The past month has been eventful to say the least, filled with different difficulties challenges and confrontations...some that really brought me to my knees on a number of occasions. So I really wrestled through what I should write about this month in our newsletter. I pondered my absence of patience in some of these confrontations, my frustration in the absence of a working fridge & a broken toe. I wondered if I should try to describe Cindy’s misery as she nears the end of her treatment or if it would even be edifying to read. And it is always our aim to edify when we write these updates. I contemplated the merciful provision of God of late & the desperate need to persevere through a coming holiday season that might be anything but joyous. I thought about my inadequacies as a husband & a father in this season and how so many have had to come to our aid to help us. But none of it seemed adequate. Then I was confronted by my need for the gospel... again.
And it got me thinking... about life in general and the hardships it presents, our perpetual need for the gospel and God's endless faithfulness to meet us in it. And as I meditated on these things and countless others it got me thinking about the service of God in Christ on our behalf in the life and ministry of Jesus, and just how resistant we all are to accept it and rely on it every single day..especially in our hardships. I mean the idea of God the Creator stooping down as a servant to serve His rebellious creation not only in salvation but also in sanctification boggles the mind when you think about it. After all it seems so unreasonable and unfathomable that the highest of all would stoop so low for someone so undeserving. But isn't that exactly what He did in Christ? And lets face it. We all needed him to. Every one of us did and still do, which is perfectly okay. He is not offended by our need for Him even if we are.
And let's face it. We all are. And I think that's really the point of bringing us back to it...our need for Christ in the gospel that is. I think if we are really honest with ourselves the thought of God serving us, is unsettling if not somewhat confusing and more than little astounding to be sure. That the Creator of the universe would condescend to His creation in order to save them, let alone to the point of living in obscurity in their place for nearly three decades is both humbling and perplexing to us and demonstrates a level of commitment to the plan of redemption I wager most of us would never be willing to have even IF we had the power to do so.
But that is exactly what happened in Jesus. The second person of the trinity, the Son of God, took upon himself the lower nature of his creation and served them, to the point of physical exhaustion and fatigue, even dying on a Roman cross intentionally in their place for all of their crimes… and at the hands of the very ones He came to save no less. And He did all of this because, the truth is they desperately needed Him to do so. And so do we even now. And He knew that and still does even if they didn't and we don't. He gladly met them where they were at as He does with us today. Because that is who He is. That is who He will always be in spite of us no matter what we do or what happens in our lives. And that is incredible if you think about it.
In fact I want you to do just that. Sit it on it for a moment. Drink it in. Absorb the reality of the gospel with me once again and remember the One who accomplished it all on our behalf... who He really is and what He really did. Let it do what it was meant to do for us: bring us to the end of ourselves… our selfish desires, our petty wants, our complaining wandering questioning hearts & the world that constantly enables them. Let's allow it to drive us back to the place where we belong: in the loving arms of our merciful Savior who loved His Father and us to the point of sacrificing His own dignity rights and life for our sake. I don't know about you but that is where I want to be right now. And I think that is where the Lord Himself wants us all today....not as super saints caught in some hyper serving mode ready to give a word or serve in our own spiritual confidence…but as humble needy children, broken and weary resting in the finished work of the One who came before us, in our place to do what we cannot and will never do in our own strength. And I think that is a good place to be. Don't you agree?
In these trying times we are going though right now I know I need to return to the gospel of Jesus Christ… again. I need to be refreshed again by its promise of a final lasting redemption. I need to remember that this world will perish and a new one will take its place. I need to accept that I will always fail in one way or another...fail to believe…fail to walk according to the mystery of the gospel…fail to see the value of my wife’s suffering. And that is okay. That is exactly why God sent His Son to live and die for me in my place…because I needed Him to. We all did and still do. We all still need the cross of Christ. We all still need to be forgiven of our sins, to be confronted daily with the relentlessly persistent grace of God in the suffering of His Son, to be sanctified by the Spirit of God in His application of it. And I guess…we always will. And that is the point of all of these hardships at least from the heavenly perspective. They are meant to bring us to the end of our selves, to bring us back again to the finished work of Christ and our dependence upon it.
And that is why I am sharing it with you. I think if we are all honest we will admit that we can never be presented with the gospel enough even as believers. We can never be reminded enough of how weak we really are, how desperately we need a savior even now, how easily we forget just why the Son of God had to come and take our place. I think if we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we all secretly know that the reason we suffer and endure these trials even as believers is because they always bring us back to our need for the gospel, back into the arms of our loving Savior, back to the care of the Father and back into the creaturely dependence we were recreated in Christ Jesus to walk in and back to the place of resting in the promises of our final redemption.
So maybe in reminding my self today maybe He is also reminding you. Who knows? All I know is that I can never be reminded enough of my own need for his love, my own need for His grace and His mercy. I can never be reminded enough of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I can certainly never be reminded enough of the promise of our final redemption.
And it got me thinking... about life in general and the hardships it presents, our perpetual need for the gospel and God's endless faithfulness to meet us in it. And as I meditated on these things and countless others it got me thinking about the service of God in Christ on our behalf in the life and ministry of Jesus, and just how resistant we all are to accept it and rely on it every single day..especially in our hardships. I mean the idea of God the Creator stooping down as a servant to serve His rebellious creation not only in salvation but also in sanctification boggles the mind when you think about it. After all it seems so unreasonable and unfathomable that the highest of all would stoop so low for someone so undeserving. But isn't that exactly what He did in Christ? And lets face it. We all needed him to. Every one of us did and still do, which is perfectly okay. He is not offended by our need for Him even if we are.
And let's face it. We all are. And I think that's really the point of bringing us back to it...our need for Christ in the gospel that is. I think if we are really honest with ourselves the thought of God serving us, is unsettling if not somewhat confusing and more than little astounding to be sure. That the Creator of the universe would condescend to His creation in order to save them, let alone to the point of living in obscurity in their place for nearly three decades is both humbling and perplexing to us and demonstrates a level of commitment to the plan of redemption I wager most of us would never be willing to have even IF we had the power to do so.
But that is exactly what happened in Jesus. The second person of the trinity, the Son of God, took upon himself the lower nature of his creation and served them, to the point of physical exhaustion and fatigue, even dying on a Roman cross intentionally in their place for all of their crimes… and at the hands of the very ones He came to save no less. And He did all of this because, the truth is they desperately needed Him to do so. And so do we even now. And He knew that and still does even if they didn't and we don't. He gladly met them where they were at as He does with us today. Because that is who He is. That is who He will always be in spite of us no matter what we do or what happens in our lives. And that is incredible if you think about it.
In fact I want you to do just that. Sit it on it for a moment. Drink it in. Absorb the reality of the gospel with me once again and remember the One who accomplished it all on our behalf... who He really is and what He really did. Let it do what it was meant to do for us: bring us to the end of ourselves… our selfish desires, our petty wants, our complaining wandering questioning hearts & the world that constantly enables them. Let's allow it to drive us back to the place where we belong: in the loving arms of our merciful Savior who loved His Father and us to the point of sacrificing His own dignity rights and life for our sake. I don't know about you but that is where I want to be right now. And I think that is where the Lord Himself wants us all today....not as super saints caught in some hyper serving mode ready to give a word or serve in our own spiritual confidence…but as humble needy children, broken and weary resting in the finished work of the One who came before us, in our place to do what we cannot and will never do in our own strength. And I think that is a good place to be. Don't you agree?
In these trying times we are going though right now I know I need to return to the gospel of Jesus Christ… again. I need to be refreshed again by its promise of a final lasting redemption. I need to remember that this world will perish and a new one will take its place. I need to accept that I will always fail in one way or another...fail to believe…fail to walk according to the mystery of the gospel…fail to see the value of my wife’s suffering. And that is okay. That is exactly why God sent His Son to live and die for me in my place…because I needed Him to. We all did and still do. We all still need the cross of Christ. We all still need to be forgiven of our sins, to be confronted daily with the relentlessly persistent grace of God in the suffering of His Son, to be sanctified by the Spirit of God in His application of it. And I guess…we always will. And that is the point of all of these hardships at least from the heavenly perspective. They are meant to bring us to the end of our selves, to bring us back again to the finished work of Christ and our dependence upon it.
And that is why I am sharing it with you. I think if we are all honest we will admit that we can never be presented with the gospel enough even as believers. We can never be reminded enough of how weak we really are, how desperately we need a savior even now, how easily we forget just why the Son of God had to come and take our place. I think if we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we all secretly know that the reason we suffer and endure these trials even as believers is because they always bring us back to our need for the gospel, back into the arms of our loving Savior, back to the care of the Father and back into the creaturely dependence we were recreated in Christ Jesus to walk in and back to the place of resting in the promises of our final redemption.
So maybe in reminding my self today maybe He is also reminding you. Who knows? All I know is that I can never be reminded enough of my own need for his love, my own need for His grace and His mercy. I can never be reminded enough of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I can certainly never be reminded enough of the promise of our final redemption.
So here's the Skinny:
- With only 4 Chemo treatments to go, Cindy is nearing the end of this part of her journey
- Because there is a high recurrence rate for patients with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma she will also need to see a bone marrow specialist after she has completed her last treatment.
- Cindy has been running a fever off and on. If she runs a fever that exceeds 100.4 F she will have to be admitted to the ER.
- Noah is doing great with his speech development but still shows signs of having special needs along the lines of sensitivity and sensory issues.
- At this time it is crucial that our family remain healthy and unexposed to any form of sickness that might put Cindy's life in jeporday. So your prayers are appreciated.
- Other than the usual emotional financial and spiritual needs that this season creates our family remains in tact, resting in the merciful provision of God, blessed by the outpouring of constant prayer and loving care the body of Christ continues to pour out on us, to the praise and glory of His name
We are indebted to you all for your generosity but mostly for your friendship and understanding in this season. May the Lord richly bless you all beyond abundance and show Himself mighty on your own behalves as He has for us in our time of need
Below are some pics from the past month.
Enjoy!
Our little Becca bug:)
Eating with friends
Smiling for a change:)
Celebrating 6 years together!
