A homeschooling father and seminary student finds theology in the strangest of places - where he lives! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:48:00 -0500 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:48:00 -0500 Four budding relationships amongst my friends are in my thoughts these days.  The relationship that has existed the longest is between a professing believer and a woman of another faith.   The second longest relationship is between a girl that basically eloped at 18 and an 18-year-old guy from her church.  The third relationship is between two believers who met at church, but live 1000 miles apart and have developed their relationship online.  The final relationship is just beginning between two very young people who met at church. My wife and I met at church and I wouldn't recommend starting a relationship as young as we did.  There are a number of things we would "do over" if we had the opportunity, but mostly we just thank God everyday for bringing us together and working out details that we were too naive to think of. It seems like, in my circles anyway, that it is increasingly difficult for conservative believers and homeschoolers to find mates.  I'm not entirely sure why this is.  It's possible that there are just fewer of us out there, but my wife and I were mentioning the other day that we know single guys looking for the right woman and single women looking for the right guy, but none that we would think would fit each other.  I'm hoping and praying, as I watch especially the last two of these four relationships, that we will get to see them succeed as they make an effort to do things the right way. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/561664/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/561664/ Hi All, I've been so busy lately and I am rarely able to blog from work.  I promise I will get something up here soon! Toby http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/549472/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/549472/ If you know me, you may know that from time to time I write songs.  I published one in this blog back in January of 2006.  There have been some pieces of a song in my heart for a few months and a couple of weeks ago, when I sat down at the computer, it all came out.  I share it here because the second verse in particular, reflects in a large way, what has happened in my life in 2007 and 2008.  It is supposed to be in the style of a contemporary hymn.  Hope you enjoy... All That I Am is From Him 1. So often I try, so often I fail, To live this Christian life. All on my own, in my own strength, Like I could be good enough. But whenever I lose my focus on Him, Or choose to ignore the Source of my strength, I find myself weak and unable to stand, And then I remember - All I am is from Him! Chorus: I fall to my knees, I cover my face, Confessing every sin. I ask for the Lord to cleanse my heart And restore my fellowship with Him. I repent of my ways, I ask Him to be The Guide of my life once again. Then I go to God's Word, the Wonderful Source, And He renews my strength. 2. There are so many friends in my life, Who do not know the Lord. Or  once knew Him well, but have chosen to stray, And I do not understand. How could it be, that once tasting life, Someone could ever choose death? And then I recall how often I fail And I remember - All I am is from Him! Chorus: I fall to my knees, I cover my face, Confessing every sin. I ask for the Lord to cleanse my heart And restore my fellowship with HIm. I beg for my friends to return to their God, Or to yearn for His peace and His love. And ask if it could be, that God would use me To show them a glimpse from above. 3. Sometimes I look around and see what this world Claims that it can offer. I see those who choose to reject God above Rewarded with earthly things. And then I forget, my home is above, And chase after the wind. I lose my place, forget what He's done, And then I remember - All I am is from Him! Chorus: I fall to my knees, I cover my face, Confessing every sin. I ask for the Lord to cleanse my heart And restore my fellowship with Him. I thank God for all He has given to me, This life and salvation so free, Family and friends that remind me of Him, and I'm His for eternity! 4. My God is so great, could it be I forget, How awesome and holy He is? That were I to spend all of my days, I could not praise him enough? But as strange as it sounds, that's just what I do. I take Him for granted. I start to think that I am so big, And then I remember - All I am is from Him! Chorus: I fall to my knees, I cover my face, Confessing every sin. I ask for the Lord to cleanse my heart, And restore my fellowship with Him. Oh, magnify the Lord, adore Him with me! Let us exalt Him together! None else compares, He is Savior and King, Creator and God forever! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/524416/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/524416/ I really admire the courage of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 21:1-5, "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us.  Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.  Then Jeremiah said to them: Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls.  And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.  I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath." To fully appreciate what Jeremiah is doing here, you need to know that in chapter 20, Pashur (also a priest) beat up Jeremiah for proclaiming destruction against Judah as the Lord had commanded him.  Fresh off this beating, Pashur and Zephaniah show up asking for Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord for them, hoping He will "deal with them according to his wonderful deeds."  As a side note, I find it pretty gutsy that Pashur, Zephaniah, and Zedekiah would ask anything of Jeremiah, let alone that they were expecting to find favor with God.  Anyway, it is difficult enough to tell Christian people something they may not want to hear, even more difficult to tell unsaved people something they may not want to hear.  But here is Jeremiah, knowing full well that these guys won't like the message, and knowing they aren't afraid to inflict pain.  In the face of this, he boldly and unashamedly proclaims the message God gave to him.  Might we have the boldness and confidence that Jeremiah showed. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/514148/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/514148/ I guess I shouldn't be surprised that God does things differently than I expect.  His ways are, after all, higher than our ways, and His thoughts beyond understanding.  This week, however, He blessed me in a way that I could not have expected, and yet I understand it, at least to some degree. Okay, enough with the cryptic intro, right?  Awhile back I was driving home when our suburban suddenly stalled in traffic.  Making a very long story short, I had it towed back to my house, but because of the snow we had at the time, the tow truck driver could not get it onto my parking pad in back, and so left it parked on the street in front of my house.  I did not view this as a problem since on street parking is allowed in Minneapolis.  At any rate, I have not been able to ascertain what is wrong with the vehicle and have left it there, though occasionally I have followed suggestions to check this or that or replace a part.  A family in our church has been gracious enough to allow us to use a vehicle they are not using at the moment.  Anyway, this past week it was recommended that I change the fuel pump, even though we had ruled that out earlier.  So, I siphoned out the gas, removed the fuel tank, and replaced the fuel pump.  However, I work a full time job, and it is not at a garage, so this process took me several days.  Thursday night I was at Men's Bible Study when I got a frantic call from my wife - the city wanted to tow our vehicle and was going to do so as soon as the tow truck arrived.  I begged a friend for help and raced home as fast as I could.  When we arrived we could not talk the traffic cop out of her opinion that our vehicle had been abandoned for more than 72 hours (evidently how long a vehicle is allowed to be parked in one place on the street) or that it was not dangerous (the fuel tank on the ground had her very frightened).  The suburban was on jack stands and as I jacked it up and removed the stands, the tow truck arrived.  This is where I discovered how I had been blessed.  I found out that this was the second tow truck to arrive at our house on Thursday.  The first truck had come in the morning while I was at work and refused to tow our vehicle because of the (detached) fuel tank hanging down!  Not only that, but the second truck that had just arrived had been misinformed as to what type of vehicle they would be towing and were not equipped to tow our vehicle!  This bought my friend, a neighbor, my wife, and I enough time to push the suburban around to the back of our house and on to our parking pad (the snow had melted in the days leading up to this event).  That would have been enough of a blessing, but there was one more thing.  I had needed to remove the rear license plate to access a captive nut that had broken in order to let the fuel tank down.  At the time I had been very frustrated, but the result was that the primary ticket we received from the traffic cop was for failure to display a rear license plate - a ticket, I am told, which is easy to rectify by showing the court officer some proof (like a picture), that the plate has since been installed - kind of like a proof of insurance ticket.  So, while I was frustrated with a broken nut, and my wife was panicked, and we were ticketed and threatened - in the end our vehicle was not towed, and we will probably not have to pay a large fine, oh, and I finished reattaching everything today!  Isn't God good to us? :)  Please pray that both of our tickets will be dismissed as we are hoping... and remember that God cares for us, answers us, and blesses us - even when we have no idea how. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/507356/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/507356/ I think it is easy for Christians to get depressed when they look around them and see the condition of our society.  It seems that on the grand scale we are losing every battle.  From promiscuity to politics to tolerance and inclusion to media bias, the victories are few and far between.  Be honest, there are times when you've cried out to God and said, "why do the wicked prosper?!"   I think it is also confusing at times to know how to pray.  Are we selfish to pray for the wicked to get their due?  Do we need to tack on "Thy will be done" at the end of all our prayers?  God is in control, right? David struggles through all these issues in the Psalms.  He was very familiar with these questions and doesn't appear to be shy about voicing his concerns to God. Psalm 10:12-18 reads, "Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.  Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, You will not call to account?  But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.  Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.  The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." What I learn from David here is that God is on the side of justice.  He is on the side of the oppressed.  He is on the side that exalts His name!  We can pray for certain things confidently, knowing His will.  So if you are down today, if you are wondering, if you are discouraged, pray for Him to hold the wicked accountable and pray for Him to remember the afflicted. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/489497/ Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/489497/ Wow, it's been so long even my loyal readers probably aren't checking anymore.  The last few months have been hectic with illness and family struggles.  Rest assured that while I have been absent from my blog, it is so I could be more present with my family and our church.  God continues to be so very good to us.  While there are struggles, there are also so many blessings and we have to rest in the knowledge that He is in control and nothing surprises Him.  I hope you all are doing well and walking with Him. This is a longer passage from 1 Samuel 1, but worth it, "9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head. 12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you. 15 But Hannah answered, No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. 17 Then Eli answered, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him."    It is a familiar passage, isn't it?  Maybe you skimmed it as I have many times and thought, it's a little weird that Eli thought Hannah was drunk, she was just praying silently, we do it all the time.  When we think like that, I think we miss how distraught Hannah was.  I'm guessing Eli had some experience with seeing people pray.  Yet, to him this was very out-of-the-ordinary.  She was passionately begging God - so passionately that she appeared to be drunk.  Imagine that for a moment.  She was a broken lady.  I ask myself, how often have I been so broken that I pour my heart out to God, not knowing, or caring, what it looks like?  I don't know about you, but I have to answer, not often enough.  Let's take a lesson from Hannah.  Maybe it's time we got back to passionate prayer. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/485718/ Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:52:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/485718/ You probably recognize Semper Fi as the U.S. Marine Corp. motto.  You may even remember that it means, "Always Faithful."  Another one of the devotional thoughts I sent out to our church reminded me that God is always faithful. I was refreshed this week as I read from Lamentations chapter 3, "21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;  his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him."    This strikes me two ways.  The first is the way I usually think of it.  His mercies are new every morning.  Therefore, I can find forgiveness anytime.  I can get a fresh start, a New Year's Day, any day of the week.  This is an encouragement to me because I fail Him often.  He is faithful, though, always ready to forgive as we are told in 1 John 1:9.  His mercy is a wonderful thing.  The second way I see this is the context in which it was written.  Jeremiah is downtrodden.  His hope is almost gone because of the circumstances he finds himself in.  But when he is at his lowest, he remembers that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases!  There is hope in the most hopeless circumstances because God is loving, merciful, and faithful.  He derives enjoyment, not from watching us suffer, but from delivering us from that suffering.  He longs for us to wait for Him, to seek Him, to call on Him.  And He is always faithful.  Always faithful is redundant, but I say it for emphasis.  He never fails us!  We can count on Him to be there any time, and every time. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/428966/ Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/428966/ So much for trying to post every other week.  To make it up to my readers, I am going to put up a couple of posts.  Part of the reason I haven't gotten around to posting here is that I have been busy with my responsibilities at church.  One of those responsibilities is sending out an email with Pulpit Committee updates and upcoming events.  I also include a little devotional thought at the beginning of each email.  I thought maybe you all would like to read those as well. The second set of eight verses in Psalm 119 read, "9 How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! 13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. 14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word"    These verses served as a reminder to me this week.  It is easy in the busyness of church and life to forget the simple things.  Enjoyment and study of God's Word is so basic to our well-being.  It keeps us pure.  It keeps us on the right path.  It fill our minds and hearts with good things so that when we speak and act from the overflow of our hearts it is a beautiful thing rather than an ugly one.  It gives us peace and purpose by focusing our priorities on God.  It gives us a correct view of ourselves and of God.  Let me encourage you not to neglect God's Word, and let His Word encourage you to keep walking the walk. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/428963/ Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:59:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/428963/ Well, it has been much easier to post once a month, instead of once a week, but I am going to try to post at least on a bi-weekly basis to make it more interesting for all of you (and I'm sure there is a vast crowd awaiting my pearls). I came across two different passages of scripture this week and they both had the same message - Let go.  First, in our family devotions we are making our way through the book of Acts.  I decided I wanted my kids to learn a little early church history and it has been fun.  Anyway, in chapter 21 Paul is at the home of Philip the evangelist in Caesarea.  A prophet, Agabus, comes over and prophesies that Paul will be bound by the Jews at Jerusalem and delivered over to the Romans.  Hearing this, the people around Paul start weeping and begging Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  His response is that he is ready, not only for imprisonment, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.  So far, I understand, but what happens next brought me up short.  It says, "and since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, 'Let the will of the Lord be done.'"  Sure, maybe you saw that coming and have conquered this area in your life, but I realized I have struggled there.  I have had a couple of people in my life leave town recently.  And because I thought I saw what the results would be, I refused to believe that it could be God's will.  I hadn't ever reached the point of ceasing and saying, "Let the will of the Lord be done."  The truth is, Paul was bound by the Jews and handed over to the Romans.  He was imprisoned and ultimately died for the name of the Lord Jesus.  However, that was God's plan for him!  The prophet and Paul's friends weren't wrong about the results.  They were dead on.  God often chooses those immediate results, though, to accomplish something much greater down the road.  It was a good lesson for me.  Regardless of whether or not I'm right, I need to let go and let God's will be done.   The second passage I read this week was Philippians 4:4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Now this passage is a little more familiar to me, but the reminder was still worth while.  Don't be anxious, he says.  Instead, turn that anxiety over to God.  When we've done that, God can send that peace and joy which will guard our hearts and minds.   So, I'm letting go of people and letting go of anxiety this week.  I think I'll do a little rejoicing instead!  And not just because the Bears beat the Packers again... :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/406892/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:41:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/searedlips/406892/