As some of you probably already know, a year ago last Friday in the wee hours of the morning, was marked the first anniversary of the departure from earth and entrance into the glory of our Savior for a precious little boy, Corbin Grabb. When I first got the email last year, I sat stunned for about 10 minues and then this verse popped into my head:

"Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

There really isn’t a whole lot more to say, but that I love you Lattany, and I’m praying for you and your family every day.

On a less serious note, I have just returned from my church’s youth trip. We went to Mississippi to do several service projects in a very small town and a small church in said small town.  If I had to surmise the trip in one word, it would probably be joy. I was working with running a VBS, teaching the 1^st and 2^nd graders and those kids gave me such joy every day. It was also a joy to play around with a share our lives with the other teens in the church. After I got home, I was listening to a Chris Rice song, and it struck me, the small amount of joy that I experienced this last week is nothing to the joy that we will have when we are in heaven for eternity, praising the One from whom all joy stems. It was  a great week and I cannot wait until next year. =)

The cry of so many...

There once was a king of Israel named Manasseh. This dude was one evil guy, one of the worst in the history of Israel. So, why find him note worthy, besides his evilness? In fact, I used to and still do in some ways, love this king’s story.

I was reading Till We Have Faces last evening and ran across this phrase: “He seemed to me now a very vile, pitiable king” (57). (Aren’t I getting good at MLA formatting… =) )
Anyhow, this seemed an odd phrase and I started thinking about it and the first king who came to mind was Manasseh. According to 2 Chronicles 33:6, he “did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.” These things included putting up high places to other gods, altars to Baal, and worshiping all the hosts of heaven and serving them. Our God is a jealous God, (punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him). The author of Chronicles recounts how the Lord spoke to both the king and the people, but they paid no attention, going on in their evil ways, pleasing themselves and their gods. So God did the only thing which would fit His character and brought enemies of the land upon His people. This time is was the Assyrians. This is what they did to Manasseh:

“Therefore the Lord brought upon them [the people] the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.”

Just what he deserved, maybe less for all he had done while he had the throne. However, he called out to God because he was in distress and he “entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then, Manasseh know that the Lord was God” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13).

God continued to restore him, yet he was punished because of his wicked deeds after his repentance. And his sons were far from God-fearing. Yet god decided to show His mercy to this wicked wicked man. He was a very vile king, and pitiable because, although he repented, his family did not which must have been very hard knowing that after he died, his evil son would take over and redo what he had tried to change.

Yet, Manasseh really isn’t that much different from me. Sure, his sins are very different and I’m not being dragged away with hooks in me and chains holding me bondage. At least, not physically. Sin does try to drag one away in a similar manner though. Once it has hold, like hooks, it does not give up readily. But with God’s grace, the hooks and chains fall away, and God hears our plea just as he heard Manasseh. Which is why I love his story. Any way, take encouragement from the evil kings of Israel, and take warning from those who do not repent. The kings were quite some lot of dudes and God gave us accounts of them for reasons. =)

We like efficiency

“We like efficiency so much that we got uptight with lagging schedules. The Filipinos had learned to adjust because their land is one where natural or political typhoons could demolish any system, As a result, peace characterized non-Christian Filipinos more than it did many of us missionaries.

Hadn’t we been sent out to help? Yet we were discovering that the recipients of our generosity were, in ways, superior to us.”

~Miriam Adeney in Stepping Out: A Guide to Short Term Missions