Book series: The Excellent Wife - A Wife's Understanding of God

This chapter's focus on on what a wife understands about God, talking about who God is, and what God wants for them in their lives and work.

First off, What wives need to know about God.
1. God has planned a ministry for you.
2. God is gracious, righteous and compassionate.
3. God's strength and understanding are unlimited.
4. God is purposefully working in your life.
5. God wants you to be a joyful and fulfilled wife.

Second,
What wives need to know about their works and themselves.
1. God has prepared good works for the Christian wife to do.
2. The Christian wife's good works have eternal worth.
3. The Christian wife does not have to be afraid.
4. The focus of the Christian wife is to be on God rather than herself.
5. A Christian wife does not have to sin... which means we are putting ourselves under God's protective authority.  

Why does the wife need protection?
1. The influence the world has on her.
2. The Devil
3. Women are often more easily deceived.

The study guide questions:
I won't go through them all as some are true/false questions or just asking to rehash the lessons of the chapter.

5. Does the husband ever have absolute authority over his wife?
  ... you know.. before reading this chapter the answer could easily have been yes...but really he doesn't.  God does give him authority over his household, but this doesn't mean he can ask us to do something that is against God or God's ways (aka to sin).

6. Why does a wife need protection from the influence of the world?  Examples?
....one of the things that I am grateful to is my husbands ability to figure out what it is about something that I am uncertain about.   I can say.. something about this feels wrong but I can't figure out why... and he'll be able to put his finger on it, if not immediately (though often that's the case), then quickly.  It gives me a sense of security to know that my radar is working even if it's not always correct.  :)

Sunday Sermon: God's emerging future: becoming the church for others

This sermon is the the Christian Reformed Church.  Still learning this ministers style so note taking is still a work in progress with him.

Hymns/songs
Here I am to worship
Jesus be the Centre
Have thine own way Lord
Spirit of the living God
Jesus, all for Jesus

Scripture
Nehemiah 5

Sermon Notes:

As a church we need to keep moving towards God's emergent future.
But what seems like the future (default) seems to be the way to go.
So there is conflict between the two.

In chapter 5 you can see this conflict, the selfishness of the people pushing towards their default future rather than God's emergent future

The Israelites had broken down into a bunch of selfish folks...looking out to their own interests.

. A famine and people weren't sharing with each other
. Government was over taxing them
. An influx of workers is straining their resources
. They were charging interest to each other

This selfishness brought the community to a standstill.

They sought their own needs, not the needs of the people.

How does this passage apply to us today?
. How are we sharing our finances with the church?
. How are we using our money for God?
. Are we remembering who we are the church for?

Stop
Restore
Promise
Praise

Stop.
Nehemiah was angry.  He didn't react immediately.  He stopped and thought.
He told them to stop what they were doing.  Stop being self-centered.

Restore.
Go back to being what they were, make it right, correct the situation.  Restore the healthy community.

Promise
Make an oath.  Promise this solemnly.  Be accountable.

Praise.
The people said amen...so be it.  They praised God.

The Israelites, called to be a holy nation, walking in the fear of the Lord.

This church is to be a testament of God to the people around us.
What is more important to us?   This testimony or our own needs.

Be challenged
Be encouraging
Be generous

Do this all on account of Jesus.

Be part of a missional church.

Recipe: Chicken Heart Casserole

I'm calling this a casserole though it isn't really....

This is something I make frequently and I change it all time time.  Most of the time I take some rice, seasonings, and chicken bouillon and toss it in a casserole dish in the oven.  I am the ONLY one who eats it in this house and I make it when I feel stressy in my head.

Today I reworked it a bit to see if it would appeal to others in the house, and it was a bit hit and miss. 

Take your crock pot.
Add 900 ml of chicken bouillon.
Add some brown rice (2 cups) and some leftover soup mix (with lentils, brown rice etc in it).
Add a small flat package of chicken hearts (about a pound or so).

Put in some seasonings

• Costco no salt seasoning
• salt
• pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• garlic powder

Cover and set on low, making a point of stirring it off and on throughout the day.

It's done in about 7 hours.
Pop the lid off.   At this point it is done if you want it to be.  :)

I decided to play around with it a bit though.
I heated up some cream soup in a large fry pan I have.  Then put the chicken/rice mix into the soup (removing the bay leaves).   Added a whack of fine grated cheddar cheese and some more salt and pepper.   Mixed it all together and heat through.

My son's opinion: I like it better this way mom.  :)

So.. WOOT WOOT.. success.  :)

Devotion: Ezekiel 36:1-15 You will know that I am the Lord

We continue our study in Ezekiel, the last time we met was about Set your Face against Mount Seir. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Today the Lord God has a word against the mountains of Israel, and I have to admit, upon first reading I am quite confused.   Normally when God speaks out to someone or some region it is a word of judgement upon them.

But God seems to do a flip here. 

Saying to them... because the nations around you have spoken out against, therefore I will heap dismay upon their heads. 


 ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

The Lord's word to Israel is that he wants them to be fruitful and multiply.  That he will be an aid to them. 
⁸ “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. ⁹ For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. ¹¹ And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. 

Just as he aids them though, they need to know that he will allow them to walked on, to be a land inhabited by others, to be a land and people possessed by others. 
And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. ¹³ Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

I admittedly find these verses hard to follow.   Perhaps I am missing something in them.
It's like on one hand God is lifting them up, and on the other he is disciplining them.   What do you see reader?  Cause seriously I feel like I am totally missing something here.

In the end God will not let his people be a reproach to the nations and they will know that HE is God. HE is the Lord.   That's what I get out of this passage.  YOU?

 

Alphabet Blogging: F is for Frogs

My son has a love affair with frogs and toads for as far back as I can remember.  He is particularly fond of toads, but is totally loving it that our small pond out back is host to 4 different frogs.   Ergo when I was contemplating what to do for the letter f...I automatically thought about frogs.

I thought about talking about the common frogs we have in the backyard... and was fully intending to research the life out of them...until I ran into this one small fact... 

Frogs, frogs, frogs, Canada has frogs.   LOTS AND LOTS OF FROGS.

Including this funny fact.  We are host to two small populations of TAILED frogs.   Can you believe it?  A frog that has a tail.. and CANADA has TWO populations of slightly different types of them.

I was stoked!!   I just LOVE learning new things... don't you?

Anyways, on to this amazing little critter.  

The Tailed Frog is a remarkable little frog, unique to B.C. in Canada. It is a small frog, 2.5 to 3 centimetres from nose to rump.....Tailed Frogs have vertical pupils, no external tympanum (the round "ear" visible on other frogs), and are voiceless. (source)

Originally this little frog was simple called the tailed frog, but in the year 2000, it was split into two species. The first, the coastal species is called the Pacific Tailed Frog(Ascaphus truei).  The second is called the Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog (Ascaphus montanus). 

Both of these frogs live in very small areas of British Columbia, as well as in select area of the United States.  They live in fast flowing streams.  Their population densities are low and believed to be declining since so few of the rivers in the areas they reside are suitable for reproduction.

These two frogs are very close in colouration and needs, they can't handle temperatures above 20 Celsius. Cold fast flowing, small streaming with an abundance of small micro-climates are just what these frogs need. 

They are a long lived frog, juveniles staying close to home but 4-7 year old frogs dispersing widely from their point of birth.  A long incubation period for the eggs, combined with reproducing every other year, and the loss of old growth forests is contributing to their decline. 

Both sub-species are protected under the British Columbia Wildlife act, making it illegal to own, trap or kill any member of the species. 


Where did I find my information?
Frogwatch. 
Canadian BioDiversity.
Image. 
Sararegistry for Rocky tailed.
Sararegistry for coastal.
Wikipedia. 
British Columbia Frogwatch.

Now just so you know.. Canada has a WHOLE whack of other frogs.  From Spadefoots, spring peepers, tree frogs, bullfrogs, leopard and green frogs, pickerel frogs, cricket and chorus frogs, and so many more.  Check them out eh?  It's a fascinating wet world to explore.  :)

You can find out more here. 

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_________
So Now that you know MY "F" word for the week, what is yours?  Want to join us?

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