miscarried our third child. I remember thinking two things that day: 1) How in the world do people without the Hope of Christ manage this? 2) Someday, this won't happen anymore.
Even as I (Will) write this my eyes cloud up, because the idea that some day I'll wake up and no one will have died - that's just foreign to my mind. And what does that say about our fallen world? Someday nobody will die. And starting that day, and continuing forever, no one ever will. Just let your mind dwell on that for a few minutes. If that thought doesn't affect the rest of your day in a profound way I don't know what will! God, our Father and Creator and Giver of life, promises us He will one day Himself wipe away our tears. There's hope in that, but also a promise: until then, expect tears. Expect and accept them for now, knowing that every sorrow will one day cease.
God has this project, you see, and we're part of it. We're in a kind of trial version of life right now, Life Lite if you will. Everybody gets a free copy in the mail to try it out, but not everyone takes full advantage of the offer. We can choose to throw it out with the other junk mail and not give it a second thought, or we can pop it in and see what's up. It's still a little buggy and needs some work, but it's admittedly not the final product. For those who are able to endure the trial version, there'll be the chance to upgrade later on.
And folks - Life v2.0 is going to rock.
~JBH
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Precious (pt.2)...
"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD." -Psalm 115
Precious...
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." -Psalm 116:15
I (Will) intended to write something yesterday and just couldn't get my head straight. I found solace in reading God's Word (in particular Psalm 69) and spent most of the day as many of you - deep in thoughts of my Saviour and His Ways. This morning I received the news that one of my high school teachers had died last week. 1st Sgt. John Pereira was the Assistant Naval Science Instructor for my NJROTC unit. Not only did he have an amazing story regarding his service in Vietnam (two tours) but he was a Christian and wasn't ashamed of it. He never pushed it on any of us but it was clear that Christ was central to his life and it showed in his actions. What I have learned of honor, integrity and patriotism comes largely from this one man.
So while I find myself wanting to comment on the events of the last forty-eight hours I share this instead:
People often ask us how the store is doing. We all (us included) want the answer to be something along the lines of "Everything has been so fantastic! God provides every step of the way and we're doing great!" but the fact is the finances are tight - and that's a polite understatement. We're finding ourselves passing on bills and there's been more than one occasion where we've lost phone service because of delinquent payments. Some days we don't have any paying customers at all, though one or two people seem to make it in every day just to see how things are going. Word is spreading about us but frankly it's slower than we thought it would be.
Now don't think God hasn't been busy - we could tell you stories that would bring tears and shouts of joy all at once - that much is clear. We always thought God would let us in on His plan for the store at some point, but thus far He seems content to teach us what the meaning of complete dependence on Him daily really is. We rejoice in the Author of Matthew 6:25 and Phillipians 4:19 and Psalm 37:25. We know He is faithful, and He will never leave us nor forsake us, and in the end it's not about us or anything we can accomplish. We are confident He will complete His good work in us, and that His thoughts towards us are of peace and not evil. Jaffrey Bible House is about His Word in His store for His people and His purposes - and that's a very comforting thought indeed!
~JBH
"Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." -Revelation 7:12
I (Will) intended to write something yesterday and just couldn't get my head straight. I found solace in reading God's Word (in particular Psalm 69) and spent most of the day as many of you - deep in thoughts of my Saviour and His Ways. This morning I received the news that one of my high school teachers had died last week. 1st Sgt. John Pereira was the Assistant Naval Science Instructor for my NJROTC unit. Not only did he have an amazing story regarding his service in Vietnam (two tours) but he was a Christian and wasn't ashamed of it. He never pushed it on any of us but it was clear that Christ was central to his life and it showed in his actions. What I have learned of honor, integrity and patriotism comes largely from this one man.
So while I find myself wanting to comment on the events of the last forty-eight hours I share this instead:
People often ask us how the store is doing. We all (us included) want the answer to be something along the lines of "Everything has been so fantastic! God provides every step of the way and we're doing great!" but the fact is the finances are tight - and that's a polite understatement. We're finding ourselves passing on bills and there's been more than one occasion where we've lost phone service because of delinquent payments. Some days we don't have any paying customers at all, though one or two people seem to make it in every day just to see how things are going. Word is spreading about us but frankly it's slower than we thought it would be.
Now don't think God hasn't been busy - we could tell you stories that would bring tears and shouts of joy all at once - that much is clear. We always thought God would let us in on His plan for the store at some point, but thus far He seems content to teach us what the meaning of complete dependence on Him daily really is. We rejoice in the Author of Matthew 6:25 and Phillipians 4:19 and Psalm 37:25. We know He is faithful, and He will never leave us nor forsake us, and in the end it's not about us or anything we can accomplish. We are confident He will complete His good work in us, and that His thoughts towards us are of peace and not evil. Jaffrey Bible House is about His Word in His store for His people and His purposes - and that's a very comforting thought indeed!
~JBH
"Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." -Revelation 7:12
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