Sunday at church I was overwhelmed by the message that was preached to us. The guest speaker, Jim Essian, talked about the gospel. He taught us from Galatians 2:1-10 where Paul is writing to the new church giving them instructions. He talked about the simplicity of the gospel and how all that is needed is for us to believe and then accept what God is giving us...a new identity in Him.
However....and a BIG however at that...we LOVE to add to that simple gospel, as the Christ-following Jews did. They wanted to add circumcision to make their salvation complete. We like to add things too. We like to add to the gospel our standards of things, like dress, and music, alcohol beliefs, what a great christian mom looks like, etc. Essentially, when we add ANYTHING to the gospel whatsoever we are believing in a false gospel. I don't know about you, but I was SO taken aback from the idea. How many days do I feel down for not being something I think I should be? When I focus on anything I do, I am NOT focusing on what Christ did. I am beleiving a false gospel. I cannot save myself by my "good" deeds. Wasn't Christ's sacrifice on the cross abundantly more than enough? Why do I feel the need to even TRY to earn it? Foolishness!!!
He talked about the fact that he was from Jersey, born and raised in church. He came here to Texas loving the Lord and wanting to church plant. One of the first questions he encountered was when he prayed the "sinner's prayer." Huh??? He didn't even know what that was! He searched scripture...couldn't find it. Many of the believers he met were asking him how he even knew he was saved if he hadn't prayed this prayer. Friends...this is adding a formula to the gospel. We are adding to what God tells us to do. This man was in love with Jesus and people were questioning his salvation because he hadn't participated in a ritual created in the Bible belt.
See, false gospels are sneaky, they often have a christian label. Anytime we make a rule (law) for ourselves, we're adding. False gospels lead to slavery, but Jesus said that, "It is for freedom that (I) set you free."
Now Paul and I try to teach the gospel to our children daily. We consider nothing more important. But not only do we need to build the gospel into their lives, we also need to protect it. Protect their hearts and minds from having anything added to the gospel they believe.
Isn't God enough? Isn't His finished work on the cross enough? Could we ever earn it in a million years of toiling for it? No. Just rest in Him and be thankful, not adding anything. Out of this right mindset flow all kinds of good things...freedom to serve Him and others they way God intended us to do, freely and with confidence, boasting only in the cross of Jesus Christ, and not in ourselves or our filthy rags.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Last day of school and tons of seriosuly hard good-byes
The last day of school held some really special moments. I cried ALL...THE ...WAY to school, but held it together the whole time that I was AT school. Those pesky tears kept trying to come, but I somehow held them at bay.
One of the first things on the agenda was an awards ceremony in 2nd grade, Mrs. Cook's class.
Each child was given an award based on a character quality that they specifically were characterized by. Even their peers helped to vote and come up with these.Benjamin was awarded the character quality of "obedience." What proud parents he has because of that!
B, we are SO proud of you! You are growing into a young man that loves the Lord and wants to obey Him. What more could we ask for than this? We love you buddy!!
Down the hall in my room, all havoc was breaking loose in my absence! No, not really, they were just having a little party to celebrate a BIG FAT success of a year!!!
It was a wild time, I tell you!
Oh these precious faces....if yo only knew...
Oh the love...
precious!
These two faces in particular I think will always stay with me. There's something about both of them that just makes you so certain that God has a hold of their life. They are beyond their years in wisdom and are just "old souls." Love them!
My BOYS!!!
My GIRLS!!!
Can't stand to think that I might not see them again! This class was something so special, there are just no words to describe. Even the moms...some will be forever friends!
Good-bye to TCA was hard, but I am so grateful for the next chapter. It's gonna be so good too! My cup runeth over!
One of the first things on the agenda was an awards ceremony in 2nd grade, Mrs. Cook's class.
Each child was given an award based on a character quality that they specifically were characterized by. Even their peers helped to vote and come up with these.Benjamin was awarded the character quality of "obedience." What proud parents he has because of that!
B, we are SO proud of you! You are growing into a young man that loves the Lord and wants to obey Him. What more could we ask for than this? We love you buddy!!
Down the hall in my room, all havoc was breaking loose in my absence! No, not really, they were just having a little party to celebrate a BIG FAT success of a year!!!
It was a wild time, I tell you!
Oh these precious faces....if yo only knew...
Oh the love...
precious!
These two faces in particular I think will always stay with me. There's something about both of them that just makes you so certain that God has a hold of their life. They are beyond their years in wisdom and are just "old souls." Love them!
My BOYS!!!
My GIRLS!!!
Can't stand to think that I might not see them again! This class was something so special, there are just no words to describe. Even the moms...some will be forever friends!
Good-bye to TCA was hard, but I am so grateful for the next chapter. It's gonna be so good too! My cup runeth over!
Field Day
What a great day field day was! You know, I think I'm like most moms when I dread this day because of the heat and not a tree in sight for some reprieve from the heat! However, this year it was cool and overcast. A dream day for field day!
Opening ceremonies are always so fun to watch! All the kids let their balloons go and then watch until they are completely out of sight!!
My assistant, Brandie, and her daughter
On your mark...
Get set, GO!!!
Look at that tongue!!! That means she's concentrating!
A great day!!!
Paul turns the BIG 4-0!!!!!
My honey turned 40 at the end of May. I wanted so badly to have a big celebration but his birthday fell:
It was a fun surprise! They also gave him things in 40's as gifts. The BIG surprise though was when it was time for cake.
We sent him into the bedroom while we all prepared. See, back in the day Paul sported a really stylin' mullet!! Seriously! We've given him such a hard time about this all through the years, but this year we decided to join him!!! Mom picked up clip on mullets at the store and we all sported them, even the kids when he came out of the room. At first he didn't see what the big deal was, then while singing we all turned around and showed him our mullets. He was dying laughing!!!
Then of course, in our family fashion, we had to take the joke as far as we could!!!
Manly men of ours proudly sporting their mullets!!
Princess Leah style!
Punky Brewster style
Now that's a mustache!!!
He couldn't keep a straight face!!!
And my all time favorite!!!!
Love you baby!! Happy, happy birthday year to you! It's going to be a great one!!!!
- the weekend of Memorial Day
- the day after the last day of school
- the weekend after our BIG move, but the actual weekend we started living there and when we had to totally clean out the rent house.
It was a fun surprise! They also gave him things in 40's as gifts. The BIG surprise though was when it was time for cake.
We sent him into the bedroom while we all prepared. See, back in the day Paul sported a really stylin' mullet!! Seriously! We've given him such a hard time about this all through the years, but this year we decided to join him!!! Mom picked up clip on mullets at the store and we all sported them, even the kids when he came out of the room. At first he didn't see what the big deal was, then while singing we all turned around and showed him our mullets. He was dying laughing!!!
Then of course, in our family fashion, we had to take the joke as far as we could!!!
Manly men of ours proudly sporting their mullets!!
Princess Leah style!
Punky Brewster style
Now that's a mustache!!!
He couldn't keep a straight face!!!
And my all time favorite!!!!
Love you baby!! Happy, happy birthday year to you! It's going to be a great one!!!!
Catching Up
It's been fo-ev-ah since I posted and there's so much to post about. I plan to chip away a little bit each day this week and hopefully get caught up! A lot has happened in a month!
First of all, back in May B had to give a big book report on a famous person from history. B is really into all things artistic, so I wasn't surprised that he chose Vincent Van Gogh as his famous person to learn about. It was really fun because as we studied Van Gogh we realized that he favored B with the redish hair and all. He did a great job and of course he looked adorable!!
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