Nadia Cate O'Neil

Nadia Cate
July 23, 2008
8lbs, 13 oz

This week we are celebrating the birth of a beautiful new baby girl. One of my dearest friends, Natalie gave birth on Wednesday. We are so excited and thankful for God's blessing on their family and our church. I already love little Nadia so much!

“Worship - whether an inner act of the heart, or an outward act of the body, or of the congregation collectively - is a magnifying of God. That is, it is an act that shows how magnificent He is. It is an act that reveals or expresses how great and glorious He is. Worship is all about consciously reflecting the worth or value of God.”
- John Piper

I do not normally get my theology from movie characters but this one was alright! ;-) Since I wrote about suffering the other day, I thought the Anne of Green Gables movie had something good to say on this:

"These trials and tribulations that pop up in our lives...serve a very useful purpose: they build character--as long as we can hold on to the lessons we've learned from our mistakes."
-Miss Stacy, in Anne of Green Gables

Refined through Suffering

"Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment." -Psalm 66:8-12

"A silversmith must submit unrefined silver to intense heat in order to remove the impurities. the result is a beautiful product worth a great sum. Our heavenly Father is the silversmith in our lives, standing over the heat, carefully and watchfully holding us in the fire for just the right amount of time. He knows how to make a perfect and priceless piece of silver. His love is so great that he will not be content with ordinary metal; he is making a masterpiece out of your life! We can deduce from this image that our Lord is actively and intimately involved in the process, not far removed. He himself is holding us over the fire, feeling the heat along with us. Did you notice in the passage above that the Lord himself brought his people into prison?"
-Carolyn Leutwiler

Fasting is a periodic–and sometimes decisive–declaration that we would rather feast at God's table in the kingdom of heaven than feed on the finest delicacies of this world.

—John Piper, A Hunger for God, p. 59.

Growing Up Christian

Right now I am doing a bible study with a girl at church. We are going through the book Growing Up Christian by Karl Graustein. So far, we have only made it to chapter 4, but have learned a lot! The past three chapters have given dangers that come for kids that grow up in Christian homes. I thought they were very helpful and I know I, and probably many of you, can relate!

Danger #1: False Assurance of Salvation

2 Corinthians 13:5-6, "Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless of course, you fail the test?"

Danger #2: A Lack of Appreciation for the Saving and Forgiving Grace of God

"Grace never ignores the awful truth of our depravity. In fact, it emphasizes it. The worse we realize we are, the greater we realize God's grace is." -Randy Alcorn

When we think about all that God has protected us from in being raised in a godly home, we have extra reason to be thankful for God's grace.

Danger #3: Loving the World

1 John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but the endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night...For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable." -John Piper


As "church kids" (people who have grown up or are growing up in a Christian home), we must recognize these dangers and be careful to watch and guard against them.
This is a great book! I recommend going through it as a personal study or with another "church kid" in your life.

We are at Daytona Beach right now!