Evangelism

While reading in the book of Acts, I started looking up the definition of evangelism which led me to evangelical and evangelist ~ here are the Websters 1828 definitions

Evangelism "the promulgation (spreading/sharing) of the gospel

Evangelical "according to the gospel, contained in the gospel, sound in the doctrines in the gospel"

Evangelist "A preacher or publisher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, licensed to preach, but not having charge of a particular church"

So all of these point to "Gospel"...so what is that meaning ~

Gospel "The history of the birth, life, actions, death, resurrection, ascension and doctrines of Jesus Christ; or a revelation of the grace of God to fallen man through a mediator, including the character, actions, and doctrines of Christ, with the whole scheme of salvation, as revealed by Christ and His apostles."

So in just thinking outloud here....its amazing that Webster recognized these truths in 1828 but they escape many today.

Romans 1: 16 & 17 "16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

Ephesians 1:13 "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise"

Its not the Gospel of the Bible without Christ.

Pinwheel Quilt Blocks

I worked on more of the Pinwheel quilt blocks yesterday.  On everyone, I still have to check to make sure they are "all spinning" in the same direction.  Its really confusing it you flip one of the components the wrong direction!  I think I completed 5 blocks yesterday, the rest are from a previous week.  Since the weather is nasty, and I'm staying in to get well from the Crud, there will be more sewing this afternoon!  These blocks will be made into a quilt for someone very special to me!

The blue print in this one is leftover flower girl dress fabric from Katie's wedding.

my favorite purple shades!

I realized "after the fact" that I bought the green to match 2 different prints ~ looks good with both of them.

Praising the Lord in Song

This past weekend, our church choir presented their annual Christmas music.

The youth & children joined in to make this a church family presentation.

I love this picture of Shay watching her husband Scott sing.

For today...

Outside my window ~ cloudy & cool, looks like rain

I am thinking ~ about how thankful I am for modern medicine, asthma before inhalers were invented would be awful

I am thankful for ~ doctors, medicine (I've got the crud ~ official dr. explanation!)

From the kitchen ~ don't have a clue...Amy gets to cook dinner

From the learning rooms ~ nothing, its our school break

I am wearing ~ clothes, a drippy nose, a coughy throat, and a sweater because I am cold

I am creating ~ finishing a cross stitch towel for Amy's hopechest

I am going ~ no where for a couple of days...don't want to share the crud

I am reading ~ "The City Homesteader" & a quilting book

I am praying ~ for lost family members

I am hearing ~ Amy in the kitchen, Hersheys puppies whining, cars driving

Around the house ~ working on a new jigsaw puzzle, lots of relaxing, reading & cross stitch, playing Backgammon on the Kindle (I'm obsessed according to Amy)

One of my favorite things ~ a good nights sleep

A few plans for the rest of the week ~ bible study, youth party for Amy & Will on Friday, James' birthday on Sunday, church

To read other daybooks you can visit Peggy at

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Thoughts on Celebrations

The closer it gets to Christmas ~ and the more I read and listen to and ponder ~ the more controversial, unthoughtful, and sometimes blunt the ideas are presented.  I don't think anyone is going to be "won over" to one side or another by name calling, whining, scriptures taken out of context, emotional traditions or other tactics. Anyone (& everyone) can take scriptures and twist them to fit "their agenda".

So here are some thoughts I've come up with (or heard).

*While its true the Bible does not specifically tell us or command us to observe the birth of Christ ~ it also doesn't forbid it or command us not to.  The birth of Christ was celebrated by Angels, Wise Men, and Shepherds in the New Testament books of Matthew & Luke.  Gifts were brought and presented to the newborn King ~ our Savior.

*There are many celebrations we participate in yearly...our own birthdays, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, anniversaries etc.  The Bible doesn't tell us to observe these either nor does it tell us not to observe them.  We exchange gifts, send cards, plan special activities & eat yummy food associated with these days ~ so why not at the birth of Christ.  Are we elevating ourselves, our society, our wants above God by doing this but refusing to even acknowledge "his birth"?  (And I know he wasn't born on Dec. 25th, most likely it was in the fall immediately after the harvest so the people did have the money to pay their taxes)

*Many are regarding the celebration of Christmas as idolatry.  And it can definitely be that but it doesn't have to be, thats our own decision ~ the dept. stores aren't holding guns to our heads to make us buy stuff we don't need or can afford ~ we do that to ourselves.  No one is making you say yes to every invitation that comes your way or expecting you to bake 75 fruit cakes ~ we are doing that to ourselves.  I am guilty of all the above (well, not the fruit cakes).

*We daily struggle with Sin.  We are all guilty of the sins of pride, gluttony, covetousness, wanting our own way, insisting we are right & everyone else is wrong.  We all need to bow before our Holy & Righteous Father and ask for His forgiveness & His guidance in our lives.  Lets base our decisions on what the Lord reveals to us through His Word and time spent with Him ~ not on mans imperfect thoughts & interpretations of the Scripture.  We all sin an.d we all fall short of the glory of God (daily).

I received the following poem on a Christmas card this weekend that I would like to share...

God Sent Us a Savior

It our greatest need had been information,

God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology,

God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money,

God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure,

God would have set us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness,

So God sent us a Savior.

~Roy Lessin

I pray we will all remember in all the debating and presenting our own opinions that we cover everything we do and say with prayer & guidance from our Heavenly Father.

 

Grandbaby #1

So for some insurance mumbo-jumbo paperwork, Katie had to go to the dr. so that she could be officially told she is pregnant.  And its official, she is (duh).

Her due date is July 3.

Now, July 2nd would be neat since thats the 1 yr. anniversary since they got engaged.

Or July 4th ~ everyone could celebrate little "Olive" 's birthday nationwide.

I figured since it could be the 4th I needed to help with names...

For boys I came up with...

George

Benjamin

Thomas

John

Paul

For girls...

Abigail

Martha

Betsy

Really, so many possibilities!

I haven't even gotten started on middle names!

I'm thinking a red/white/blue baby quilt could be on the sewing agenda!

Now matter what day Olive is born or what his/her name will be, this baby will be loved, prayed for, cuddled, and cherished!

Last Day of School

Today is our last day of school till Jan. 2!  We are finishing our 9th Math Unit and now only have 3 more to go ~ then I've got to find another Math to keep them busy till May.  I'll be working on that throughout Dec. and Jan.  We are learning lots of neat facts in Zoology and our Ancient History.  Both are Bible based, so we are getting accurate, God honoring information.  Its quite amazing to study the Creation the Lord has given us and to study History from a Biblical, church perspective.  We learn new facts everyday.

We bought the Proverbs study guides from Kevin Swanson and enjoy using them everyday.  He has broken down the scriptures 3-4 or so at a time and we are studying each section.  Then discussing and praying.  They are written for families and include excellent discussion questions at the end of each section.  I think we are in the 10th chapter of Proverbs right now.  We got to meet Kevin at the Atlanta homeschool conference last May, and he autographed one of my books.  Its great to be able to sit in conference sessions & listen to speakers you've followed on the radio or through books.

A huge advantage of homeschooling is making your own schedule ~ our is typically school every month but June, July & December.  We will finish our school year sometime in May and then will start the next year in August.  I works great for us and we like knowing when we will be putting the books away for a while.

We've got puppies to play with, visits to enjoy, church to attend, family to spend time with, and our Lord to worship.  We've also got good food to eat, cross stitch and quilting to work on, books to read, and movies to watch.  Its going to be a fun, family filled, Christ focused rest of the month~