Food for thought over a long weekend

We will leave tomorrow morning for a weekend with my in-laws. It's always fun and relaxing to visit them. They live a two-hour drive to the north-east from here. For those from Germany or interested in German geography: my in-laws live in Paderborn :).

But as for once I have a little time to blog, I thought I'd put up another post and leave you with a few quotes I came across while reading about Holy Week and Christ' sufferings on our behalf. The quotes are from Frederick S. Leahy's The Cross He bore. Have a blessed Easter, everyone!

"As we meditate on Christ's prayerful submission in Gethsemane, we should realize that there, as Philip E. Hughes puts it, "we see him enduring our hell so that we may be set free to enter his heaven". And so at unspeakable cost he drank "the cup" to the very last drop. [...] Now he gives to his people the cup of salvation (Psalm 116:13). These two cups, one so bitter, the other so sweet, stand side by side: the one cup necessitated the other. One cup was emptied that the other might be filled to overflowing. The first cup guaranteed the second. Both cups are precious and bear the hallmark of sovereign grace."

[Christ] never doubet the holy decree by which he came into the world to save sinners. And so the darker the night, the greater the storm and fiercer the conflict, the more he reached out to his Father and rested in his sovereign will.

Focus on the cross

This year I am following a scripture reading plan together with a friend. We will read through the New Testament in a year. I've done Bible in one year before, but now I am looking forward to less verses a day. I hope this will allow me to focus more on what I read than to just trying to get through with the amount for one day. I know though that this is a question of my heart and attitude.
One thing I especially want to focus on while reading. In going through every book of the NT I want to keep my focus on the cross of Christ and His atoning, substitutionary sacrifice. Last year God has really begun to open my heart and my mind more and given me a desire to understand more and more what happened through Christ's death and resurrection, what the meaning is and why it happened the way it happened. This is truly an amazing, heart-wrenching, awe-inspiring journey. I am exited for its continuing this year.

The first four months we read the gospel, not one gospel after the other, but the relating parts of all of them together. And the cross appeared on one of the first days:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

Jesus refers to an event during Israel's Exodus out of slavery in Egypt (Numbers 21:4-9). The Israelites were wandering through the desert and soon they forgot what God had done for them. So they started complaining against God thereby showing the rebelliousness of their hearts. So God sent poisenous snakes among them, an instant punishment of their rebellion and sin against Him. But when the people recognized their sin and asked Moses to pray for them, God provided a way out. Following God's instructions Moses made a bronze snake, put it on a pole and liftet it up. God had decreed that anyone suffering from the deadly bites who looked to the bronze snake should be healed and live.
Just like the Israelites we are lost in sin and rebellion against God. Ignoring our just as deadly condition we continue on a path which will lead to judgment and death - unless we look up to God's sign for all the people, God's sign for us: Jesus Christ crucified. Through his death we are safed from the reign of sin and may have eternal life. This, however, needs an action on our part. Just as healing came to the Israelites only if they turned their heads and decided to look upon that snake, salvation through Christ comes only if we look to Him in faith and trust.

Favorite books of 2007

I have always loved reading and even though I have a lot less time for it than I used to, I still read lots (ask my husband :)). So in 2007 I read quite a number of books and now decided to come up with a list of favorites.
I think I mainly read Christian books this year, so here are my top 3:

1. C.J. Mahaney, Living the cross-centered life (this is an awesome book; if you haven't read it yet, you absolutely have to in 2008!)
2. Jerry Bridges, Discipline of Grace (I almost twice through, still some pages left to read and mark)
3. Jim Andrews, Polishing God's momuments - Pillars of hope for punishing times (I believe it is so important to think about how to deal with trials and hard times before they hit us; I can highly recommend this book)
   

It's harder to come up with a ranking for non-Christian books, I don't remember all the ones I read in 2007, so here is just a list of three which I liked:

• Allison Weir, Innocent Traitor (historical fiction; an account of the life of Lady Jane Grey; this was the best fiction I read in 2007)
  
• Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn inheritance (historial fiction; this is no. 3 in a whole series about Tudor England; all of them are great)
• J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  

Advent season

Now the month of November is almost gone and December is at the door. The season of Advent will begin this weekend, a season of darkness and increasing light, a season of waiting and preparing ourselves for the birth of our Savior. Did you know that in all four gospels Christ is called the Savior only twice? The first time He is announced as the Savior by the angel who appeared to the shepherds (Luke 2:10). Savior - what a wonderful word!
We always have an advent wreath which by the lightening of more candles each Sunday points us to the arrival of Christ, our light in the darkness of this world.
This is the first advent in a long time where I only work 9 hrs. a week, but there is so much to do before I start a full-time job in January... Still I want to keep myself focused on what Advent and Christmas are really about, to keep it introspective and directed towards the good news the angel proclaimed on Christmas.
We just started decorating our place, so here are two peeks for you:

Reformation day treat

Ligonier Ministries had a special offer on Refomation day. They sold the Reformation Study Bible for a reduced price. I've been thinking about ordering it for a while now and so I just couldn't resist... It arrived on Wednesday and I am really exited.

Although I sometimes wonder what exactly is the attraction of a new Bible. The Word of God does not change. God remains the same - yesterday, today and forever. The same is true for His word. That is so comforting! Maybe the attraction is the pristine pages. No hand-written notes yet, no colored line next to verses ... A new look at familiar passages and stories. Also new study notes at the bottom of the pages and new articles about special topics. Can you tell I'm exited?

Btw in the background on our coffee table you can see a little fall decoration I put together. I love fall :).

Some reflections on Eve

Eve, the first woman. She seems like a natural starting point for a Christian woman who wants to understand more about God's intention for her, more about what it means to be a woman.
I am currently studying the women of the Bible with a wonderful friend of mine. We're reading and working through "The remarkable women of the Bible" by Elizabeth George. And of course the first chapter was all about Eve - the first to experience so many things which are integral parts of most women's life (being a wife, a mother, experiencing the pain of childbirth and the agonizing pain of loosing a child). She had to figure out the same things we sometimes struggle with: her relationship with God and her relationship with her husband. What does it mean to be a woman and a wife?

Here are some of the things which stood out to me while pondering Eve's story:
It is good to be a woman. God created woman with a special purpose. She was necessary for creation to be finished. God first created the animals and the man. Then He declared

"It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18).

The suitable helper was the woman. Only after having created the woman too, God pronounced creation "very good" (Genesis 1:31).
Woman is created for the man. She complemets him in ways no other created being and no other thing can. The special bond between man and woman, I think, is expressed through the fact that God did not create the woman from dust as He created the man, but He created her out of the man's rib. Man and woman belong together.

Woman is created to be a help meet. As a wife she is to be a help to her husband. The Hebrew word for help meet is "ezer" which means help. It derives from the verb azar which means to surround, to help and to protect. The same verb is used for God's help in several verses throughout the Bible, e.g. Deuteronomy 33:29 or Psalm 115:9-11. Therefore a wife is called to support her husband, to complement him and to be a help to him. According to the meaning of the verb azor, this help is strong and active, an image we also get from the woman of Proverbs 31. But at the same time it is clear, I think, that all her activity should not be directed at her own advancement or success, but at the man's (and that of them together and their family). A wife is called to support her husband, not herself alone.
In this context E. George mentions a verse from the NT.

"The man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man" (I Cor 11:7).

To be truly honest, this is a verse I'm struggling with. Not that I dislike its implications per se, but I do not understand the meaning of this verse very well. What does it mean that the woman is the glory of the man? Does it mean that her behaviour reflects on her husband? Does it have implications for how she is to treat her husband in public? To be respectful to him and not to belittle him in front of others (that's definately not glorifying your husband)?

God also issues the creation mandates. Man and woman are called to be fruitful and to subdue the earth. After the fall part of the punishment for Adam and Eve - which we still suffer today - is connected with these mandates and their specific roles. The pain of childbirth is greatly increased due to the fall (Genesis 3:16). But God was faithful and helped Eve through the births of her sons (Genesis 4:1). This is another lesson we can learn from Eve. No matter how grivous our sin, God is faithful and deals faithfully with us according to His word.

Great give-away!

Tim Challiess has started a new round of give-aways on his blog. It is an incredible chance to win interesting, challinging and good Christian books. This time the prize is really special: you can win all six volumes of the Reformed Expository Commentaries series. I am so exited about those books. I downloaded the first chapters of the commentary on Hebrews and I love it. There is so much solid biblical information in there.

So you can participate in this give-away too. You can reach Tim's blog by clicking on the banner below and then enter the give-away. To be honest, this would also increase my chances of winning, because every referral leads to another ballot in the drawings for the one through whose site the referral came. But of course I would be really grateful if you access the site through the banner anyway :).

So sad, but such a beautiful song

I watched this video for the first time at Anna's blog. So sad. As I'm getting married soon, I think about children often. I love children. I still dream of having many. But sometimes I wonder - what if I will not be able to conceive? What if there will be no children? How will I handle it if we have to wait for a long time. I have several dear friends who had to wait a long time or are still waiting. It can be so heart-wrenching.
No matter what God's plan is for me, I know I want to act in a sensitive way around young married couples who have not had children yet. Who knows their story?

Quote for exam times

He that is mastered by Christ is the master of every circumstance. Does the circumstance press hard against you? Do not push it away. It is the Potter's hand. Your mastery will come, not by arresting its progress, but by enduring its discipline, for it is not only shaping you into a vessel of beauty and honor, but it is making your resources available.

Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

Full of truth and grace

Just a little thinking and dreaming (not very profound, I'm typing this out during a short break in studying criminal law for my legal bar).
The church I would love to attend ... It should be a place which is full of truth and full of grace. A place where people will hear the truth. Where they will learn more about our God and all His attributes (not concentrating only on one of them, like "only" His love or "only" His holiness). Where they will learn to love God's word and to live according to it. Where there is room for sermons which teach profound theology, but also spell out how to live it. A place where people can be who they are - and where they are loved and accepted. Where they are also lovingly corrected. Where people truly love the Lord and love each other.
A church where there is room for the family with ten children and the family with no children. For the married and the single, the old and the young. A church that is open for the doubting and hurting and the ones who seem different. Where they can experience God - through His word, but also through love and grace extended by His people. Where the young single mother is welcomed, and the guy who is tattoed all over, and the alcoholic and the business man and the lonely elder lady...

A church full of love, truth and grace.

Lent reading

Over the weeks of Lent I have been re-reading "The Jesus I never knew" by Philipp Yancey. It is one of my favorite books, I go back to it quite regularly.
It sometimes amazes me that after having read the Gospels many times, there are still connections and things about Jesus I have never realized or that have slipped my mind again... Although maybe that is just human? Of course I know that we can never fully understand Jesus, but I enjoy learning about and from Him more and more as a way of getting to know Him better.
Seriously, go and read the book. :)

Now I started Yancey's book "What is so amazing about grace?". I'm really exited ... I want God's grace to be more real in my life and also in my relationships with others instead of just being "head-knowledge".

Have a blessed Holy week!