One Amazing Volunteer

This tribute was written by Rob Rienow to his wife, Amy.

"This is a tribute to my wife Amy. In particular, I want to praise her for being such an amazing volunteer. It astounds me how she serves in so many different ministries. She is one of the most dedicated “Matthew 25” Christians I know. In that chapter of the Bible, Jesus calls his followers to show their love for Him, by their sacrificial love for others. Amy lives this vision in extraordinary ways.

She volunteers in a clothing ministry. Amy helps to purchase, organize, and provide clothes for people who don’t have the needed resources to do it on their own.

She also serves in a food ministry. She spends many hours each month shopping and preparing meals for others, and frequently delivers meals to those in need.

Amy has a great love for children. Because of this she provides a tutoring ministry. She often gives her time, even on weekends, to help children keep up with their school work.

Another area where she serves is with a transportation ministry. For those of us who have cars, and are able to get around on our own, it is easy to forget that there are many who don’t have their own transportation. Every weekend, Amy gives of her time and effort to help others get to church. Sometimes these people need rides during the week as well, and Amy is right there to offer her help.

While there are many other ways that Amy volunteers, a fifth one that I would like to mention here, takes a great deal of her heart and time. She volunteers each week with a medical ministry. Helping to care for the sick and hurting takes not only physical energy, but emotional energy as well. She bandages wounds, prays for them, and even runs errands to pick up needed medicines. Amy gives her heart and soul to others, at great personal cost to herself.

Perhaps you are wondering, “How does Amy have the time to serve in all these ministries?” She lives this missional, externally focused, Matthew 25 life, by being a mom. She clothes and feeds our children, who can’t do these things for themselves. She tutors and teaches our children every day. She provides needed transportation and medical care. The list could go on and on. My wife Amy is one amazing volunteer."

Citation: By Rob Rienow <www.VisionaryFam.com>. May 2011.

The Doghouse

Death of the husbands

Jean F. Larroux III, Senior Pastor at Southwood Pres made the following comment about Ephesians 5 admonition to husbands and wives

I paraphrase here

When the Bible says 'husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, and wives submit' - the culture hears 'the death of the wife', but what Christ intended was the 'death of the husband'

Hmmm...sobering, and true, because Christ loved the church, and sacrificed for her even to the point of death.

Men!

Elisabeth Elliot, author of many books, and especially (from my perspective) the book about her deceased husband, Jim Elliot: Shadow of the Almighty, writes here in Keep a Quiet Heart,

"Where are the holy men of God willing to shoulder the full responsibility of manhood, to take the risks and make the sacrifices of courting and winning a wife, marrying her and fathering children in obedience to the command to be fruitful? While the Church has been blessed by men willing to remain single for the sake of the Kingdom (and I do not regard lightly such men who are seriously called), isn't it obvious that God calls most men to marriage?  By not marrying, those whom He calls are disobeying Him, and thus are denying the women He meant for them to marry the privileges of being wife and mother."

So, what about it?  Are we willing to accept our mandates from Christ , abide in Him, and play the man?


Citation:
Elliot, Elisabeth. Keep a Quiet Heart. Revell, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1995.  Page 166.

The Manslator

For those husbands who need just a little help fulfilling the 1 Peter 3.7 mandate.  

Or...you could ask for help from God and others in the church, search the scriptures, and work on communicating with your wife...

One or the other.

She said yes...

My Valentine (!!!!)

Of the world, but not in it?

I'm afraid that (consciously or unconsciously) we are allowing the culture of this age to design the floor plan, build the foundation, construct the framing, and install all of the mechanical trades and fixtures in our thinking, and only then do we allow the Unadulterated Truth of Christ and His Word to choose the paint colors and hang a few pictures on the wall, and occasionally do a small repair or a tiny remodel.  I am concerned that this type of surface deep "Christianity" will not withstand when the pressures of life come.

The current divorce rate in the church; the rate at which student-age-church-goers are exiting the faith, never to return are both foils against which I filter this thought, and they leave me more concerned, not less.

We need to start considering how the culture we are inevitably, and even purposefully living in has informed our definitions of life, humanity, marriage, parenting, education, truth, entertainment, friendship...and whether the conclusions the culture has drawn, which we have accepted very deeply, harmonize with a deeply-rooted biblical view of the same topics.

An Example

The currently held definition of marriage, by those who are on the extremely conservative Christian side of our culture appears to me to be:

 "One man and one woman; in partnership; for mutual fulfillment and pleasure; a joint economic venture to cut costs of living; sexually fulfilling; children optional; pleasure non-optional; divorce frowned on but ultimately accepted without much ado besides surprise and chagrin and awkwardness on the part of others within the church."

There is, pragmatically speaking, a very slender, if any, difference between that definition of marriage and a union between two of the same gender.  All you have to do is replace a gender in the first clause of the marriage definition above, and the rest works perfectly.

Not so, a biblically grounded view of marriage.  Not even close.  In fact, you can not get from biblical marriage to same-sex union!  There is no road in between.

Biblical marriage is, for one thing, a demonstration of submission to God's rule and authority in the world to the fallen angels, thus a man by submitting to Christ as his head, and a woman by submitting to her husband acknowledges that Satan is wrong in his posturing lie that God's rules are hindering true fulfillment, (which was his primary lie in the garden and still today).  A woman, by submitting to her husband's authority says "No, Satan, you are wrong!  God is good, and you are not!"

How can a same-sex union do this?  It can not, by it's very nature!

A Biblical marriage is for submitting to the Lord as he allows the bearing of children.  Sex is not for pleasure primarily according to scripture.  Pleasure is a wonderful, fulfilling and important secondary consideration, but it is not its only or even its primary function.  We have allowed the culture to tell us differently, but the Scripture does not.  

How can a same-sex union accomplish this?  It can not, by it's very nature!

A Biblical marriage is an opportunity for a man to love a woman as the weaker vessel.

How can  a same-sex union accomplish this?  It can not, by it's very nature there is no weaker vessel to be honored.

I'm sure this will stir up controversy.  Stir away!


Citation:
Clark, David.  "Some of David's Thoughts on Culture and Living". David's Brain. Gurley, AL.  Accessed: 30 January, 2011.

The Marriage Box

Ann Voskamp writes my favorite blog.  In a recent post, she "re-posted" a letter to Ann Landers which she then commented on.

I think the suggestion in the letter is a great idea, though...not exactly risqué...it is...well...you'll see...read on:

“Dear Ann Landers: Last weekend, we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. This morning, they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon.

When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home.They made a pact that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii for their 50th anniversary.

Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short, but no matter what emergency came up, Dad would not let Mom take any money out of the “Hawaii account.” As the account grew, they put it in a savings account and then bought CDs.

My parents were always very much in love. I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, “I have a dollar in my pocket,” and she would smile at him and reply, “I know how to spend it.”

When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they had managed to save, but it must have been considerable because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii plus hotel accommodations for 10 days and plenty of spending money.

As they told us good-bye before leaving, Dad winked and said, “Tonight, we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years.”

– Loving Daughter in Abilene, Texas“

What a great idea. I need to go find a metal box. For some reason, I think my Grandpa Joe would have loved this idea.

Citation:
Ann Voskamp. "How to Make a Marriage Bed." Online posting. 26 January 2011. A Holy Experience blog post, citing a letter to Ann Landers of unknown origin or date.
<http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/01/how-to-make-a-marriage-bed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HolyExperience+(Holy+Experience)>. Accessed 26 January 2011.