Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today marks half a century since the birth of my father. I remember when I was a little girl, talking to Dad and saying, eyes wide,  “Dad! When you turn 50, I’ll be 18!” At the time, it seemed so far into the future. It’s hard to believe it’s already here.

I have so many wonderful memories of my dad. There was the time he tried to teach me how to ride a bike in our back yard in Ohio (some of you may have seen the home video *grin*). There was my first time playing golf with him (after three holes, I sprawled out on the fairway). I remember the times he tucked me into bed at night (often staying up past when he wanted to go to bed because I was still putting my PJs on and brushing my teeth). We’ve even had inside jokes, things that only he and I laugh about when they’re brought up. I remember many of the times he stayed up later than usual to help me with my math homework. He’d explain things to me over and over again until I’d finally get it. He always had time for me.

The most amazing thing I remember about my dad, though, is how much he has changed. I remember when he was an unbeliever and then when he started going to church; I was 3 or 4. I remember when he and mom were baptized. I remember when God finally broke him and he started to really follow after Christ. I remember when he tried to read the Bible with me when I was still unconverted; I often fell asleep. I remember when he would practice his Evangelism Explosion outline on me, and when he’d come home each Thursday night with stories of the many he’d had the opportunity to share the gospel with, hopeful that maybe they had been saved.

I remember one night, after God had really started drawing me, Dad told me how he’d been praying for so long that my relationship with the Lord would become a priority in my life. He was sitting out in the driveway at our old house. It was night time and he was working on the car; I came out just to talk. It was just a few weeks after that when the Lord really arrested me for Himself, and I too, began to follow Him.

I know I often take for granted the privilege of having a father who loves the Lord and desires to please Him in everything he does. Many friends who don’t have that same privilege often remind me of this.  He consistently supports me in my service of the Lord. We haven’t always agreed on what’s best for my future, but the Lord has changed his heart in that regard. And, even when we didn’t agree, he encouraged me to do what I thought would please my Lord the most. He trusted that I was in good hands. :) He is a constant source of encouragement, and ever helpful in gaining a better understanding of the things of God. I could not ask for me.

With that said, I love you, Dad. Thanks for being so faithful to God, and faithfully leading our family for his glory. Happy birthday.

Why I and All of Mankind Deserve Eternal Torment

I received a comment from a reader on my Thanksgiving post, in which I stated that “I deserve nothing but eternal torment in the lake of fire.” She wrote,

Why do you deserve eternal torment? Have you committed horrible sins though you are so young? Why do you think that you are such a dreadful sinner?

I want to begin this post with a description of men from the book of Romans, chapter 3, verses 10-20.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote,

There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And they way of peace have they not known; There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

This is not an attractive picture of mankind. However, it is true. Even David wrote in the 51st Psalm that we are conceived in iniquity. That is, we are evil from the womb. In Genesis, the Lord says that the thoughts of men’s hearts are only evil continually, and from their youth (right before he killed all but 8 people in the flood).

In Isaiah 59:2, we are told that our “iniquities have separated [us] from [our] God.” Sin is the transgression of the law. All people, throughout the entirety of their lives, break God’s laws intentionally, repeatedly, and without remorse. We lie and we steal. We are sexually immoral (if not physically, then in our hearts). We use the holy name of Almighty God as a curse word and drag it through the mud. We use His name in a way we don’t even use the name of our worst enemies! We dishonor our parents. We murder people in our hearts with our unrighteous anger.

Because of our sin, God is angry with us. The Bible even says, “God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Ps. 7:11) In Romans 1:18 we are told that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Contrary to what is popularly taught in modern churches, God “hatest all workers of iniquity.”

Anyone who commits even one sin is guilty before God. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do no commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” (James 2:1)

Because God is holy, and we are transgressors of His Holy law, we are deserving of His wrath. Yet, in His mercy, God provided a way for sinners such as me to be saved from His just wrath. Jesus shed His blood to pay the penalty for the sins of those who would be saved. In order to be forgiven, a person must repent and believe the gospel.

Conviction, Pursuit of Holiness

This past Friday evening through Saturday was the first annual Cornerstone Women’s Conference. We had the privilege of having Susan Heck as our conference speaker. She is one of my favorite authors, even though I’m only part of the way through her only currently published work, a study of James called “With the Master in the School of Tested Faith.” Her clear exposition of God’s Word for women is very refreshing in this day and age when I can barely trust a woman author (or a man!) to write something so true to the word of God.

After spending some hours listening to her teach God’s word, and having time to talk to her in between sessions, I feel so completely blessed that God allowed us to find her. Her teaching was refreshingly biblical and convicting; so much so, that I’ve decided my life needs some changes.

The first area needing tremendous work is time management. I waste far too much time, and we are to redeem the time, for the days are evil! I just finished a draft of my new schedule, which includes no scheduled computer time. I don’t plan to drop off of the blogging world, however, I plan to just be around when I have spare moments. I’ll jot down post ideas and whatnot and write them as time allows. I’ll try this for a while and see how it works.

Another goal I have is to work on developing Titus 2 characteristics in my life. I am not married and I don’t have children, so there are some limitations. However, I want to work on that, and eventually begin to disciple girls who are younger than I am, and perhaps women who are younger in the Lord (though, I think it’s most appropriate if they are relatively close to my age). I need to focus more of my energies on really serving the Body of Christ, specifically in and through the local church God has placed me in at this point of my life.

One other area I plan to focus more intently on is memorizing God’s Word. Susan Heck was a great encouragement in this area, especially. She has memorized over 22 books of the New Testament, and spoke on this topic during one of the sessions. She made it clear, through God’s word, that hiding scripture in our hearts is very, very important.

It is my prayer that God would give me grace to serve Him and honor Him as He so deserves!

Our “Beagle Boy”

The Christmas shortly after I turned 5 (Christmas of 1996), my parents got two puppies. I had never had a pet before, and was shocked to open a box on Christmas morning containing two dog bowls, two leashes, two collars, and a video. They put the video in the VCR and it was of them picking out our two new dogs, both young puppies-about 8 weeks old. After going through various sets of names, we settled on Simon and Schuster. Schuster died in 2006. Last Friday, we had to take Simon in to be put to sleep. It was sad for us all. Below the picture is a “tribute” of sorts, written by my Dad.

Simon’s big brown eyes seemed almost human at times in their variety of expressions. Through his eyes he smiled, pleaded, showed shame, loved and asked to be loved — and of late, cried. But there was more to his manner that made us feel as if we were having a conversation with him. He would walk over, sit on his haunches, lift one paw and motion that he really needed to be petted. His gratefulness and pleasure at having his ears scratched came from deep within in the form of guttural moanings that encouraged more. Satisfied on one end, he’d turn to have his back scratched.
As the son of at least one beagle, his ears, of course, were large and equally expressive. When he focused all his senses on some matter — often the prospect of food — he’d pull them up and forward. Sometimes, though, if he cocked his head back quickly and at a certain angle, his ears would flop open and remain extended, so large he reminded me of the Flying Nun.
Still, the feature that most defined his personality was his nose. No dog ever followed his nose more than Simon. He lived to eat, to find something more that could be eaten. He carefully monitored every movement his masters made through their kitchen. Trained to stay out while I was in it, he waited for the floor to clear then moved in to carefully smell for whatever tiny crumb might be eaten. He swept up many times a day. Sometimes he ate things he shouldn’t — the other dogs’ food, for example and on a rare occasion, our own if it were left in his reach. Once, a freshly baked loaf of bread mysteriously disappeared. There was not a trace of it left over. Simon was, to put it crudely, a pig. But sometimes he was a cow, eating copious quantities of grass to try to help move something through his system that he shouldn’t have eaten. This sometimes transpired on our walks around the block — walking our cow, I’d say. If he wasn’t eating the grass, he seemed intent to trying to smell every passing blade for clues about his neighbors-in-kind. Sometimes he’d plant his nose so firmly, we had to pull hard to get him to move along. Still, we loved him.
He woke us Thursday morning crying and virtually unable to move. We helped him up and as he moved, he seemed to have lost use of his left hind leg. The right had been weakened by arthritis, but now he was putting all his weight on his right and dragging his left. The diagnosis: a large, inoperable tumor that also apparently began robbing him of the ability to perform basic bodily functions. Simon’s good life ended yesterday morning at 9. I scratched his ears throughout the procedure and clutched him tightly in my arms for a good long while before, during and after. Simon the Diamond was 13, and we’ll surely miss him, mostly especially how happy he was when we came home, an event that always –and oddly — called for a quick trip to his water bowl. I guess he was toasting our arrival.

Make Your Home a Haven Monday

Crystal is hosting Make Your Home a Haven Monday again this week, and my home definitely needs some work today, so I’m signing joining in. :)

1. Refresh Your Spirit

2. Tackle Your Morning Routine.

• Wash face, brush teeth, make bed, straighten up room
• Devotions
• Exercise
• Make breakfast
• Daily To-Do List

3. Take Time to Plan

• Grocery List, shopping
• CVS, Walgreens List
• Clean up kitchen
• Juice Lemons (I got 18 cups of juice today, but still have about half of the lemons to go)
• Find a shirt pattern, get fabric
• Dinner Prep.
• Call Dr. Johnson from Whitefield
• Finish reading Numbers
• Plan next week’s menu
• “Do Something” (see below)

4. What’s for dinner? We’re having grilled top sirloin, spicy roasted cauliflower, and salad.

5. Do Something! Set a timer for 10 minutes and clean living room. Pictures to come. :)

My Bedroom

My sweetheart, Ben, helped me redecorate my bedroom yesterday! It was a Christmas gift from my parents. :) I’m really excited about it. Before, it had blue walls and denim and Hawaiian print bedding, and wasn’t particularly feminine. Now it looks like this:

I ‘m not the best photographer, so please excuse bad lighting and lack of creativity in the photos. The second photo is of my reading corner. Normally the window has blinds on it, but Ben hasn’t been able to put those back yet. The round chair is actually bright red (think: fire engine), but I covered it first in a quilt to cover up the red (the backside of the quilt is pink), a sheer white blanket, and then a throw that matches my bedding. The big bookshelf was made by Ben and hangs on the wall above my desk. He also made the single shelf hanging on the wall (and the picture frame underneath it!). I like books, as you can see by my room. :) The chest is my hope chest, which Ben also made. As a side note: I can’t decide what exactly to do with the corner behind my bed. I really like the way it looks to have the bed coming out at that angle, but the wall looks very plain. Any ideas?
So, anyway–that’s my new room. I really like it a lot. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Ben!

10 Books in 2008

I have decided to participate in the first Quest at HeartThoughts Retreat; that is, to read 10 books in 2008. I’m listing books that I’m not reading for church or school. The following is my list:

Christian Living:
-The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

-E.M. Bounds on Prayer

-Spurgeon on Prayer & Spiritual Warfare

Philosophy :

-Religion, Reason, and Revelation, by Gordon H. Clark

-The Confessions of St. Augustine

Biography:

-A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael, by Elisabeth Elliot

-Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

-Autobiography of George Muller

Biblical Womanhood:

-Let Me Be a Woman, by Elisabeth Elliot

-Discipline: The Glad Surrender, repackaged edition, by Elisabeth Elliot

There might be some changes as time goes along, and I’m not sure the order I’ll read them in order, but the goal is to finish them by December 31, 2008. :) With all the reading I’ll be doing for school, I hope I’m able!

Heart Thoughts Retreat, etc

I don’t know how many of you have been to the Heart Thoughts retreat website, but after looking through it, I’m excited to be around there more often. It’s run by Natalie Klein, who also runs YLCF.org, one of my favorite websites. One of the features that seems like it will be much fun is the Book Society. Members read and discuss a book a month. It’s only $5 to join for the year, and I’m sure it will be edifying. I just sent in the $5 payment through paypal this evening.

One of the other interesting things on the site are Quests. She’s only posted the first one, and that is to read 10 books in 2008. I’m planning to take part. I just need to choose my ten books. I’m going to choose ones that I won’t be reading for church or school, just to broaden things. I might even do a couple of “secular” books…I haven’t read Little Women, but would like to. :o) We’ll see. You should head over to the site and check it out, though.

Response to Richard Abanes

In response to my post, “False Prophet of Purpose Driven Fame,” Mr. Abanes wrote:

You wrote: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (anathema, or eternally damned). As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.“

ME: I would encourage you to be very careful with how you direct this accusation at another individual — I would also encourage you to not believe everything you read on the internet, have a knee-jerk reaction, or join a bandwagon.

This galatians condemnation is reserved for those who “preach a false gospel” (i.e., salvation by any other means than by grace). Contrary to most of what is said about Rick Warren, he absolutely preaches salvation by grace alone through faith alone in th life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Second Person of the one and only Triune God, who nailed our sins to the cross in His body.

I have attended Saddleback church for 15 years, was on staff for 2 years, know Rick Warren personally, have taught doctrinal/anti-cult discernment classes at Saddleback, and have written a book on Rick Warren explaining EXACTLY what Warren teaches/believes. I suggest you read “Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him.”

If you want to see my credentials as an apologist, or look at my books, feel free to visit my website at abanes.com.

Dear friend, please, please be careful in making these kinds of charges against a fellow believer, not to mention a pastor who has led many people, by God’s Holy Spirit, to the Christ of the Bible. He may not use the words you like, or teh style you appreciate, or the traditional approach — but he is getting through to a whole new generation and segment of society who need Christ. And they are coming to Christ in droves. Personally, I am rejoicing over what God is doing.

I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

in Christ,

Richard Abanes

I appreciate your comment. However, it was only after much study of God’s word, Warren’s teaching, and godly counsel that I came to such a conclusion. According to PDL (it’s at the end of chapter 7, if I remember correctly), one must pray a prayer that goes something like, “Jesus, I believe you and I receive you.” In that chapter on salvation, there is no talk of the wickedness of man and our utter helplessness without the salvation that comes by repentant faith in Christ. There is no talk of turning from sin to obey the Savior. A gospel message devoid of those things is antinomianism, a damnable heresy condemned by the early church. A person is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and NOT of works lest any man should boast. Though we are saved by faith alone, the faith that saves is never alone. 100% of the time, it is followed with continued obedience to Christ. Not only does Warren fail to talk about genuine repentance and the cost of discipleship (”If any man wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”), he advocates designing the worship service on the Lord’s Day, not based on the commands and principles taught in Sacred Scripture, but after the “felt needs” and likes and dislikes of the “unchurched.” Unconverted, unregenerate man is not merely “unchurched.” He hates God. Scripture says to be carnally minded is enmity with God. Christ has to reconcile man to God because we are His enemies outside of Christ. Our thoughts are only evil continually. Unchurched man has no idea what church should be like, and it is utter folly to take away God’s worship to tickle the ears of those who hate Him. Not only is Rick Warren a heretic, but he has given countless people a false concept of the God of the Bible, a false assurance of salvation, an excuse to remain in their sin and still think they’re right with God (after all, they prayed the stupid prayer), and ultimately helped them do nothing but go to hell. Undoubtedly, God has seen fit to save some inspite of Warren’s false, watered down “gospel” message, and for that He should be glorified. In His sovereign power, He has used even that mess to bring some to salvation. This is not just a matter of using different words to say the same thing. The fact of the matter is, Rick Warren preaches another gospel than the gospel according to Jesus Christ. I would urge him to repent of his wickedness in twisting the word of God and misleading many, and to began preaching the one true gospel of Jesus Christ, the mighty to save.

2008

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2008. Looking back over my life the last few years, it’s amazing how much things have changed. In August of 2004, I began my adventure in public high school, with the intention of staying there for 4 years and then moving out to go off to college. Amazingly, I would just be finishing up high school this May if things hadn’t changed! It was March of 2005 that I met Ben. I was in May of 2005 that I ended my stay at public high school to finish out my schooling at home. In May of 2005, I also went to Orlando Women’s Center for the first time. God gave me a burden for that ministry that will likely last a lifetime. In September of 2005, we left our mega-church and found Cornerstone. In December of 2005, Ben and I began courting. In May of 2006, Mom became a homemaker instead of a public school teacher outside the home. In December of 2006, I finished high school. In Spring of 2007, I started Bible college at Homestead. In November of 2007, my dad lost his job of 10 years and remains unemployed. In December, I transferred to Moody Bible Institute, and then just this week I found out that Whitefield Theological Seminary has an undergrad division, and plan to transfer yet again! Am I the only 18 year old who will have taken courses from three colleges before my projected high school graduation date?

Through all the changes that have taken place, God has been faithful. He has always provided for my family, and continually conformed us into the image of Christ. He has given us countless opportunities to serve Him, and I look forward to seeing what else He has in store. This year of my life will undoubtedly bring innumerable changes. Most likely, before we say good-bye to 2008, I will be a wife. Some changes will be brought on intentionally. I hope to become more organized, more focused on school, more diligent about eating properly and exercising, more focused on reading the Word and spending time in prayer…those things all require much discipline, something I really need to work on. Certainly, though, there will be changes that I haven’t planned, that will cause me to cling to the cross of my Savior ever more increasingly. But, whatever happens, I know that God is faithful. In His mercy, He has adopted me into His own family, made me His daughter, and loves me more than I could know. Whatever circumstances He allows into my life will be for His glory and my good. In Him, I place my trust now, and eternally.