Saturday, February 25, 2017

A Bible Study on Mind of a Maker

It was seeing a mentor of mine created a Bible study from a book of sermons that inspired my passion for teaching Bible studies. Later she taught me things like time management and other practical skills that helped me as a Bible study teacher, but that fire of enthusiasm for sharing spiritual insight has always been of central importance to me as a teacher.
     I had always loved Dorothy Sayers' thought, especially the deep insight into the nature and character of God she displays in Mind of the Maker. I began to see the possibility of using it as a Bible study by adding specific Bible verse to study that showed the general biblical concepts Sayers was referencing. As I worked on this dream over a number of years I added other helpful features to my fission until I had created a study guide with everything you could need to turn Sayers' book into a group Bible study. I'm very proud to have published A Study guide on Dorothy Sayers' Mind of the Maker, and I hope it will be a help to fellow Christians in finding insight into God given creativity and into the mystery of the Trinity.


Friday, February 17, 2017

being brought to maturity

Luke 12:25-28

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

When
I got my flower arrangement a few days ago the lilies in were closed buds. But now the lilies are opening up and they are lovely. The white and pink tiger lily also smells amazingly wonderful. It feels like catching the sent of that joy that heaven can create. Its remarkable how a this flower can transform like this, going something plain to bloom into such amazing beauty. And these are cut flowers, they are already doomed, removed from their roots and plants. Today I sniped off the bottoms of the steams that were starting to she decay so that those flower could keep drawing up water and delay wilting for a little longer.

But
God still allows them to come to maternity and show the glory they have. Tonight I am doing a Bible study about how God will brings us to maturity, and that maturity means we will be perfect in Him. As I get older it is easy to think of maturity in terms of signs that my body is wearing out and will one day break down and loose functions. But God values maturity. I should be reaching forward to what is ahead and pursuing the prize He has promised. (Phil. 3:12-16) These lilies remind me of how wonderful God's vision of something brought into full bloom can be. In just a little time these flowers will wither and be grown away. How much greater than this beauty will be the eternal blooming that Christ has in store for me. Yes, I still have a lot of imperfections now but:

We know in part and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.
           - 1 Cor. 13:9-10

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Life filled with Love

Today is Valentine's Day. It is also my father's birthday.  He passed away a number of years ago, and there is the potential for pain there. I had a wonderful day, with a surprise delivery of flower from my husband.
As I staged a picture of the flowers that were delighting me, I noticed how nice they looked with a photo of my dad and me at my baptism. 
      Then tonight I was going over 1 John 3:21-23 in a Bible Study I am doing. And I was thinking about a life of pleasing God and following His commandments. About His commandment to love one another. And I was struck by what a wonderful live God is offering us here, a life filled with love. Not a life filled with a need for people to love us and a need to collect trophies of that love that compete with others. Not a life filled with collecting public virtue points to prove that we love others so that we will be worthy. But a life filled with mutual love based not in ourselves but in God. This life of love sweeps away all imperfects in our love or others or in circumstances because the wellspring of this love is from God, and it carries all before it. 

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.