29 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-8-16”

  1. Morning Aj, nice to see your ducks. Thanks for posting early as I am getting sleepy. Did my 5 miles today with my two miles at school and another 66 minutes of walking up and down these hills.
    Good night.

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  3. Good morning, I woke up from a nightmare – related to my prayer request – this morning and have developed a terrible headache. Yet God is still good.

    Thank you, 6, for that beautiful arrangement of Agnus Dei. I didn’t hear it last night, but it was lovely to hear this morning.

    I have a Question of the Day, perhaps two. A couple Sundays ago, the pastor made the assertion that if you didn’t preach about the death and resurrection of Christ, you weren’t preaching the Gospel (the implication being that every Sunday sermon should include a gospel message). That struck me as wrong, especially in light of Hebrews 5:12-6:2. What do you people think? Is the Sunday sermon an evangelical platform toward the unbelieving or a teaching tool for the Christian congregation?

    The second question is borne of frustration. How do you tell people nicely to mind their own business and stop trying to matchmake (as I said, this is not related to my prayer request)? They were at it again, and further conversation with the individual in question has only reinforced my perception of lack of maturity.

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  4. Phos, most Sunday mornings have to do with Christian maturity. The Lordship of Christ is assumed. Not every sermon has to be abut the death and resurrection of Christ. Pastor Steve is preaching through One Corinthians. Most of them have to do with a wayward church. Somet5imes we need to hear that too.

    As for your “matchmaker” friends. You have realize, that in spite of your perception, they only mean good for you. try to be patient.

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  6. Chas, strangely, that is the section of Scripture which our pastor is preaching through, and it was in that context which he made his statement. His sermons are posted online, and my mother and I agree that sometimes he seems to be preaching more to the online crowd than to us.

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  7. Our pastor takes pains to include both “the law and the gospel” in his message (which are designed to teach and exhort and encourage the faithful) — what God commands of us but also what God, though Christ, provides (grace).

    One without the other is really an incomplete message (though sermons — our preaching is all expository from particular passages in Scripture — may focus, due to the passage, more on one or the other of those two pillars).

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  8. Phos, as you know, I got a degree from Southwestern Seminary
    In our preaching classes, several things were drilled into us.
    Preach Christ
    Preach to the needs of the people. That is what Paul’s letters were about. The needs of the people he was writing to
    Preach so that they can understand. You want the people to grow, not remain “babes in Christ”.
    Be diligent spiritually, not may in your church are going to grow farther than you.

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  13. Roscuro, I had to tell a gentleman once that after prayerfully considering his interest….and I may have fudged the truth here…and speaking with my priest, I just didn’t not feel he was the one God intended for me.
    In this case, I am sure you have prayed about a life partner so I don’t think you would be out of line to smile, perhaps get a tear or two in your eye and tell these people that while you appreciate them “looking out for you”, you do not feel this young man is the person God intends for you. You may want to pray about this now, so that when you tell them you will be speaking the absolute truth. You may want to speak with your father so that you have consulted all in any shape, fashion, or form anyone in an advisory position to you. Then when you speak with the busy bodies, ahem, I mean the considered people you can “bless their hearts” for thinking of you and that this might be the gentleman for you, but you really don’t see him in your future.

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  15. Roscuro, just tell them that you believe in arranged marriages and that a friend on the blog is arranging for you to marry her son♡ 😉

    I have been at the doctor’s office this a.m. with Art. He had a test last week as a follow up to his kidney stone blasting and he had to get imaging done today and see the PA. It was taking awhile so Art was angry and stressed out. I tried to be cool, calm, and immersed in my book. Tax season stress has hit full time. Seems seem okay for the moment healthwise. Tomorrow is our anniversary. I have Mary’s funeral to go to. 😦

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  16. Roscuro, those of us who are saved need to hear the gospel too; as Donna pointed out, law and gospel are both important, and should both be included in every sermon. But should every sermon be overtly evangelistic, no, I don’t think so.

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  18. Nice pix, AJ. I think I have seen–and photographed–merganser, but nothing close or clear.

    My husband and I drove this morning to the swamp area that’s been set up as sort of a wildlife sanctuary. I’m guessing they realized the land is worthless for anything else, so they let it be swamp. Lots and lots of ponds, mowed walking trails everywhere, and lots of unusual waterfowl are supposed to be seen there during migration. When we went a couple of years ago we saw a cormorant and (from a distance) wood ducks, as well as yellow-rumped warblers. Well, today we didn’t see anything we haven’t seen before, and I suspect that it will be more interesting in two or three weeks than it was today (or whenever migration is at its peak). But it was well, well worth going for. In a couple of hours, we watched (and photographed):

    * calling red-winged blackbirds (I finally got my blackbird-on-cattail photos! they were dried cattails, because this season’s aren’t out yet, but it was that “classic” swamp scene I wanted)
    * song sparrows and a white-crowned sparrow
    * great blue heron, both in the pond and flying
    * a pair of swans (including two great shots)
    * way too many Canada geese and mallards, though I did get my first photos of flying ducks
    * decent shots (definitely the best I’ve ever gotten) of a flying bald eagle (it wasn’t all that close to us, so I wasn’t sure if my shots were good or not, but I got a couple that were pretty good)
    * a frog sitting in water with only its eye showing
    * a swimming muskrat (the best views we’ve ever gotten)

    I also saw (but didn’t photograph) a turtle on a log, a whole bunch of small frogs that splashed into one particular pool as we walked by, a flying gull, crows and some other birds.

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  20. Janice and Michelle, a lot of help you are! 😉

    I might be able to laugh it all off if it weren’t for two things. One, if they persist, it might not be me that gets hurt. The individual in question does not seem totally indifferent. Two, as I mentioned before on this topic, this individual has only recently started coming to church. The pastor has shown himself anxious to keep him coming by having this individual sing some special music every single Sunday. I cannot avoid the feeling that I am viewed as another potential incentive for this individual to keep coming. It is an ugly feeling and I keep telling myself it probably is my imagination.

    Well, Al Mohler just said that single women were the most liberalizing influence in politics and culture 😦 Overgeneralizations like that are like a punch in the stomach when you happen to be in the demographic that is generalized. A reminder of how it feels, and why one should not overgeneralize in one’s turn.

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  21. Oh, you should have seen our beautiful snow-covered mountains today, majestic in the distance behind the jumble of harbor cranes.

    I was on the freeway and going too fast to take a picture though 🙂

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  22. Roscuro, can you simply speak to the people and tell them “This is a little embarrassing, but I want to say very clearly I am not interested in this man, and I wish you would let it drop”? I know it isn’t always that easy–I got stuck in a car for an hour once with several women intent on finding me a husband (though they had no one particular in mind) and it was so over the top that I later asked the pastor’s wife to meet with me and the women so that they would hear “Leave Cheryl alone” and I wouldn’t have to fear seeing them at church. But hopefully they can understand. ?? At any rate, I empathize with you, and I’m sorry they’re making it so awkward.

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  25. I was talking to Nana (my ex-mother-in-law) last night. I was telling her about BG and me going to JH Ranch. She wasn’t familiar with it, but after I explained it she said, she would help me pay for it. I make the last installment on the ranch part of the trip next month, but I have airline tickets, car rental, etc to pay for and I bought $500 worth of tires for BG’s car yesterday because her father said so and then wouldn’t help me pay for them.

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  26. Well, civic duty is done for the day. Generally Michigan polls closed 45 minutes ago but a few areas are on central time so they don’t close until 15 minutes from now. I suppose the networks will announce projections then.

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