NASHVILLE KAT
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Nashville Kat
with all the news from Nashville first
My pastor friend wrote a great article for the Washington Post.... Mark Driscoll is
the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He was asked this
question…What makes the best 'case for God' to a skeptic or non-believer, an
open-minded seeker, and to a person of faith and why? Mark’s answer, “Jesus.”
He goes on to write…
Christianity is not first and foremost about a sacred place to pilgrimage to, a
philosophical system to ponder, a moral code to live, a religious tradition to
honor, or an impersonal god to experience. Rather, Christianity is about a person
who claimed to be the only God and said he would prove his unprecedented
claim by living without sin, dying for sinners, and conquering death through
resurrection.
So, as Christians, our aim is not to convince people of some god in general, but
to introduce them to Jesus in particular. And since he created us with the ability
to communicate, think, love, and experience, Christians have always valued
using every means by which the truth and love of Jesus can be revealed.
Helpful to this end is using the evidence for a personal Creator who handcrafted
our world for human life by explaining the principles of intelligent design and such
things as the fine-tuning argument and the argument for irreducible complexity.
These show that our world is a gift to be enjoyed worshipfully and stewarded
wisely.
It is also important that people learn to understand how God speaks uniquely and
authoritatively through the Bible. Acts that can aid in this include giving away
Bibles (along with helpful Christian books) as gifts for people to simply read,
bringing people to church to listen to the Bible preached, inviting people to small
groups and classes to ask their questions about the Bible, and recommending
good podcasts that would bring the Bible into the daily rhythm of their commutes,
exercise workouts, and the like.
On a more practical level, acts of truly selfless compassion--done not for fame,
notoriety, or to merit God's approval, but done out of love for someone--help to
reveal a small measure of God's loving, merciful, compassionate nature. In a
world where people use one another far more frequently than they love one
another, these kinds of acts can be signs pointing to the God who is altogether
good. As one example, in our church filled mainly with young people, we have put
much effort into weeping with and serving the hundreds and hundreds of victims
of molestation and rape.
Thus, informing the mind about Scripture, explaining the world and our place in it
under God, and extending a hand of loving compassion all help to give people a
framework by which to interpret their life experiences. They can begin to see that
God has made them, wants to speak with them, and desires restored relationship
with them, relationship that otherwise remains broken through sin.
While each of these ways of informing someone's understanding is important,
none is alone sufficient. That is because what they leave us with is knowledge
about God by revealing what he has done (creation), how he communicates (the
Bible), and what he seeks (relationship). But we still do not enjoy that
relationship. This leads us to Jesus.
Christianity has always held, based upon the teachings of Jesus and the
prophets of the Old Testament and apostles of the New Testament, that in Jesus,
the Creator has entered into creation on a rescue mission for the restoring of
relationship, in fulfillment of Scripture. For making the three most unprecedented
claims in the history of the world--that he was without sin as the only God and the
only path to salvation--Jesus was treated without compassion. He was lied about,
arrested, falsely tried, beaten, whipped beyond recognition, nailed to a cross,
and lifted up for a crowd to mock, jeer, and spit upon. Jesus our Creator then,
with bloodied lips, spoke the word "forgive" for his murderers. Jesus died to pay
the penalty for sin as the greatest act of compassion the world has or will ever
witness; the Creator died for his creation, to make enemies friends.
Three days later, Jesus rose, conquering sin and death and vindicating his
claims. Subsequently, if Jesus is dead, so is Christianity. If Jesus is alive, so is
Christianity. And so while there is no "best case" for presenting God, there are
false ways of presenting God: as anyone in addition to or other than Jesus
Christ. As Christians, our goal is never to lie to people by only telling them what
they want to hear, or manipulating them to feel what they want to feel. Instead, we
want to respect them enough to tell them the truth, and love them enough to do
so in a way that is compassionate. We care more about the truth and the love
than having the "best case." We believe that there is power in the truth about
Jesus that can unleash new life in people as they agree with the truth about him.
A Wise Woman Builds Her House by Debi Pearl
A wise woman doesn’t take anything for granted. She is thankful to be loved and
seeks to make herself more lovely.
A wise woman doesn’t allow herself to be a liability but strives to be an asset to
the marriage bond. She looks for ways to make, save, and use money wisely. Her
husband knows he is a richer man because she is his wife.
A wise woman seeks to be a part of her husband’s life. His interest becomes her
interest. She looks for ways to help him in every endeavor in which he is
involved. When he needs a helping hand, it is her hand that is there first.
A wise woman knows that his peace of mind (and sometimes, wise
understanding) is something she can give or take away by her observations and
conversation concerning circumstances or people. She limits her conversation to
the positive.
A wise woman sets a joyful mood in the household. She uses laughter, music and
happy times to stir the children to a positive, joyful frame of mind. She knows this
light-heartedness helps take stress off her husband.
A wise woman gauges her husband’s needs. She seeks to fulfill his desires
before even he is aware of them. She never leaves him daydreaming outside the
home. She supplies his every desire.
A wise woman understands that her husband’s need to be honored is not based
on his performance but on his position. She learns quickly to defer with
enthusiasm to his ideas or plans. She looks for ways to reverence him. She
knows this is God’s will for her life.
A wise woman is not pitiful, puny, or whinny. She seeks to be confident, capable
and thankful.
A wise woman does not dream of what “could have been.” She sees clearly that
she is not God’s gift to men; thus she is blessed in her present circumstances.
She learns to be content.
A wise woman never expects anyone to serve her; therefore she is never
disappointed. She is ready to help—a giver. By her example her children learn to
serve cheerfully and energetically.
A wise woman doesn’t attempt to instruct her husband through feigned
questions. Her questions are sincere inquiries concerning his will.
A wise woman is always learning. She is open to change. She is ready to hear.
She wants to know. She doesn’t cloud her mind with the foolish folly of
entertainment. She uses her time wisely.
Can you find 16 books of the Bible in this paragraph?
I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible (merely by a fluke). It
kept people looking so hard for the facts and for others it was a revelation. Some
were in a jam, especially since the name of the books were not capitalized, but
the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others it was a real job.
We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some
really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly
admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud
lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can
concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now. There really are
sixteen names of books in this story.
Click here for the answers...
The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Metallic Silver...
The day Jack was born, I was sitting in my hospital bed blissfully staring at the
tiny wonder that was my new baby when my husband returned to our room from
dinner. All smiles. “Guess what? Mom and Dad wanna go to our house and clean
it for us while we’re here in the hospital. Cool, huh?”He had reason to be excited.
He hadn’t lived in a clean house for months. I was wiped out and tired and
downright lazy during my entire pregnancy with Jack – which I laugh about now –
having recently been pregnant while simultaneously chasing two toddler boys all
over tarnation. But, my house was a mess. There were piles of dirty laundry all
over the place, dirty bathrooms, and dirty dishes filling the sink. The place was
embarrassingly messy. Okay, dirty. It was dirty. I broke out in a post-baby
hormonal sweat at even the thought of my mother-in-law seeing week-old dirty
dishes filling up the sink. And, the laundry. Oh, the laundry situation. When I
outgrew my regular clothes, I just threw them into a pile on the laundry room
floor. And, then did the same as I outgrew my maternity clothes. And, never
thought about them again. Because, you know, I had so much else to do since I
stopped working at 20 weeks. But, the thought of going home to a clean house.
How totally awesome would that be? The thought of a clean house went fifteen
rounds with my pride. And, the clean house won by a slim, slim margin. So, I
agreed. I walked into my house four days later, carrying my new baby boy, and
the place sparkled. The kitchen floor, the bathrooms – everything was clean. I
had forgotten what vacuumed carpet looked like. And, to not have to rinse a
clean spoon to have a bowl of cereal? It was simply delightful. Jason’s family
came over shortly after we got home to welcome us and our little Jack home. We
all oohed and aahed over the little guy for a few hours, and I finally excused
myself to take him upstairs to our bedroom to nurse him. As soon as I climbed
onto our bed, I noticed that there were five laundry baskets sitting in the corner
of our room - full of clean, folded laundry. Not only was our entire house sparkly,
but all of our laundry was clean. I was having my own little celebration...Then, I
spotted it.Sitting atop a neatly folded pile of my laundry was a metallic silver
thong. I sat and stared at that basket for several minutes – totally paralyzed. I
was MOR-TI-FIED. It had surely come from that massive, renegade pile of I haven’
t worn this since I started showing laundry that had overtaken our laundry room.
But there it was. In all of its itsy bitsy glory. I could just see it. My mother-in-law
folding our laundry and having visions of me scandalously sashaying around the
house – nine months pregnant – in nothing but that teenie, weenie pair of
metallic silver underoos. I finished stalling nursing Jack and reluctantly returned
downstairs. Everyone was getting ready to leave, and despite my utter
embarrassment, I knew I had to graciously thank my husband's mom for loving us
so selflessly. I bravely looked at my mother-in-law and said, “Thank you so much
for cleaning our house and doing our laundry. We feel so very loved.” Mom
quickly replied, “Don’t just thank me. Dad did all the laundry."
From Randy Owen’s new book “Born Country.” It’s on page 44 - 45. ..
“There is a favorite family story we all like to recount. When Reba (his sister)
and I were in grade school, we drank water out of an old well at school, a pretty
common thing back then. Apparently the sewer system had backed up into the
well water and contaminated the system with bacteria. A lof of kids got hepatitus,
including Reba and me. I was especially affected, and everyone in the family
thought I might not make it. Mama and Daddy didn’t rush either of us to the
doctor’s office. In that day and time, it simply wasn’t their first impulse. Doctors
were expensive – health insurance was unheard of and they had little contact
with them. They weren’t opposed to organized medicine – it was just unfamiliar to
them. Their first impulse was to pray. My aunt Lillie and uncle “H” came over
and prayed for us. At that time, I hadn’t eaten anything for two or three days.
The whole family prayed hard, then took a long good look at me and said,
“Randy, do you think you could sit up and eat some ham?” and I said, “yes, I
believe I can.” I still felt sick as a dog, but I got up out of bed and started eating
the cured ham they were serving up. and I never went back. Almost instantly –
miraculously – I was over the hepatitis and have never been that sick since.
When something like that happens to you, in that kind of miraculous way, it gives
you faith. We all believed then and continue to believe, that God healed me that
day. It took Reba much longer to recover from her sickness. If you asked her
today, she’d tell you at that time, she didn’t have as much faith as I did. She was
weak, she’ll say and only later did the Lord intercede and strengthen her faith.
To this day I still wonder what might have happened if the family hadn’t gathered
in prayer for my recovery and I hadn’t gotten out of bed to eat a little ham.”
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the
horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually
managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements,
and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he
arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The
worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.
"God, how could you do this to me!" he cried. Early the next day, however, he
was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had
come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his
rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. It is easy to get discouraged
when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work
in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your
little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the
grace of God.
A group of frogs were traveling through the woods when two of them fell into a
deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep
the pit was they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs
ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might.
The other frogs kept telling them to stop, saying it was hopeless. Finally, one of
the frogs listened to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down
and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the
crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop and just die. He jumped even harder and
finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did not you hear us?"
The frog said he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He was asked this
question…What makes the best 'case for God' to a skeptic or non-believer, an
open-minded seeker, and to a person of faith and why? Mark’s answer, “Jesus.”
He goes on to write…
Christianity is not first and foremost about a sacred place to pilgrimage to, a
philosophical system to ponder, a moral code to live, a religious tradition to
honor, or an impersonal god to experience. Rather, Christianity is about a person
who claimed to be the only God and said he would prove his unprecedented
claim by living without sin, dying for sinners, and conquering death through
resurrection.
So, as Christians, our aim is not to convince people of some god in general, but
to introduce them to Jesus in particular. And since he created us with the ability
to communicate, think, love, and experience, Christians have always valued
using every means by which the truth and love of Jesus can be revealed.
Helpful to this end is using the evidence for a personal Creator who handcrafted
our world for human life by explaining the principles of intelligent design and such
things as the fine-tuning argument and the argument for irreducible complexity.
These show that our world is a gift to be enjoyed worshipfully and stewarded
wisely.
It is also important that people learn to understand how God speaks uniquely and
authoritatively through the Bible. Acts that can aid in this include giving away
Bibles (along with helpful Christian books) as gifts for people to simply read,
bringing people to church to listen to the Bible preached, inviting people to small
groups and classes to ask their questions about the Bible, and recommending
good podcasts that would bring the Bible into the daily rhythm of their commutes,
exercise workouts, and the like.
On a more practical level, acts of truly selfless compassion--done not for fame,
notoriety, or to merit God's approval, but done out of love for someone--help to
reveal a small measure of God's loving, merciful, compassionate nature. In a
world where people use one another far more frequently than they love one
another, these kinds of acts can be signs pointing to the God who is altogether
good. As one example, in our church filled mainly with young people, we have put
much effort into weeping with and serving the hundreds and hundreds of victims
of molestation and rape.
Thus, informing the mind about Scripture, explaining the world and our place in it
under God, and extending a hand of loving compassion all help to give people a
framework by which to interpret their life experiences. They can begin to see that
God has made them, wants to speak with them, and desires restored relationship
with them, relationship that otherwise remains broken through sin.
While each of these ways of informing someone's understanding is important,
none is alone sufficient. That is because what they leave us with is knowledge
about God by revealing what he has done (creation), how he communicates (the
Bible), and what he seeks (relationship). But we still do not enjoy that
relationship. This leads us to Jesus.
Christianity has always held, based upon the teachings of Jesus and the
prophets of the Old Testament and apostles of the New Testament, that in Jesus,
the Creator has entered into creation on a rescue mission for the restoring of
relationship, in fulfillment of Scripture. For making the three most unprecedented
claims in the history of the world--that he was without sin as the only God and the
only path to salvation--Jesus was treated without compassion. He was lied about,
arrested, falsely tried, beaten, whipped beyond recognition, nailed to a cross,
and lifted up for a crowd to mock, jeer, and spit upon. Jesus our Creator then,
with bloodied lips, spoke the word "forgive" for his murderers. Jesus died to pay
the penalty for sin as the greatest act of compassion the world has or will ever
witness; the Creator died for his creation, to make enemies friends.
Three days later, Jesus rose, conquering sin and death and vindicating his
claims. Subsequently, if Jesus is dead, so is Christianity. If Jesus is alive, so is
Christianity. And so while there is no "best case" for presenting God, there are
false ways of presenting God: as anyone in addition to or other than Jesus
Christ. As Christians, our goal is never to lie to people by only telling them what
they want to hear, or manipulating them to feel what they want to feel. Instead, we
want to respect them enough to tell them the truth, and love them enough to do
so in a way that is compassionate. We care more about the truth and the love
than having the "best case." We believe that there is power in the truth about
Jesus that can unleash new life in people as they agree with the truth about him.
A Wise Woman Builds Her House by Debi Pearl
A wise woman doesn’t take anything for granted. She is thankful to be loved and
seeks to make herself more lovely.
A wise woman doesn’t allow herself to be a liability but strives to be an asset to
the marriage bond. She looks for ways to make, save, and use money wisely. Her
husband knows he is a richer man because she is his wife.
A wise woman seeks to be a part of her husband’s life. His interest becomes her
interest. She looks for ways to help him in every endeavor in which he is
involved. When he needs a helping hand, it is her hand that is there first.
A wise woman knows that his peace of mind (and sometimes, wise
understanding) is something she can give or take away by her observations and
conversation concerning circumstances or people. She limits her conversation to
the positive.
A wise woman sets a joyful mood in the household. She uses laughter, music and
happy times to stir the children to a positive, joyful frame of mind. She knows this
light-heartedness helps take stress off her husband.
A wise woman gauges her husband’s needs. She seeks to fulfill his desires
before even he is aware of them. She never leaves him daydreaming outside the
home. She supplies his every desire.
A wise woman understands that her husband’s need to be honored is not based
on his performance but on his position. She learns quickly to defer with
enthusiasm to his ideas or plans. She looks for ways to reverence him. She
knows this is God’s will for her life.
A wise woman is not pitiful, puny, or whinny. She seeks to be confident, capable
and thankful.
A wise woman does not dream of what “could have been.” She sees clearly that
she is not God’s gift to men; thus she is blessed in her present circumstances.
She learns to be content.
A wise woman never expects anyone to serve her; therefore she is never
disappointed. She is ready to help—a giver. By her example her children learn to
serve cheerfully and energetically.
A wise woman doesn’t attempt to instruct her husband through feigned
questions. Her questions are sincere inquiries concerning his will.
A wise woman is always learning. She is open to change. She is ready to hear.
She wants to know. She doesn’t cloud her mind with the foolish folly of
entertainment. She uses her time wisely.
Can you find 16 books of the Bible in this paragraph?
I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible (merely by a fluke). It
kept people looking so hard for the facts and for others it was a revelation. Some
were in a jam, especially since the name of the books were not capitalized, but
the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others it was a real job.
We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some
really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly
admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud
lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can
concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now. There really are
sixteen names of books in this story.
Click here for the answers...
The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Metallic Silver...
The day Jack was born, I was sitting in my hospital bed blissfully staring at the
tiny wonder that was my new baby when my husband returned to our room from
dinner. All smiles. “Guess what? Mom and Dad wanna go to our house and clean
it for us while we’re here in the hospital. Cool, huh?”He had reason to be excited.
He hadn’t lived in a clean house for months. I was wiped out and tired and
downright lazy during my entire pregnancy with Jack – which I laugh about now –
having recently been pregnant while simultaneously chasing two toddler boys all
over tarnation. But, my house was a mess. There were piles of dirty laundry all
over the place, dirty bathrooms, and dirty dishes filling the sink. The place was
embarrassingly messy. Okay, dirty. It was dirty. I broke out in a post-baby
hormonal sweat at even the thought of my mother-in-law seeing week-old dirty
dishes filling up the sink. And, the laundry. Oh, the laundry situation. When I
outgrew my regular clothes, I just threw them into a pile on the laundry room
floor. And, then did the same as I outgrew my maternity clothes. And, never
thought about them again. Because, you know, I had so much else to do since I
stopped working at 20 weeks. But, the thought of going home to a clean house.
How totally awesome would that be? The thought of a clean house went fifteen
rounds with my pride. And, the clean house won by a slim, slim margin. So, I
agreed. I walked into my house four days later, carrying my new baby boy, and
the place sparkled. The kitchen floor, the bathrooms – everything was clean. I
had forgotten what vacuumed carpet looked like. And, to not have to rinse a
clean spoon to have a bowl of cereal? It was simply delightful. Jason’s family
came over shortly after we got home to welcome us and our little Jack home. We
all oohed and aahed over the little guy for a few hours, and I finally excused
myself to take him upstairs to our bedroom to nurse him. As soon as I climbed
onto our bed, I noticed that there were five laundry baskets sitting in the corner
of our room - full of clean, folded laundry. Not only was our entire house sparkly,
but all of our laundry was clean. I was having my own little celebration...Then, I
spotted it.Sitting atop a neatly folded pile of my laundry was a metallic silver
thong. I sat and stared at that basket for several minutes – totally paralyzed. I
was MOR-TI-FIED. It had surely come from that massive, renegade pile of I haven’
t worn this since I started showing laundry that had overtaken our laundry room.
But there it was. In all of its itsy bitsy glory. I could just see it. My mother-in-law
folding our laundry and having visions of me scandalously sashaying around the
house – nine months pregnant – in nothing but that teenie, weenie pair of
metallic silver underoos. I finished stalling nursing Jack and reluctantly returned
downstairs. Everyone was getting ready to leave, and despite my utter
embarrassment, I knew I had to graciously thank my husband's mom for loving us
so selflessly. I bravely looked at my mother-in-law and said, “Thank you so much
for cleaning our house and doing our laundry. We feel so very loved.” Mom
quickly replied, “Don’t just thank me. Dad did all the laundry."
From Randy Owen’s new book “Born Country.” It’s on page 44 - 45. ..
“There is a favorite family story we all like to recount. When Reba (his sister)
and I were in grade school, we drank water out of an old well at school, a pretty
common thing back then. Apparently the sewer system had backed up into the
well water and contaminated the system with bacteria. A lof of kids got hepatitus,
including Reba and me. I was especially affected, and everyone in the family
thought I might not make it. Mama and Daddy didn’t rush either of us to the
doctor’s office. In that day and time, it simply wasn’t their first impulse. Doctors
were expensive – health insurance was unheard of and they had little contact
with them. They weren’t opposed to organized medicine – it was just unfamiliar to
them. Their first impulse was to pray. My aunt Lillie and uncle “H” came over
and prayed for us. At that time, I hadn’t eaten anything for two or three days.
The whole family prayed hard, then took a long good look at me and said,
“Randy, do you think you could sit up and eat some ham?” and I said, “yes, I
believe I can.” I still felt sick as a dog, but I got up out of bed and started eating
the cured ham they were serving up. and I never went back. Almost instantly –
miraculously – I was over the hepatitis and have never been that sick since.
When something like that happens to you, in that kind of miraculous way, it gives
you faith. We all believed then and continue to believe, that God healed me that
day. It took Reba much longer to recover from her sickness. If you asked her
today, she’d tell you at that time, she didn’t have as much faith as I did. She was
weak, she’ll say and only later did the Lord intercede and strengthen her faith.
To this day I still wonder what might have happened if the family hadn’t gathered
in prayer for my recovery and I hadn’t gotten out of bed to eat a little ham.”
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the
horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually
managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements,
and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he
arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The
worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.
"God, how could you do this to me!" he cried. Early the next day, however, he
was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had
come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his
rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. It is easy to get discouraged
when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work
in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your
little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the
grace of God.
A group of frogs were traveling through the woods when two of them fell into a
deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep
the pit was they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs
ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might.
The other frogs kept telling them to stop, saying it was hopeless. Finally, one of
the frogs listened to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down
and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the
crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop and just die. He jumped even harder and
finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did not you hear us?"
The frog said he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
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