Somewhere in the Middle

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas

"Star of Wonder,

Star of Night,

Star with Royal Beauty Bright"...

It's Christmas Eve;

Delight in the Joy to come.

Photo: "Star of Wonder, Star of Night, Star with Royal Beauty Bright"...It is Christmas Eve, and we are delighted by the joy to come.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Monday, October 1, 2012

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But what about theology? Ever think to ask about that?

Our (Desiring God) hope is that a few couples, whether dating and considering marriage, or engaged and preparing for marriage, would find some benefit here, get to know each other better in some of life's most significant matters, and be more fit to discern God's leading for their lives.

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Blessings,
MissyLou

A Modern Day Hannah

I had the privilege of meeting a modern day Hannah. Actually, I already knew this precious lady. She is our family physician. She and her husband have been blessed with a baby girl after 10 years of prayers!!! Ten years!!! That must have seemed like a lifetime during the midst of it all, but now it must seem to have been worth the prayers, tears, struggles, etc. When I heard the news, I rejoiced through tears with her, praised God with her and immediately thought of Hannah and how faithful our God is.

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head." 1 Samuel 1:10-11

And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, "I have asked for him from the LORD." 1 Samuel 1:20

Sunday, August 19, 2012

These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He’d answer my request,
and by His love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

‘Lord, why is this?’ I trembling cried,
`Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?’
`This in this way,’ the Lord replied,
`I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou mayst seek thy all in Me.’

John Newton

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Boys, Math & Video Games

"In 1992 we began to see a very significant academic decline in boys. You might remember that before that boys were king of the math world. Girls ruled in the English department, but boys were king of the math world. And they had a rather strong work ethic in their academics. But we saw a significant decline in that beginning in 1992.

Well, you have to ask yourself what transpired right prior to that to make that happen. In the 1970s, in 1971 exactly, the very first computer game came out, but it took a warehouse to store it. When they finally got it down small enough, the only thing they could do was to put it in a public place. So some of you may remember visiting something called an arcade? It took them a few years after that and they came out with a pretty archaic system. Some of you might remember playing asteroids or pong. Blip! Blip! Blip, blip! That was a fast one.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that we had a viable home system called Nintendo. And computers began to be created specifically for game use including the Commodore 54, Macintosh, and PC Compatibles. By the early 90s, we saw that significant decline. We saw boys who became so concerned about fighting epic battles that were virtual, that they no longer cared about the real world around them.

Today the average boy will spend thirty-five hours in front of his PlayStation or X-box console or in front of the computer playing games. Most of them by the eleventh year of their life will have been introduced to pornography."

Dannah Gresh

Monday, August 13, 2012

Modeling For Our Children

"If your children learned about submission from the way you submit to God-ordained authority, how would they submit? What are the attitudes of the adult generation toward authority? Are we quick to berate or badmouth anything from the President to the pastor to the husband to the schoolteacher? What is our attitude toward authority? I have watched parents skirting the law, lying about the kid's age to get into an amusement park. That's rebellion against authority. Then you have a mom who rolls her eyes when it comes to her husband's authority and is a disgruntled wife, then wants her children to obey with a happy heart and a good attitude. I think when the younger generation sees us honoring authority, and they see the blessings and the rewards of that in our lives and the peace that that brings, to me that's going to be more compelling than just saying, 'You need to come under authority'".

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph. 5:21

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." 1 Samuel 15:21

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1