Monday, March 2, 2009
We've moved!
The Family Life blog has become the CFC blog. Check us out at our new home located at www.covfel.org. You can directly link to it here.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Our New Church-wide Blog!
Have you been to our church web-site recently? It’s all NEW – much more helpful, and much more user-friendly. Take a few minutes and check it out. It's the same place, www.covfel.org with a new look.
In concert with the new web site we are making a significant change in our blog. We’re going church-wide. Over the past few months as we’ve seen how the blog has served our families and marriages so well, and how the use of it continues to grow, we’ve thought that this tool could be helpful for the whole church as well. So, beginning Monday, March 2, the Family Life Blog will become the CFC Blog.
How will things change? We’ll still have the same purpose to ‘engage, inform, and inspire’ the people of Covenant Fellowship. And we’re still going to work with our format of focusing on a different area of life each day during the five day week. But in order for it to serve the church beyond our Family Life Ministry, here’s the new daily line-up.
Monday: The Pastor’s Study. Jared will be taking over this day, offering his thoughts on stuff that matters. He may draw in other pastors on this as well. And we’ll continue to have occasional ‘wisdom for the week’ segments with significant quotes to stir your soul.
Tuesday: Tuesday at the Fivebucks. Tuesdays remain dedicated to the women. But now we’ll also include the perspectives of some of the single ladies in the church as well.
Wednesday: Family Day. We’re combining our Wedded Wednesdays and Family Fridays into one day called Family Day. Please note that we’ll continue to have things on parenting and marriage showing up in our Tuesday and Thursday posts as well.
Thursday: Take Five. Thursdays are the domain of the guys, but we’ll be including some single brothers into the blog mix.
Friday: Mission Friday. We’re really excited about this new day. There is so much that happens in the church that is fruit of the advance of the Gospel that we don’t have time to share in other forums. So we wanted to dedicate a day each week to celebrate and explore what God is doing both here and at times beyond our church. For example, we’ll have a chance to highlight some of the amazing stories from the recent Covenant Mercies medical E-team to Uganda, to report on the upcoming college age New Orleans E-team, to highlight the effect of Gospel Outreaches, Second Saturdays, Alpha, etc. You’ll learn the stories of people arrested by the Gospel. And, of course, with Dave Harvey in residence, we’ll have access to cutting edge thinking and action in the world of church planting and missions.
This all begins next Monday. You can access the new blog either by clicking on the CFC Blog Icon on the home page, or going to the “Resources” drop down menu. Please pass the word around. There are a gazillion blogs out there. This is the only one for CFC by CFC. The CFC Blog.
In concert with the new web site we are making a significant change in our blog. We’re going church-wide. Over the past few months as we’ve seen how the blog has served our families and marriages so well, and how the use of it continues to grow, we’ve thought that this tool could be helpful for the whole church as well. So, beginning Monday, March 2, the Family Life Blog will become the CFC Blog.
How will things change? We’ll still have the same purpose to ‘engage, inform, and inspire’ the people of Covenant Fellowship. And we’re still going to work with our format of focusing on a different area of life each day during the five day week. But in order for it to serve the church beyond our Family Life Ministry, here’s the new daily line-up.
Monday: The Pastor’s Study. Jared will be taking over this day, offering his thoughts on stuff that matters. He may draw in other pastors on this as well. And we’ll continue to have occasional ‘wisdom for the week’ segments with significant quotes to stir your soul.
Tuesday: Tuesday at the Fivebucks. Tuesdays remain dedicated to the women. But now we’ll also include the perspectives of some of the single ladies in the church as well.
Wednesday: Family Day. We’re combining our Wedded Wednesdays and Family Fridays into one day called Family Day. Please note that we’ll continue to have things on parenting and marriage showing up in our Tuesday and Thursday posts as well.
Thursday: Take Five. Thursdays are the domain of the guys, but we’ll be including some single brothers into the blog mix.
Friday: Mission Friday. We’re really excited about this new day. There is so much that happens in the church that is fruit of the advance of the Gospel that we don’t have time to share in other forums. So we wanted to dedicate a day each week to celebrate and explore what God is doing both here and at times beyond our church. For example, we’ll have a chance to highlight some of the amazing stories from the recent Covenant Mercies medical E-team to Uganda, to report on the upcoming college age New Orleans E-team, to highlight the effect of Gospel Outreaches, Second Saturdays, Alpha, etc. You’ll learn the stories of people arrested by the Gospel. And, of course, with Dave Harvey in residence, we’ll have access to cutting edge thinking and action in the world of church planting and missions.
This all begins next Monday. You can access the new blog either by clicking on the CFC Blog Icon on the home page, or going to the “Resources” drop down menu. Please pass the word around. There are a gazillion blogs out there. This is the only one for CFC by CFC. The CFC Blog.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A Bulldawg Story
I’m a lifelong Georgia Bulldog football fan. One of the things that makes it particularly easy to root for the ‘Dawgs’ these days is their head coach, Mark Richt. Mark is a top quality head coach who also happens to be a very upfront Christian man.
If you’ve ever seen the movie “Facing the Giants”, there’s a scene where the high school coach is in the locker room before the big state championship football game. In walks a strapping man who is referred to just as ‘Coach’, who proceeds to encourage the high school coach on the game, but more importantly on playing for the glory of God. That ‘Coach’ is Mark Richt, and the little movie cameo tells you a couple of things about him. For one, it tells you how big football is in the state of Georgia, where the movie was filmed. He comes into the movie and isn’t even named, yet the viewer is supposed to know this appearance is a BIG DEAL in the movie. But more important, the fact that Richt is willing to come into an overtly evangelistic movie and lend his cache tells you something about what he wants to represent.
This past October ESPN ran a feature story on Richt in a lesser known aspect of his life – his role as husband and father. The piece describes the Richt family’s adoption of two small children from the Ukraine. Mark Richt is a major college football coach, but his impact seems to be significant off the field as well.
Check it out.
If you’ve ever seen the movie “Facing the Giants”, there’s a scene where the high school coach is in the locker room before the big state championship football game. In walks a strapping man who is referred to just as ‘Coach’, who proceeds to encourage the high school coach on the game, but more importantly on playing for the glory of God. That ‘Coach’ is Mark Richt, and the little movie cameo tells you a couple of things about him. For one, it tells you how big football is in the state of Georgia, where the movie was filmed. He comes into the movie and isn’t even named, yet the viewer is supposed to know this appearance is a BIG DEAL in the movie. But more important, the fact that Richt is willing to come into an overtly evangelistic movie and lend his cache tells you something about what he wants to represent.
This past October ESPN ran a feature story on Richt in a lesser known aspect of his life – his role as husband and father. The piece describes the Richt family’s adoption of two small children from the Ukraine. Mark Richt is a major college football coach, but his impact seems to be significant off the field as well.
Check it out.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
All We Could Ever Hope For
It is a wonderful thing…to be known by our spouse. To feel understood…to know that you are truly loved…as you are. For some, this reality comes and goes. For still others, this is just a hope…a wish. For these people, marriage is not a place where they are truly known and loved, but a place where they are judged…misunderstood…taken for granted.
And so, we hold out hope that things will change. We long to be understood…to be truly loved…as we are. We long to be known and not rejected. The longing is a right one to have…we were designed by a loving Creator to be known and not rejected…to be loved as we are. And, though it is a wonderful thing when it happens with a spouse, marriage is not the primary place that this knowing and loving ought to occur.
Consider Psalm 103 for a moment. If you have the time, read the whole thing. (You won’t regret it.) If not, at least consider these verses:
6The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
To be truly known…and truly loved, we are to turn to the Lord first. We are to see his righteousness and justice on our behalf. We are to see his mercy and grace, his patience and love directed toward us. We are to see our sin, yes, but moreso his kindness in not repaying us according to our iniquities. We are to see that he knows our frame…and that such a great God considers just how lowly we are…and has compassion upon us.
We are to see these things and rest. Rest, knowing that we are known. Rest, knowing that we are objects of mercy and grace, not wrath and condemnation. When we were unlovable and opposed to God, God loved us and drew us near. As high and as far as we can imagine, so great is God’s steadfast love toward us.
It is a wonderful thing…to be known by our spouse. To experience the grace and mercy that comes in a truly knowing and understanding marriage relationship. How much greater is the joy, the peace, the comfort of resting in the great knowledge of Christ. He knows are frame, our flaws, our sin, our weaknesses. And, in the face of those, showers his children with love, compassion, and longsuffering. Truly, this is all we could ever hope for. Praise God for hope…and his provision in fulfilling that hope. How great is our God.
And so, we hold out hope that things will change. We long to be understood…to be truly loved…as we are. We long to be known and not rejected. The longing is a right one to have…we were designed by a loving Creator to be known and not rejected…to be loved as we are. And, though it is a wonderful thing when it happens with a spouse, marriage is not the primary place that this knowing and loving ought to occur.
Consider Psalm 103 for a moment. If you have the time, read the whole thing. (You won’t regret it.) If not, at least consider these verses:
6The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
To be truly known…and truly loved, we are to turn to the Lord first. We are to see his righteousness and justice on our behalf. We are to see his mercy and grace, his patience and love directed toward us. We are to see our sin, yes, but moreso his kindness in not repaying us according to our iniquities. We are to see that he knows our frame…and that such a great God considers just how lowly we are…and has compassion upon us.
We are to see these things and rest. Rest, knowing that we are known. Rest, knowing that we are objects of mercy and grace, not wrath and condemnation. When we were unlovable and opposed to God, God loved us and drew us near. As high and as far as we can imagine, so great is God’s steadfast love toward us.
It is a wonderful thing…to be known by our spouse. To experience the grace and mercy that comes in a truly knowing and understanding marriage relationship. How much greater is the joy, the peace, the comfort of resting in the great knowledge of Christ. He knows are frame, our flaws, our sin, our weaknesses. And, in the face of those, showers his children with love, compassion, and longsuffering. Truly, this is all we could ever hope for. Praise God for hope…and his provision in fulfilling that hope. How great is our God.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hot Chocolate Anyone?
Not too long ago my daughter Rosie and I went for an early morning walk before breakfast. I walk and she rides her scooter—good exercise for both of us. She’s a real trooper especially since winter mornings can be so cold. As we entered the kitchen I was starving! She asked if I would make her some hot chocolate, but the first thing that came to my mind was my loud stomach and hunger pangs! I announced it was time for her to learn to make her own hot chocolate. I barked out the steps as she got the milk and the chocolate sauce out. Meanwhile I was chomping down on my shredded wheat (something not even tasty—which my family continually reminds me). She finally got her hot chocolate, but as she sat down I was off toward the rest of my day and my agenda.
Later that morning we were reading the book "Heaven for kids" by Randy Alcorn, and the few pages we read were about good deeds which do not earn our way to Heaven, but nonetheless please God and can bring rewards for us in heaven. Alcorn gave some examples saying, “Good works include helping and doing kind things for people, such as visiting someone in a nursing home, baking cookies for your neighbor, or making hot chocolate for a family member.” (p. 105). Startling, you would think. But I was dull to my heart, and it took a while for this timely little rebuke to from the Lord to sink in. Later that night, by God’s grace, I was able to confess at our fellowship group, and I started to see my selfishness and God’s grace to reveal it to me. “For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41) I realize I missed an opportunity that day, but thankfully the lesson has not been lost on me. I try to be quick now to offer hot chocolate when we return, and I am the one who is blessed when I see her face as she slurps up those marshmallows.
God is so kind to not leave us to ourselves. If any of you ladies can relate to my selfishness and the difficulty of serving your children over and over in what seems at times to be a thankless job, remember that the Lord is not asleep. He is an ever present help. He is able to bring our sins to our attention, grant us forgiveness and extend grace for change. He cares about even the smallest things. He will bless the dishing of love in any form we give it – hot chocolate included. What an amazing God we serve!
Later that morning we were reading the book "Heaven for kids" by Randy Alcorn, and the few pages we read were about good deeds which do not earn our way to Heaven, but nonetheless please God and can bring rewards for us in heaven. Alcorn gave some examples saying, “Good works include helping and doing kind things for people, such as visiting someone in a nursing home, baking cookies for your neighbor, or making hot chocolate for a family member.” (p. 105). Startling, you would think. But I was dull to my heart, and it took a while for this timely little rebuke to from the Lord to sink in. Later that night, by God’s grace, I was able to confess at our fellowship group, and I started to see my selfishness and God’s grace to reveal it to me. “For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41) I realize I missed an opportunity that day, but thankfully the lesson has not been lost on me. I try to be quick now to offer hot chocolate when we return, and I am the one who is blessed when I see her face as she slurps up those marshmallows.
God is so kind to not leave us to ourselves. If any of you ladies can relate to my selfishness and the difficulty of serving your children over and over in what seems at times to be a thankless job, remember that the Lord is not asleep. He is an ever present help. He is able to bring our sins to our attention, grant us forgiveness and extend grace for change. He cares about even the smallest things. He will bless the dishing of love in any form we give it – hot chocolate included. What an amazing God we serve!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Affliction and the Pedagogy of God
Pedagogy is an old word with Greek origins that means ‘teaching’. When we talk about the ‘pedagogy’ of God we’re talking about how God is a teacher to his people. We’re accustomed to thinking about how God teaches as the Spirit opens our minds and hearts in the experience of hearing or reading God’s word. But God also pedagogues us through our afflictions. Whether we learn what God is teaching depends on whether we acknowledge or embrace what some have called ‘the school of affliction’ – seeing God’s merciful and wise hand in the difficulties we face in life. In a post on the Desiring God web site, John Piper recently gave his thoughts on God’s education of his children in the school of affliction.
In this week's Taste & See Article, I pointed out from Psalm 119: 67 and 71 that God sends affliction to help us learn his word.
‘Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.’
I didn't ask how affliction helps us understand God's word and keep it. There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences. But here are five:
So, fellow disciple, what are you learning in your afflictions class these days?
In this week's Taste & See Article, I pointed out from Psalm 119: 67 and 71 that God sends affliction to help us learn his word.
‘Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.’
I didn't ask how affliction helps us understand God's word and keep it. There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences. But here are five:
- Affliction takes the glibness of life away and makes us more serious so that our mindset is more in tune with the seriousness of God's word.
- Affliction knocks worldly props from under us and forces us to rely more on God which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word.
- Affliction makes us search the scriptures with greater desperation for help rather than treating it as marginal to life.
- Affliction brings us into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings so that we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through his eyes.
- Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so brings us into a more spiritual frame which fits God's word more.
So, fellow disciple, what are you learning in your afflictions class these days?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Walls of Water
We have some very creative teens in our church. Recently, Ruth Feldman read the following dramatic retelling of the crossing of the Red Sea in our Cross Culture Group. Ruth’s creative use of language brings a very familiar Bible story to life. Enjoy!
Walls of Water
By Ruth Feldman
I turned around, catching a glimpse of the helmets’ and chariots’ metal glinting in the moonlight.
“Come on!” my cousin cried pushing me forward. The pillar of cloud moved behind us, blocking our view of the pursuing Egyptians. I didn’t like that because I don’t like at all to be chased by something I can’t see. No matter how hard I have tried in previous times the pillar of cloud is so thick that I can’t see thru it.
The group jerked to a stop and I pulled myself out of my thoughts. We were in front of the sea.
“Oh no!” I heard someone cry. There was a mummer of voices that grew louder and the sea tumbled about and roared over it. I could only hear snatches of what they were saying—the sea tossed and the Egyptians pressed in behind us.
I shivered with fear and the people around me lifted up their voices to God. A few grumbled against Moses. “What have you done?” they moaned. “It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than starve in the wilderness.”
I didn’t exactly like what they were saying, but I wished someone would hurry up and do something. If there was anything to be done. It sounded as if the Egyptians were closing in on us.
Moses began speaking, and the people’s voices hushed. “Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will work for you and you have only to be silent.”
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and there was a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. The sea churned and began to part, like a curtain being pulled back, a wall of blue and green on either side.
I gasped along with everyone else around me. As soon as there was a big enough opening Moses and Aaron began to walk through and slowly the people began to follow. I walked forward with the rest of the throng of Israelites and gingerly stepped onto the sand between the walls of water, expecting the sand to be wet and my feet to sink into it. But it was dry.
I giggled—I couldn’t help it. Here we were being pursued by our enemies and we were walking through the sea as if it was a street in Pharaoh’s city.
I heard the Egyptians follow us into the sea, but everyone calmly kept walking, though I would have liked it if we quickened our pace. The sea kept unfurling, making more room for the people and the livestock.
We kept walking and it grew quieter except for a few snorts from the oxen nearby and the creak of our wagons. There was an eerie silence, and I could feel the tension in the air. The sea had stopped moving and there were two towering waves on either side of us, hovering like the walls of a fortress.
The stars twinkling above us began to fade and the sun began to rise, streaking the sky with color. I began to focus on the brightening sky to keep my mind off the unpleasant thoughts that kept creeping into my head.
Suddenly there were shout of confusion and panic. I swung around to see what was happening, but I saw nothing except the large pillar of cloud swirling around us.
Horses whinnied frightenedly and I heard orders being shouted.
“Hurry up!” someone yelled. “We’re almost to the end!”
There seemed to be a fresh burst of energy and everyone ran to the shore.
As quickly as they could, the men herded the livestock away from the sea’s edge and Moses again stretched his hand over the sea. The wind stopped and the blue-green walls began rolling in to meet each other. I raised my hands to cover my ears so I wouldn’t hear the terror in the screams of Pharaoh’s army, but the roar of the waves closing in upon each other drowned out everything else.
Mother gasped and everyone was too shocked to move. God had protected us and all we had to do was put one foot in front of the other. But presently someone did move, with a tambourine.
“I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Walls of Water
By Ruth Feldman
I turned around, catching a glimpse of the helmets’ and chariots’ metal glinting in the moonlight.
“Come on!” my cousin cried pushing me forward. The pillar of cloud moved behind us, blocking our view of the pursuing Egyptians. I didn’t like that because I don’t like at all to be chased by something I can’t see. No matter how hard I have tried in previous times the pillar of cloud is so thick that I can’t see thru it.
The group jerked to a stop and I pulled myself out of my thoughts. We were in front of the sea.
“Oh no!” I heard someone cry. There was a mummer of voices that grew louder and the sea tumbled about and roared over it. I could only hear snatches of what they were saying—the sea tossed and the Egyptians pressed in behind us.
I shivered with fear and the people around me lifted up their voices to God. A few grumbled against Moses. “What have you done?” they moaned. “It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than starve in the wilderness.”
I didn’t exactly like what they were saying, but I wished someone would hurry up and do something. If there was anything to be done. It sounded as if the Egyptians were closing in on us.
Moses began speaking, and the people’s voices hushed. “Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will work for you and you have only to be silent.”
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and there was a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. The sea churned and began to part, like a curtain being pulled back, a wall of blue and green on either side.
I gasped along with everyone else around me. As soon as there was a big enough opening Moses and Aaron began to walk through and slowly the people began to follow. I walked forward with the rest of the throng of Israelites and gingerly stepped onto the sand between the walls of water, expecting the sand to be wet and my feet to sink into it. But it was dry.
I giggled—I couldn’t help it. Here we were being pursued by our enemies and we were walking through the sea as if it was a street in Pharaoh’s city.
I heard the Egyptians follow us into the sea, but everyone calmly kept walking, though I would have liked it if we quickened our pace. The sea kept unfurling, making more room for the people and the livestock.
We kept walking and it grew quieter except for a few snorts from the oxen nearby and the creak of our wagons. There was an eerie silence, and I could feel the tension in the air. The sea had stopped moving and there were two towering waves on either side of us, hovering like the walls of a fortress.
The stars twinkling above us began to fade and the sun began to rise, streaking the sky with color. I began to focus on the brightening sky to keep my mind off the unpleasant thoughts that kept creeping into my head.
Suddenly there were shout of confusion and panic. I swung around to see what was happening, but I saw nothing except the large pillar of cloud swirling around us.
Horses whinnied frightenedly and I heard orders being shouted.
“Hurry up!” someone yelled. “We’re almost to the end!”
There seemed to be a fresh burst of energy and everyone ran to the shore.
As quickly as they could, the men herded the livestock away from the sea’s edge and Moses again stretched his hand over the sea. The wind stopped and the blue-green walls began rolling in to meet each other. I raised my hands to cover my ears so I wouldn’t hear the terror in the screams of Pharaoh’s army, but the roar of the waves closing in upon each other drowned out everything else.
Mother gasped and everyone was too shocked to move. God had protected us and all we had to do was put one foot in front of the other. But presently someone did move, with a tambourine.
“I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”
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