To all my faithful followers,

You may have noticed the new blog look. It was time! Thank you Becky is all I can say. Becky is my blog guru friend who re-vamped my blog. I highly recommend you check out her blog too: http://theardentsparrow.blogspot.ca. Its so lovely!

Sincerely,

Kathy

Death-Defying Missions- David Platt, 2012 T4G Conference

dance

A week or so ago summer really began for me. It was a georgeous, warm day...the water was so calm and the fish were biting!

This was the catch of the day. A nice big walleye on opening weekend. We could go home satisfied after Steve caught this guy.

Night shift

Tonight is a particularly slow night in the ER...so much so that I'm actually able to blog. Its almost 0400am and I'm fighting the overwhelming desire to sleep. My eyes want to close and if a doctor comes in here and asks me to do something its gonna take alot of will power to make these legs start moving again!
Night shifts are really good times to think and pray though. Rarely in the ER do we get nights like this..usually the nights are a lot like the days..so I've been thinking a lot. And praying..a little... Kinda reminds me of my spiritual walk sometimes. Like when Christ told his disciples to stay awake, pray and wait for him in the garden. The night he was betrayed by Judas. Its comforting to know our Father never sleeps nor slumbers. Yet discouraging how I am always prone to want rest. Instead of running hard for him, instead of denying myself, staying awake and praying..I always fall asleep!
Christ is our sleepless interceder and for that I am grateful. Only 3 more ours left. Gonna turn Pinterest off..and spend some time with the One who always works nightshifts.

We would see Jesus. - John 12:21

I wanted to share what I read last night from Charles Spurgeon's "Evening by Evening". I was given this book from my Mother a long time ago for helping teach her Sunday School class. It's been an encouragement to me ever since.

'The constant cry of the world is, "Who will show us any good?" People seek satisfaction in earthly comforts, enjoyments, and riches. But the convicted sinner knows only one good: "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" (Job 23:3). When a person is truly awakened to feel his guilt, if you could pour the gold of India at his feet, he would say,"Take it away. I want to find Him!" It is a blessed thing for a man when he has brought his desires into focus so that they all center on one object. When he has fifty different desires, his heart resembles a pool of stagnant water, spread out into a marsh, breeding disease and pestilence. But when all his desires are brought into one channel, his heart becomes like a river of pure water, flowing swiftly to fertilize the fields. Happy is he who has one desire, if that one desire is set on Christ even though it may not yet have been realized. If Jesus is the soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere laws. He will say, "I want Christ; I must have Him. Rules are of no use to me; I need Him! Do not offer me these. You offer me the empty pitcher, while I am dying of thirst. Give me water, or I will die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus!" Is this your condition, my reader, at this moment? Do you have but one desire, and it is Christ? Then you are not far from the kingdom of heaven. Have you but one wish in your heart, and that one wish is that you would be washed from all your sins in Jesus' blood? Can you really say, "I would give all I have to be a Christian. I would give up everything I have and hope for, if I could only feel that I have an interest in Christ"? Then, despite all your fears, be of good cheer. The Lord loves you, and you will come out into daylight soon. Rejoice "in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" (Gal. 5:1).' (pg.116)

.Rock.

How much does theology matter to you? Sometimes I feel that the topic of theology is a touchy subject amongst Christians. To some, being a theologian or discussing the finer points of doctrine is to provoke conflict, arrogance and division.

We are all theologians though. All of us. Christian or not we all believe something about God and who He is. Atheists even believe something about God. They believe He doesn’t exist. These beliefs about the Lord come from something and if you are not reading the bible then experiences, observances and your own philosophies shape your view of who He is. The problem with this is, we all have different life experiences. People and experiences change and fluctuate like the weather. Thankfully God does not change, and His Word doesn’t either.

So I guess the question is. Do we crave the truth? Do we actually want to know the truth about who God is and who Christ is? It comes down to a heart issue…would we opt for potential conflict and deny our own experiential philosophies in pursuit of knowing the intricate details of an amazing God. The people who would do that see the value and purpose of living a life for a Father they know through a Saviour they have a relationship with. Doctrine is not so much adhering to a certain denomination or being called Calvinist or Armenian, its about pursuing the One who pursued us and drawing close to Him. Joshua Harris in his book “Dug Down Deep” summarizes the need for sound theology in a clear and applicable way. He states: “Being a Christian means being a person who labours to establish his beliefs, his dreams, his choices, his very view of the world on the truth of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished - a Christian who cares about truth, who cares about sound doctrine.”

God is not a God of division…unity is His desire for us which is why He gave us the Bible… “making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)

As Christians we’re all on a mission to figure out who God is. A strong commitment to truth is crucial but we can’t forget grace. Humility and grace…. even when we don’t entirely agree with our sisters and brothers in the Lord. We’ve got to encourage each other to strive hard for the truth that will be our foundation when the world throws a million other beliefs at us.