Grace Notes

Sixty-five years ago today, Israel became a nation. It is exciting to know that God has a very special plan for Israel – with great things yet to come!

“The return of Israel to her land, still in unbelief, is one of the amazing phenomena of these latter days.” – Henry Morris

“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! … Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” (Romans 11:1 and 12)

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved…” (Romans 11:25-26)

“If anyone wishes to know whether or not the God of the Bible exists, one of the strongest reasons he can examine is the Jewish people. An honest inquiry into this question will provide more than an adequate answer to the truthfulness of the Christian faith … Have you ever heard of a Swedish Moabite? A Russian Philistine? A German Edomite? An American Ammonite? No! These people have been totally absorbed into other cultures and races. However, have you ever heard of a Swedish Jew? A Russian Jew? A German Jew? An American Jew? Yes! As prophesied, they have not lost their identity.
– Josh McDowell

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces. (Psalm 122:6-7)”

Last week we were blessed to host the Martin family in Cedar Rapids for a few days. They told us that they like to cram their schedule as full as possible, so Dr. Martin spoke 10 times in 7 locations in 3 and a 1/2 days while they were here. I could hardly believe it!

In every location they loved him (and his Power Points [smile]).

He spoke on Sunday evening for 1 and a 1/2 hours. Then, even after another 30 minutes of eager questions, still no one seemed to want to stop.

It was fun seeing even kindergartners learning so much.

I felt very blessed to be able to tag along and listen to most of his talks. He covers so much information, I learned new things each time he spoke. I almost felt like his presentations kept getting more interesting the more I heard them.

In almost every location the principal or school director talked to us about how they could get Dr. Martin to speak again “next time” for a longer amount of time. [smile]

Stephen appreciated having Dr. Martin teach his Light Shop group.

Sarah and I were excited to spend some time with Taryn and Mirren. In this picture they are leading a discussion with students at Emmaus Bible College called “Resting in God’s Promises: Finding Fulfillment in the Seasons of Singleness.” We love Taryn and Mirren’s ministry mindset, Christ-glorifying joy, and good insights.

A verse that was resonating in my heart after the Martins left was John 15:8 which says, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” The Martins choose to pour themselves out day after day to strengthen believers, and the eternal fruit that is being produced for God’s glory will one day be seen.

On that note, recently I’ve seen the hand of God working in people’s lives in some extremely clear ways. It has reminded me that though there is much of the Lord’s hand we may not see right now, He is working. He is answering prayers! May we praise Him as we ought, and never stop abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor 15:58)!

Stephen’s group, the Light Shop, doesn’t get mentioned on this blog much since I’m never there to take pictures. (I’m always at Bright Lights, which meets simultaneously.) But the other night I sent my camera along with my dad and he took some pictures to document what was happening over there.

They’ve been going through the ROOTS witnessing DVD series and talking about witnessing. The other night they also did “role-play” witnessing, where each guy picked someone else in the group and had 4 minutes to share the gospel with them.

For an activity, they did some paper-fishing …

Each fish is sticky (there is tape on top of it) and the goal is to throw out your fishing line, hope a fish sticks to it, and see how many you can catch.

“And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:19-20).

What an honor that Jesus still calls us today not just to salvation, but to actually help with His work here on earth.

Can you imagine living a life that makes such an impact that the world still remembers you 1,600 later?

Of course, most people don’t know who St. Patrick really was or what he did. They don’t know that he was a missionary whom God used to bring the gospel to Ireland in 400 AD. However, since Christians use his legacy as an open door to share his true story AND his message, St Patrick’s life is not just being remembered by the world, it is still being used by God today!

St. Patrick’s Day is 9 days away. Here’s are four ideas of ways to communicate the gospel either at the parade in your area or simply to people you meet anywhere:

1) Pass out tracts. Click here for a tract you could print double-sided on green paper and use if you’d like.

2) Start talking to someone. Gradually gear the conversation to spiritual things. (“Nice day for a parade, isn’t it? … Do you come to this parade every year? … So do you know much about who St. Patrick was? … He was actually a missionary and he wasn’t even Irish–he was English! … So do you have a spiritual background at all? …What are your beliefs?”)

3) Take a questionnaire Click here for a questionnaire you could use. You can also go to the resource page of www.willourgenerationspeak.com and see the other questionnaires available.

4) Open air preach right after it ends. A friend might do this in our town this year and we’d appreciate prayer for that outreach. [smile]

Above all, let’s pray that Christians everywhere take advantage of this useful day and share St Patrick’s message on St Patrick’s Day, 2013!

And we don’t have to wait until then! This whole next week is a great time to be giving out St. Patrick’s tracts and bringing him up in conversations.

Last Saturday, Sarah and I helped with a youth conference at Bethany Bible Chapel, about an hour away. We had a great time. We did a girls’ track on witnessing, and they recorded it and gave us the CD. If anyone is interested, you can listen to the session here. But we will only be leaving it up for about a month, so download it now if you want it.

It was nice to have some free time to get to know people in the afternoon.

The theme of the conference “What Has Jesus Done?” with WHJD bracelets (instead of the WWJD message and bracelets). The funny thing was that Sarah and I had to explain what the “WWJD movement” was to the 14-yr-olds at our table because they hadn’t even heard of it. Wow, was that craze that long ago?!

Anyway, I like the “What Has Jesus Done?” slogan better. [smile] The emphasis of the conference was on what Jesus DID for us – the gospel message – and how the power of the gospel is what transforms us every day.

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:10-11).

Last weekend a group of friends joined us for a concentrated time of studying 1 and 2 Peter. Though it was our first time to plan something quite like this, I don’t think it will be our last! It was such a rich weekend, and when we finished we were more in awe of those books than we have ever been before.

Lilly texted Sarah afterward stating, “I benefited from the retreat sooooo much. If I could, I would like to study the Bible with believers all day, every day, forever =)”

Augusta asked me, “You are going to keep doing this at least every three months, right?”

Maybe some of you would like to do something similar in your area! Here’s what we did: We designated specific chapters to different people to study in advance in order to lead a discussion on that chapter. We also encouraged everyone to spend time in both books before they came.

This is how our schedule played out:

Friday:
6:00 Soup dinner together
7:30–9:30 1 Peter 1, singing and prayer

Saturday:
9:15 1 Peter 2
10:45 1 Peter 3:1-12
Lunch
1:00 1 Peter 3:12 – 1 Peter 4:9
3:00 Ice skating, and time for one-on-one conversations
6:00 Chick-fil-A
7:30 1 Peter 4:10 – 1 Peter 5:19

Sunday
1:00-2:30 Prayer time and brief look at 2 Peter (1 Peter took longer than originally planned [smile])

A few gleanings from our time together:

Intro: 1 Peter was written close to the time of the great fire in Rome (AD 64). The citizens of Rome blamed Nero for setting the city on fire, so Nero blamed the Christians. This ignited great persecution across the Roman empire. So we see that God’s encouragement to the church through Peter’s words on suffering were greatly needed at this time. This is a reminder to us that the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls will strengthen us through suffering.

1 Peter 1:4-5 “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time .”

God is keeping our inheritance for us and keeping us for our inheritance!

1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice … ”

Notice this is not a command — this is a statement. You love Him! Likely, Peter doubted his own love for Christ after he denied Him, but Jesus restored Peter and gave him public opportunity to state and then demonstrate his love.

1:6 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials”

Our trials may seem very long to us as we are going through them, but they are actually very short!

1:18-19 “…you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Though we were rebellious and filthy in our sins, the Lord placed the highest price-tag imaginable on us – and then He bought us! Our salvation is free to us, but it cost God terribly. Being redeemed at the highest possible cost makes our redemption secure. (No one can out-buy God!)

2:12 “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Lilly pointed out that our goal is not to keep our behavior excellent so that our accusers will realize one day that we were innocent after all. No, the goal stated here is that they may glorify GOD!

2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…”

The word example here is referring to something like tracing paper that children would use when learning to write the alphabet. Peter’s first and last personal command from Jesus was to FOLLOW ME (Mt 4:19, John 21:22). That’s why Peter was such a great leader — He had learned to follow. In this book, Peter points to Jesus’ example in a number of areas, especially the areas of suffering and shepherding. He also points to Jesus as the stone both in 1 Peter 2 and Acts 5. This is significant since Jesus named him Peter which means rock.

2:10-11 “…for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Peter is quoting from Hosea 1 which brings a deeper meaning to these statements.

2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

I think we girls especially have a desire to feel safe and cared for. Knowing that the Lord is both our Shepherd and Guardian, brings ultimate security and rest!

4:7 “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”

When have a correct perspective of the nearness of the end, we are more purposeful in our lives and priorities, and pray with more concentration and fervency.

4:9 “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”

Don’t you love how Peter adds those two words to the end of this command knowing our natural human tendencies?! Philippians 2:14-15 emphasizes the same command (no grumbling) if we want to be lights in this world.

4:10-11 “…each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another … so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Nickie pointed out that God has given us each gifts, and we can rejoice not in the fact that we have extra ability to do something well, but in that we have extra ability to glorify God through this ability He has given us. (THAT is a gift to us!)

About 2 weeks ago, Nickie and I began a “Romans challenge” where we are reading Romans 1-8 every day for 50 days. This was recommended to us by a friend who did this as a new Christian (when he was in his 20’s). It had such a dramatic effect on his walk with Christ and understanding of the gospel that he’s been an advocate of this plan ever since.

Romans builds in a systematic way, so it is helpful to read those chapters all together to grasp the flow of the argument being made. It establishes an understanding of the whole context: starting with creation, God’s wrath toward sin, and our hopelessness, and then dives into the amazing news of Jesus’ perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection—and what all of this means for us as believers!

It takes most people about 45-60 minutes to read chapters 1-8, depending on how fast you read. But the goal is not speed, it’s comprehension. [smile]

So … WHY read Romans this much? When we saturate our minds, day after day, with God’s magnificent explanation of the gospel in Romans, we develop a greater understanding of the depth and beauty of the gospel. The greater our understanding of it, the greater our delight in it! Gospel truths will then overflow to others in our conversations as we both edify believers and evangelize the lost.

Today was my 14th day, and I definitely have a much stronger grasp of Romans than I did before. It keeps getting better the more I read it! I have been e-mailing some friends (especially girls who helped with our overseas Bright Lights conferences) and many have been interested in joining. As of yesterday, there were about 50 of us reading Romans 1-8 every day! But in the last 24 hrs, 34 more people have joined the plan! (Sarah sent an e-mail about it to all the leaders of Bright Lights groups.)

I am filled with joy about this … especially because many of these friends have also expressed their desire to witness more. What greater witnessing training could any of us receive than to thoroughly know Romans?!

SO (did you guess I was getting to this? [smile] ) if anyone else would like to join, please let me know! I would be happy to add you to my e-mail list. I’m sending out weekly e-mails with tips and ideas. If you don’t have my e-mail, please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.

This afternoon, I received this e-mail from a friend:

“Already God has used this Romans reading to prepare me for something He was going to use me for! Yesterday I flew to Alaska from Boston, and by God’s providence, traveled the whole day with a “stranger friend.” The young woman I sat next to on the plane was friendly and talkative. We began chatting right away, and continued to for almost the entire 5 ½ hour flight, got Hot Dogs together at our layover, and stood in the cold at 1am waiting for the shuttle where we finally parted ways! As we began chatting and getting to know each other, I began praying that the Lord would help to turn the conversation to spiritual things. Sure enough, the lady asked me about a book I was reading (it was a Lamplighter book, “Stephen, Soldier of the Cross”). “There it is! Thank you Lord!” I thought as I began to explain the plot of the book and the life of Stephen, a martyr for Christ. We continued to talk about God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, and other matters … She calls herself a “Christian” but did not have a salvation testimony. Many of the things she believes are based on her personal feelings, though she prays often and is seeking God’s will for her life. Continually, I brought her back to the Bible, and almost all the topics we covered, were in Romans 1-8! Though I am only on day 5 of the 50, I was familiar enough with the chapters already to find the pertinent verses! It was such a blessing to be prepared to wield my sword! Praise the Lord, I look forward to seeing how He will continue to use this long-term reading of Romans 1-8!”

I really appreciated that note from Jordan, because she brought out a true point I wanted to make anyway: Studying Romans helps to both strengthen our confidence in our knowledge of the gospel and increases our eagerness to share it.

I have also been encouraged by all the other testimonies I’ve been receiving! Here’s a sampling:

“I’ve been understanding these passages more than I ever have before … it really helps reading it all together as one ‘thought,’ rather than as separate ‘thoughts.’” – Bailey, BL Leader in Arkansas

“God has used this to reveal so much to me, and I am so excited about His Word!” – Katrina, Canada

“… I’m only on day 12, but it’s been a really neat thing so far! I am understanding those chapters like I never have before.” – Kristin Youngblood (BL leader in Texas)

“… we have grown so much for the Lord!! You can learn so much reading it every day!! I love it!” –Michailia, BL Leader in Alaska

“I am going to totally do it and I am going to mention it in our meeting tomorrow. I would like to see if the other girls might be interested in trying it too.” – Sarah, BL Leader in Nebraska

“I am enjoying it so much! Today is my third day … and I am also coping the book of Romans into a notebook during my study!” Janessa, BL Leader in Texas

“I got through all chapters in 45 min! I’m so excited, not so much about the short amount of time (although hehe that is exciting too, since I have been taking 2 hours), but also because of what I’ve gained. Keeping in mind what you said about reading it all as a whole and ignoring chapter breaks, I changed my reading approach. Usually I read detailed-ly, stopping after each chapter if there’s some insight to journal about… So today I tried ignoring chapter breaks and title breaks (my Bible has a lot of titles), going straight from one chapter/section to the next. I also didn’t journal till the end. It was so great. I got distracted much less, and it was exciting to start to see how the passages all fit together!! I know it is good to be detailed at times, but I am beginning to see that it is also very beneficial to read the Bible as a whole and learn to see the bigger picture and how it all fits together!! …I’m really excited and I just wanted to share it with you!!” –Judith, Australia

And it has been exciting to see how the Lord has prepared peoples’ hearts for this:

“Hi Grace! Ok, true story here… I’m working on memorizing Romans right now, and as I was reviewing chapter 5 this morning I realized it’s still quite rough and that I don’t have the ‘flow’ of the previous chapters down as much as I’d like. It occurred to me that, in addition to working with the flashcards I’ve made and working on one section at a time, I also should starting reading through all the chapters regularly- yes, it would take extra time, but probably worth it, right? Still pondering this, I put aside my Bible and checked my e-mail, and read yours first! I would love to join you ….” -Kea, Alaska

“God is so neat in how He weaves everything I’m studying together. Even the set 5 lessons are going right along with what I’m studying in Romans. Our adult SS classes at church just started studying the book of Romans in January, and I started trying to memorize chapter one, so reading through chapters 1-8 every day goes right along with it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that is so neat and was smiling very big when I read your e-mail last night.” – Kim, BL Leader in Indiana

“I would love to take on this challenge in my own life, and am planning to start today. I have such an acute desire to delve into Word in a deeper way, so I am very excited to embark on this study. It’s quite amazing to me how God works; for a while I’ve been working on memorizing Romans 8. I’m only in the beginning of the chapter so far, but this is such a powerful chapter to read/recite! So to know that there are other young people who are studying these passages at the very time that God laid Romans 8 on my heart just thrills me! What a beautiful thing this is…this journey on the set-apart Narrow Way.” – Amber, BL Leader in Virginia

“I would be thrilled to join you in reading this passage of Scripture. I just finished reading “Morning Star of the Reformation” – the book about John Wycliffe – and it really made me think about how much we take for granted having the Word of God so readily available to us. It just makes me long to read it even more!” – Danielle, BL Leader in Maine

For over two years we have had this um … cute little dinosaur in our bookstore.

He made a great display, and, side by side with our model Noah’s Ark, we felt like we owned a mini-Creation Museum, right in our own bookstore! Well, not exactly. But anyway, our personal little museum is now down to only one piece, because it was time to return the dino to the Creation Museum.

Though we were sad to see our dinosaur leave, it did provide a nice excuse to make another trip to the the Creation Museum!

“If we’re going, I think we should bring a group!” my dad said.

The Lord pulled together a group to come with us in a sort of miraculous way (through my dad “randomly” bumping into a friend at the store!) and we had a terrific trip.

Most of the group sat in front of the dinosaur …

…and Nolia and I had a unique experience with the dinosaur in the back. It was a bit tight, but we had fun. (Right Nolia? [smile])

This is just a tiny fraction of one of the pathways. The whole Museum grounds were lit beautifully (as it is every December). For more pictures see here.

The best part of Christmastown was how the gospel saturated the presentations, especially the presentation by the “archaeologists”, as pictured here. Thousands of unbelievers from the community come to see Christmastown at the Creation Museum and then hear the gospel.

I was volunteering nearby as a greeter, so I got to hear the message about twelve times [smile], which was fun, esp. since both of the archaeologists were friends from the times we have helped with the NEA outreach.

After one of the presentations, my friend Grace Ramsek and I began talking with two girls who didn’t have a good grasp on the gospel. Their youth pastor observed our conversation and expressed how much he appreciated that we talked with them. He explained that many of the girls from his inner-city youth group were there at Christmastown that night.
“I pray for them so much,” he explained, expressing that they had a lot of needs.

I offered to talk with the rest of his group, and this evolved into a little gospel sharing time with about ten of them which lasted, maybe, 30 minutes. We praised the Lord for allowing this opportunity. (We were praying that he would provide someone to witness to!) And we pray that the Lord continues to work in their lives.

The Ramsek family was very hospitable to host all ten of us! Here we are in the middle of a great discussion, sharing ministry reports and talking about evangelism and many other topics.

The adventures of traveling down a steep snowy driveway with a big van.

The Creation Museum has a fantastic new display about “Lucy”. They created a model of what Lucy likely looked like.

Underneath the display are many pictures that people have drawn of what they think Lucy looked like, based on their imagination. They make her look somewhat human by drawing white around her eyeballs (something no apes actually have) and giving her human shape and expressions … but it’s really all a big hoax. Lucy was just an ape.

So if you haven’t been to the Creation Museum yet, you must go … and if you haven’t been to the Creation Museum for Christmas Town yet, I highly recommend putting it in your schedule for next December!

Today I have been organizing several boxes of tracts and I have been thinking about how grateful I am for all the young people God has raised up to get them out … into the hands of a world that really needs them! A while back, we started putting “witnessing packets” together for our book table at Bright Lights conferences, and I have been very pleased with how popular the packets have been! (They are a combination of sample tracts and materials to get people started in witnessing.) Also, local young people have distributed a lot of tracts at the University of Iowa over the fall months … so we have been making many purchases from Living Waters! [smile] Yay! But it’s encouraging to remember that now, not just in Iowa, but in all the cities and countries we have been to recently, young people are excited about witnessing and gospel tracts.

Soon I will be posting a few things about what I learned at the Bible retreat, about our recent trip to the Creation Museum to return a dinosaur, and a few more highlights from our overseas trip!

I am going to pause from sharing about the trip to post some pictures from today! When we arrived home from Australia there was no snow, so you can imagine our delight when we heard a blizzard was coming!

This post is especially for all our special friends in tropical places. We miss you and wish you could be here at our home to enjoy the beautiful white scenery we woke up to this morning!

Right here Stephen is telling me to get out of the way because I am about to get my face full of snow as he turns on the snow blower.

My mom, Sarah and I went together and bought Stephen and my dad a snow blower for Christmas this year … a little early so we’d have it in time for the blizzard.

We get quite excited about storms, so we had to celebrate with pumpkin bread this morning (Sarah’s favorite).

…made with freshly grated nutmeg. [smile] Does anyone out there grate your own nutmeg? I had never done it before, but I bought some fresh nutmegs (is that what they’re called?! haha) at Victoria’s Market in Melbourne, Australia. It’s amazing how much more flavor freshly grated nutmeg has!

Isaiah 1:18 says “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” What an incredible transformation. What an amazing God.

Well, many power lines in the area are going down, so I am going to post this before I lose internet!