Thankful Thursday

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Isaiah 12:5 English Standard Version


It is Thankful Thursday again! Time to take a "time out" and reflect on the goodness of God. I love taking this time to just stop and journal about the things I am thankful for!

I am thankful again for God's provision over our family during Mark's layoff. He continues to provide little nuggets of blessings along to way. We are truly depending on Him for everything now and He continues to provide all our needs.

I am thankful for the Bible Bee meeting on Monday! I am so excited to get to working with Delena on memorizing scriptures! We attempted Bible Bee last year but quickly became overwhelmed. This year, they are toning things down just a bit and as a family we have decided to take the summer off from school to focus on Bible Bee! I will be the email/facebook coordinator. I am also very excited to be able to teach the kids inductively whichever book of the Bible that Bible Bee decides the kids need to know for testing day. I get to show all three groups of age of kids how to study that chapter inductive style - of course this would be exciting for a trained Precept leader :)

I am thankful for my Bible study time with Delena. Before school everyday, we do a Bible study - she chose for us to work through Daniel. We plan to be finished by the first of June when our Bible Bee material will arrive. I have trained her on inductive study so this adventure is so fun! Everyday she says, "lets do more!"

I am thankful that I decided to take on the job of being PE Elementary Coordinator for our Homeschool group next year! What a challenge for me but I am excited. Thinking maybe a Biggest Looser contest for our Elementary Mom's could be fun :)

I am thankful our garden is starting to show signs of life. Below is a picture of our first attempt at growing strawberries and as you see, they are growing!! The kids love going to help daddy work on the garden. We also have corn, sweet peas, cucumber, melons, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and a blueberry tree planted. I'll post updates as things begin to grow.


Finally, for today, I am thankful that the kiddos have pen pals in Canada! I met a wonderful Christian friend from Canada from blogging and we have remained friends ever since. She has since closed her blog, but thanks to Facebook, we keep up with one another. One day, they will get to Disney World and we can meet in person! Anyway, our kids decided to be pen-pals -especially for our two boys who didn't want to practice handwriting. This sweet little picture was from her little Aiden that he drew for Taya. We are sending out our next letter tomorrow - and we are sending Silly Bandz! Apparently, they haven't become the crazy fad in Canada yet. Look out - Canada!!!

So what are you thankful for today? Join in over at Lynn's blog here and join in! Be blessed this weekend!

Should We or Shouldn't We??

Should Christian's practice Yoga?

This issue surfaced yesterday in a discussion with my good friend. See, the church I was so excited about yesterday offers Yoga classes as part of its giant rec building (huge ministry of the church and part of it is exercises classes). I have always been troubled by this. So yesterday, my friend got up the courage to email the pastor and ask him about it.

I see Christians dividing on this issue. For me, I used to think it was OK as long as you didn't do the meditative things or if you did you focus on Jesus. I have since, in my mind, been convicted that this is not true. But is this conviction the same for everyone? Obviously no, but should it be? I have another good friend who loves Yoga. She sees nothing wrong with it (and I would add that she is a pretty solid Christian).

So I looked up the definition of Yoga on Wikipedia. Here is what it said:

Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) consists of traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India.[1] Yoga has meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[2][3][4] Within Hinduism, yoga is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and is the goal toward which that school directs its practices.[5][6] In Jainism yoga is the sum total of all activities—mental, verbal and physical.

Major branches of yoga in Hindu philosophy include Rāja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga.[7][8][9] Raja Yoga, compiled in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and known simply as yoga in the context of Hindu philosophy, is part of the Samkhya tradition.[10] Many other Hindu texts discuss aspects of yoga, including Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita and various Tantras.

The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings,[11] and is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj", meaning "to control", "to yoke" or "to unite."[12] Translations include "joining", "uniting", "union", "conjunction", and "means".[13][14][15] An alternate root from which the word yoga may be derived is "yujir samadhau", which means "contemplation" or "absorption."[16] This translation fits better with the dualist Raja Yoga because it is through contemplation that discrimination between prakrti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) occurs. Outside India, the term yoga is typically associated with Hatha Yoga and its asanas (postures) or as a form of exercise. Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini.[17]

That definition scares me. Yoga is clearly rooted in eastern religions that are not part of Christianity. Now, yesterday I also listed to Mark Driscoll answer this question (it was part of a Q&A he did with his church as he preaches through Luke). He said Christians should have NOTHING to do with Yoga and that the practice of religion in yoga cannot separate from the stretches, breathing, meditation, etc. He also said it doesn't matter if you chant "Jesus" - Satan doesn't care what you chant as long as you do what he wants.

Now back to the pastor's email. Basically he said that the class is exercises and that there is even sometimes a small Bible study. He did not answer if the two can be separated. He didn't elaborate if meditation was involved. In the end, I feel no better after reading his response than I did when I saw they offered Yoga! However, he did state the church would not tolerate false teachings.

Choosing a new church is so important and I want to be sure we choose wisely. Is the fact that they offer Yoga a reason to NOT go there? Or is this an issue we can agree to disagree on? I would appreciate any insight!

So here is the question....if the yoga class is simply stretches, no chants, no meditation, none of that - is it simply excercise? What about the poses? I had read somewhere that ALL poses are sacrifices to other gods. They each have a specific meaning behind them. Even Mark Driscoll said this yesterday, when you practice yoga your are making yourself a living sacrifice unto a god - direct opposite of what the Bible exhorts us to do in Romans.

If all yoga is wrong - then seriously many Christians are deceived! Kay Arthur said today in my study on Jeremiah, "People do not want to hear the truth, they love deception." If all this yoga is wrong, Satan is pulling a real number over on us all.

Thoughts??

Weekend Pics

We had a nice weekend. It was full of clouds and rain, but I love rainy days. Saturday mornings are softball/t-ball mornings. Delena plays softball where Mark is the coach of her team. Caleb plays t-ball. Both kids have their good friends, Brandon and Samantha, on their team.

Here are some pictures of the game Saturday - before the clouds and rain rolled in.

Caleb getting ready to head for home as soon as the kid hits the ball off the t! He loves crossing home plate.


Caleb, sitting next to Sam, waiting for his turn to swing at the t!


Delena gets a turn being catcher! It helps that dad is the coach and can let her have a turn!

Delena learning to hit the ball! She is getting better and better every week!

Sunday marked the official beginning of our search for a new church home. While on the one hand it was exciting, it was also sad. I really missed my discipleship class yesterday. I so enjoyed teaching it and stayed at the church probably a lot longer than we should have because of the class. Why we are leaving is a long story, but we have prayed and prayed about it for over a year and a half. So we feel confident that this is the direction God wants us to go.

We tried a larger Baptist church in town and really liked it. Even though it is a much bigger church than we are used to, the people are friendly and it doesn't have a big church feel. We plan to go Wednesday night for activities and then again next Sunday. We are still praying about where God would ultimately have us, but this church could be the one!

Today, I have a volunteer meeting for Bible Bee. Delena will be participating in Bible Bee this year. This is an exciting time!

Thankful Thursday

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 4:4 ESV

Today I am thankful for:

The beautiful week of weather here in Florida.

Swim time with the kids this week. The pool is warmer than the air!

Getting back to my Jeremiah Study! Sooooo good!!

My husband having a full week of work this week :)

God's continued provisions during the layoff.

Another year of school being almost done. I survived teaching my second child how to read!

Getting back to a good work-out routine.

What are you thankful for today. Join in at Lynn's blog here.

Finished!

I finally finished Kay Arthur's Covenant study this morning. I have been working on it since January but worked slowly through it because of the homework related to my prophecy class. Now, what to do next?

Mark and I were working through Jeremiah, verse by verse with Kay Arthur's radio program. We took a break to do a Precept Upon Precept with Betsy and her hubby on Genesis Chapters 1-2. That was an awesome study...even though Mark and Ralph didn't finish :)

I just finished teaching my Discipleship class on Genesis 3-11 for the kids at church. We are going to be looking for a new church home so Sunday was our last day at our church. Kay's books for kids are really good! I was able to supplement with some of the great resources at Answers In Genesis.

I think I'll begin back on my Jeremiah study. I looked at Oneplace.com and the archives are still there and it appears as though she went through the second part of Jeremiah also. That should keep me busy for a while.

After working through Covenant, I think it is very clear that we are no longer under the old covenant. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue because I have always thought we were free from the old covenant. It wasn't until last year I sat under a teacher who taught we were still obligated to the old covenant. Her arguments are very convincing so I knew I had to sit back and study it myself. So glad I did. I would recommend this study to anyone who is questioning that or wants to understand covenant more. It looks like Kay will have one for the kids out in the fall. Can't wait to do that one with Delena!!

Room Changes!

We are about to begin the biggest room change in our house since we have lived here!

Our house has 3 bedrooms and a den plus a formal dinning room (which we have never used as a dinning room). Right now, Delena has her own room, Taya has her own room and Caleb uses the den for his room. It isn't working out too well. Although Mark built a make-shift closet, it still doesn't work well as a bedroom. The formal dinning room is our school room and happens to be the first thing you see when you walk in our house so a room full of printers, projects, grease boards and books isn't exactly charming (unless your a homeschooler than you totally understand the mess)!

Actually, the girls have asked to share a room. Taya's room, right now, is a total princess theme. Pink and yellow walls with a pink castle border. My friend Maureen painted a beautiful castle mural on the wall. Taya even has that cute little Step 2 Castle Bed. Now this was originally Delena's bedroom but they switched last year because Delena outgrew the Disney Princess thing.

So we have decided to let the girls share a room. They will both be in Delena's room as she has a fairly large room. They will have two twin beds with this theme:

I found this at JCPenney and knew the girls would love it. Besides, we have a Scottie dog named McKenzie so we love all things with Scottie patterns. I loved the mismatched look and think it will be adorable. I already ordered the bedding, now I have got to get Taya's Castle Bed sold to pay for it!

Caleb is moving into Taya's room, which means painting the pink and yellow walls. I have asked my husband to preserve the castle mural though. Hopefully, the new furniture Caleb is getting will cover the castle up. He has chosen a camouflage bedding set from JCPenney so we will paint his walls brown/green. In his room now, he has the Step 2 Race Car bed which I have already sold but my friends who I sold it too aren't in a huge hurry so he is still using it until we start the switch.

Speaking of new bedroom furniture....turns out my friend, Betsy, has the exact same furniture as Mark and I. I have always told her that when she is ready to get rid of it --- I want her bed frame because she has a King and we have a Queen. Well, of course, now she is ready to get rid of it. So the plan is to give Caleb all her furniture and give him our bed. However, this has to wait until Mark gets a job. So he will get the furniture, we will store the King headboard until we can buy a mattress and new bedding and Caleb will use Delena's queen until that time. He is actually excited.

Now our school room will move into the den - behind closed doors! Not that it is a mess but there is just a lot of stuff - especially with all the projects we do with the Tapestry of Grace curriculum! Then the front room will once again be a nice, neat formal room that will be appealing to the eye when you first walk in! Just don't tell my hubby that! I told him it would be a second living space, so eventually we will get a TV for that room. All in time!

I am excited about the switch but can't wait for it to be over. I will post after results when we are all done!!

Couple of Good Reads

Here are a couple of links to some blog posts I have enjoyed reading the last day or so.

John Piper answers the question, "Did Jesus Death Do Anything for Unbelievers?" The link here has a video and transcript of his answer on "Limited Atonement." :) An interesting discussion for sure.

Speaking of John Piper, who is on a Sabbatical until the end of the year, he has stirred some recent controversy by inviting Rick Warren to be a headliner speaker at the Desiring God National Conference. Phil Johnson responds very well about the whole situation here.

Kevin DeYoung answers how to deal with disappointment in the church here. This one was very good, as we are dealing with this right now.

Thankful Thursday

Three, two, one....


We have had a really good week! Starting with an awesome Good Friday. We made the flour dough tomb and attended a wonderful Good Friday service. Easter was beautiful. We attended a new church for service and had my mom come over for lunch. The on Sunday night, since my husband is still out of work and didn't have to be at work Monday morning, we drove over to Titusville to see the pre-dawn Shuttle Launch of Discovery!

We camped overnight in my Suburban. It only ended up being a few hours. We arrived in Titusville around 11:30, didn't get to bed until after 12:30 and was up at 5:30. We parked in a little park right on the river overlooking the Kennedy Space Center and the launch pad where Discovery sat. We weren't the only ones coming in to see it or sleeping in cars. People were everywhere and came in all night long. This is supposed to be the last night shuttle launch of the program.

It was well worth the wait and hassle (including sleeping in the car!!) I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go see it. We went Superbowl weekend over there to see one shortly after 4am. My best friend and her family went with us. The launch was scrubbed 20 minutes before liftoff. Leaving Titusville in traffic with two families and six kids was a challenge, especially to have not seen the launch. We were going to go the next night for the next attempt, but were too tired to drive back over and missed it. My husband was so upset!

So I am so very thankful to have been able to see it. There are only three launches left, if you can get the chance to do, it is so worth it. I am also thankful that it turned out this week in our Science for Homeschool we are studying space travel. What an awesome field trip to go along with what we are learning!


Space Shuttle Discovery launch. Just minutes before launch, the International Space Station flew overhead. It looked like a tiny little star in the sky.


Heading away into space.

The whole sky lit up but it only lasted a short time!

What are you thankful for today. Head over to Lynn's blog and join in!

Trying to be Decerning

That isn't always easy, is it?

I am taking a prophecy class led by a wonderful lady who I really respect and admire. I think this is the first time I have sat in a Bible study class where I know the teacher actually spends a lot of time studying the Bible. I know she tries and seeks to speak the truth and teach the truth. Yet, even during this time of study there are plenty of things that I disagree with her on.

Once the class is finished, I plan to blog about the end times and what I learned. Basically, her stance is an after the "mid-point" rapture but before the "Day of the Lord" or the full wrath of God's judgement. I want to wait until we go through Revelation (which we are starting now) before I say too much about that. I will say that after sitting under her, reading the verses - verse by verse, letting Scripture interpret Scripture - her teaching on the rapture makes a lot of sense. I hope she is wrong and it is a pre-trib but so far, I am not really seeing that. Although, if you sit and listen to John MacArthur teach on the rapture, you will be pre-trib too (which is what I always was and I love John MacArthur....just not so sure he is correct on this one). Time will tell, huh?

A couple of things, however, we disagree on. First, she is a "Zionist" and believes that we are still under the old Jewish traditions and laws. Obviously, without a temple, there are no sacrificial systems in place. But, she believes we still are to hold to the Jewish feasts, traditions, dietary laws and the Sabbath. Now, I am working through Kay Arthur's Covenant study, (not the Precept Upon Precept but the one published through Lifeway). I just studied Hebrews 10 this morning and I simply cannot see a requirement to keep the old Jewish traditions.

Hebrews 10:9-10 (ESV) says:

Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:18 (ESV) says:

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

I don't see it saying we still need to hold to the Jewish traditions. Christ died but keep the feasts? I just don't agree with that. Any thoughts?

Now, I am not saying they weren't important because obviously if God put them in the Scriptures, then they were important. I think it is important to study them, but I don't see that we are required to keep them (or the diets or anything else for that matter). But I would love feedback on this.

Another thing is, like I said earlier, she believes we should keep the Sabbath. She said God designed the Sabbath to be the meeting place/day with him. This is another thing I cannot see. In Colossians, Paul says,

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to i a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

In other words, Paul said that the people still trying to force those old things onto the new believes in Christ were wrong. The notes in the ESV Study Bible says they were pushing these things for spiritual advancement. Paul goes on to say in Colossians 2,

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Besides, many places in the New Testament it is clear that the believers gathered on Sunday, the first day of the week. Even Jesus, while on his earthly ministry, performed miracles and such on the Sabbath (Like the guy w/ the mat who wasn't supposed to walk with the mat because of some old law and Jesus healed him and told him to go walk with the mat). Since Jesus could not sin, then obviously having a man walk with his mat wasn't against God's law.

Right after that class, when what I heard her say made sense and I was all concerned about how we ended up having church on Sunday, John MacArthur did a four part series on GTY about the Sabbath. You can read or listen here. He really explained it well (which is why I love listening to him)!!

I could go on, but this is getting rather long so I will post more about it at another time.

I still love the class and have learned so much about the End Times. And it shows that it is OK to fellowship with others we disagree on. As long as the foundational truth - salvation is by faith through grace ALONE, then we are OK. It also shows how important it is for us to study God's word for ourselves and not always take what others say as the sole truth because we will be tossed back and forth.

In Christ Alone

Thankful Thursday

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant,and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away;and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence,and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to deathand was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53 English Standard Version


This week is simple. I am thankful that God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to be my substitution on the cross. And that the work on the cross is my atonement so I can be forgiven of all of my sins and made a new creation in the eyes of a Holy God. I am thankful that Jesus rose again on the 3rd day defeating death, hell, sin and the powers of Satan. I am thankful that before the foundation of the world, God chose me to be one of His own. In Christ Alone, Our Hope Is Found!

To join in more Thankful Thursday's click here.