Last night I heard Mark Dever speak at a Pastors conference that our church was asked to lead worship at. He said something that stuck with me, "Circumstances in our lives are God given occasions to glorify God." That has been rolling around in my mind since last night. It made the moments we spent worshipping through music all the more amazing. As we went through sound checks, went over intros and harmonies, I kept thinking that this was just one of those occasions. That was my prayer of my heart as we waited for those that would join us.

practicing sin...

This past Sunday in our bible study class, we were looking at the beginning of 1 John 3. Someone asked a question about what is meant by the practice of sinning since it is mentioned so much in verses 4-10. I have been thinking about that question all week and have been wanting to share where it lead me. This scripture mentions over and over that one who practices sin cannot be of God; "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him" (vs. 6). "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil" (vs. 8) "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God" (vs. 9) *taken from ESV

These verses are very intense. I was reading these verses and was wondering what this means for me, a sinner by nature, a sinner who has to fight my sin and weaknesses constantly and yet claims to be born of God... what does this mean for me?

I was having a hard time understanding how or where there was difference. In class somebody commented on how something that is practiced is something that becomes habitual and as believers those are the things we are striving to break and fight everyday through prayer, reading, and studying of scripture. Someone also used sports as an analogy. Athletes practice their particular sport constantly to become better at it. A sinner who is practicing sin, becomes better at the sin increasing their love for it and decreasing the desire to fight it. The word practicing became key in breaking this down.

A few days later I came across this excerpt from John Owen in a devotional our church did together over easter talking about the symptoms of sin:

A fourth dangerous symptom is when a man fights against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. This is an evidence that sin has a great grip on his will, and his heart is full of wickedness. A man who only opposes the sin in his heart for fear of shame among men or eternal punishment from God would practice the sin if it were no punishment attending it. How does this differ from living in the practice of sin? Those who belong to Christ, and are obedient to the Word of God, have… a deep-rooted hatred of sin as sin to oppose to all the workings of lust in their hearts… Also, this defence will not last long… What gospel principles have not done, legal motives cannot do!*

This really helped me after wrestling with this question for so many days. Here are some more excerpts of the other symptoms that are talked about:

- "firm establishment over a long period of time and settlement as a habitual practice."

How will such a person be able to distinguish between the long abode of an unmortified lust and the dominion of sin, which cannot happen to a regenerate person? And how can he hope that it will ever be any different with him when he sees his lust fixed and abiding for so long? It may be that great afflictions or mercies did not dislodge it, even though these gained the special attention of your soul. These lusts may have weathered many a storm and prevailed under the display of a variety of ministries of the Word of God. If this is the case, do you think it will prove an easy thing to dislodge such a room-mate, pleading to stay? Old and neglected wounds can prove to be fatal, and are always dangerous. Indwelling lusts grow rusty and stubborn because they have long continued in ease and quiet. Such a sin will not be easily ejected. It will never die by itself, and if it is not daily killed it will only gather added strength.*

- "Another dangerous symptom is when the heart pleads to be thought in a good state, yet all the while allows the continuance of a lust without any attempt at its mortification."

When a perplexing thought of sin comes, a man, instead of applying himself to the destruction of it, searches his heart to find some good thing so that it may go well with him, even though the sin or lust continues to abide in his heart...To indulge in sin on account of mercy is altogether inconsistent with Christian sincerity. It is the badge of a hypocrite and is “perverting the grace of our God into sensuality” (Jude 4).*

- "A third dangerous symptom is when sin frequently succeeds in obtaining the consent of the will."

When the will finds delight in a sin, even though it is not outwardly performed, the temptation is successful. A man may not go along with the sin as to the outward act, yet if he embraces the desire of it in his heart, the temptation has prevailed… Men should not think that evil in their hearts is less serious because they are surprised that it arises. It is in their neglect of watching over their hearts that causes them to be surprised.*

This was very thought and heart provoking as it really challenged me to sit and search how I may still be continuing to practice sin, what I may still have in my heart that I may be harboring and unwilling to have weeded out of my heart. We must always be vigilant of our hearts and the sin that is always trying to lure us away from God and harden our hearts, because sin is ALWAYS working against us. That is my hope in sharing this. I am so thankful for my sunday school class and how God uses it to make me think, grow and change!

* Owen, John. The Mortification of Sin. Ed. Richard Rushing. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2005. 58-61.

getting to do what I love to do...

Meant to post this on sunday... This is our worship team ( or most of them). I love working with this group! They have hearts for the gospel, they're creative, talented and hilarious. Just one of the reasons I love sundays!

good friends, good memories!

This past saturday David came down to Riverside for his last visit before making his official move to arkansas on Wednesday. We spent the evening with our wonderful friends Kyle and Malorie in our wonderful tradition of double date at Olive Garden night! We always have such a great time with them and it was a fun evening of good food and good laughs. But don't worry Olive Garden, this isn't the last you've seen of us... we love you too much!

has it really been 6 months??

I can't believe that it has been 6 months since the last time I blogged! Sadly, this is just one thing that shows how wrapped up in myself I have become and am currently striving to prioritize my life so that Christ is my main focus and my motivation for everything in my life. Many, many things have happened in the last 6 months here are just a few:

I turned 28 this year... yes, i can't believe my late 20's will be coming to a close in a short year and a half!! but I like this age. I am comfortable and content at this age and i'm not sure what 28 is supposed to feel like, but i definitely do like it! This year I got to go to disneyland for my birthday! it was one of the best birthdays i've had in a long time!

let's see what else...

I started dating this wonderful guy.

but if you've seen my facebook you already knew that. :-)

God has blessed me with David. We have quite the journey ahead of us as he has taken a position as Minister of worship at First Baptist Church of Clarksville, Arkansas. Yes, you read that correctly. He is moving to arkansas! He is very excited to be able to serve at great church and do what he loves to do so much (that would be music, he is extremely talented). I am very excited to see this unfold in his life. It will be very hard to be so far away from him, but no matter what comes our way we pray that God will be most glorified! Please keep us in your prayers!

Another major event of the past 6 months was graduating from college. For those of you who know me, also know that school has been a very long on and off journey, very much a love/hate relationship. But I finally was able to finish up this chapter in my life. I have a feeling that school is far from over for me... more on that later. graduation was a wonderful day. I had my family and wonderful friends here to celebrate with me and I was most thankful for all of their support!

I was also able to do some really fun things this summer. Two of my favorites were going to a couple of concerts with Nikki.

We got to see Coldplay in ivrine... which was AMAZING!

We also went to see Kings of Leon... twice... back to back. They were really great nights, and awesome concerts!

All in all, these past 6 months have been filled with good memories with our amazing friends and necessary trials that motivate a crucial communication with God. God in all of his grace and mercy is working on my heart to change me so I can grow to become more of the woman he has called me to be. I am excited and challenged as we enter the last few months of this year to really strive for godliness and seek his wisdom.

Hearts and Faces

This past sunday was by far the most eventful and unique of Sundays i've ever experienced. After finishing practicing the first song in the worship set, we noticed a crack in the wall right behind us, we then noticed this nice trail of water flowing down the wall onto the carpet on stage. The baptistry behind us was overflowing and cracking and we started to freak out a bit. This flurry of activity ensued as some of us began to move all sound equipment off stage incase the wall gave out and the rest of us found trash cans to begin taking buckets of water out of the church, cause the drains just were not draining fast enough. We spent a while doing this and most of us were pretty wet by the time the water level had gone down low enough. It was crazy! We ended up having to play and sing off stage right at eye level with the congregation which was actually really really cool. Thanks to the quick thinking of some of these guys the damage was not as bad as it could have been. Can you imagine a wall breaking and baptistry water rushing out in the middle of a service!! Anyway, it was an amazing sunday. Love hearing the sound of the congregation praising God and we had a wonderful meal together afterwards. It's why it's my favorite day of the week. 

I was one of the last people walking out of the church after Pastor Jeff preached. The view was pretty cool. 

Wireless Electricity!? I kinda like the idea

(This lightbulb is powered by wiereless electricity)

I ran across this article recently. It talks about the innovative work being done with wireless electricity. That would mean no more batteries, or chargers. Things wouldn't die on you anymore because they would be receiving their electrical charges wirelessly. "The world is about to be cured from it's attachment disorder", that line made me laugh... crazy! I like the idea of no more cords and wires! I just wonder how long it will be before this is an everyday reality in our world. 

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/132/brilliant.html