thoughts on the catechism

So I was reading a friends blog and it’s got me thinking about things. I even dug through a bunch of already packed boxes of books(!!) to find a copy of the Heidelberg Catechism that I can keep in my room and read. Here’s what I found. Just as a warning though, I’m writing this as I think about it, so some things might be kind of random, or not make sense. I have a feeling this might end up going a few different directions. I don’t think in very logical patterns!

Lord’s Day 1

2. Q. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A. Three things; first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

Gratitude, that’s what we are to have. There is no way that we can pay back God for all He has done for retched sinners like us – nothing except be thankful – and show that in our lives, in EVERYTHING we do and say.

Lord’s Day 33

88. Q. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion?

A. Two things; the dying-away of the old self, and the coming-to-life of the new.

89. Q. What is the dying-away of the old self?

A. It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it.

Talk about very descriptive language! “And to RUN away” from sin. It’s sad to realize that WAY to often we don’t run away from things we encounter everyday that cause us to sin. I think that we tend to think that some sins are not as bad as others. But God doesn’t think the way we do. He says, through James, in James 2:11-12:

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do no commit adultery’, also said, ‘Do not murder’. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

Lord’s Day 33

90. Q. What is the coming-to-life of the new self?

A. It is whole-hearted joy in God through Christ and a delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to.

Lord’s Day 32

86. Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good?

A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by His blood. But we do good because Christ by His Spirit is also renewing us to be like Himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all He has done for us, and so that He may be praised through us. And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ.

Okay, here is what I was originally intending to post about.J Our gratitude for deliverance from our sin. This question and answer summarizes very well what I was going to attempt to put into words. So, I guess I’ll just add this passage from Ephesians 2:4-7.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Doesn’t reading that put fire in your heart to serve God? Meaning, every corner of your life, every second of a day, no matter how hard your “old self” battles against this urge from your “new self”?

Hopefully that made sense! . . . and was a little bit encouraging.

Praise is Beautiful

We know by experience that

Song has great force and vigor

To move and inflame the hearts of men

To invoke and praise God with

A more vehement and ardent zeal.

John Calvin

Thank you to all who came out for our sing-song on Saturday night. I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as my family and I did. It was awesome to enjoy music - both the singing and the jamming - with others who are passionate about music. And it was great to enjoy fellowship with all of you, even those who I don't know very well. There is something about fellowship with other Christians that I love . . . it is so uplifting.

Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

And His praise in the assembly of saints.

Psalm 149:1

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:3-6

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praise to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is beautiful.

Psalm 147:1

Remember . . .

Here is a verse that was shared with me by a friend:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power and of love

and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

What's Happening?

We are definately moving. Everything was finalized last week. We sold the house and all the papers are signed. I'm sooo excited! And at the same time it is sad. Looking at pictures of our backyard in the summer doesn't help things either. And the fact that boxes are starting to appear and book shelves and closets are starting to look a little lonely. But I'm not going to let that dampen my spirits. I am excited about the move. And not only because of the new house, the music room (yahoo!) and the big new bedroom, but because now dad will be home sooner and we will be closer to his shop. And hopefully we can have more dinners together. And not eat at 7 at night as much.

- - - - - - -

I have heard a lot of sermons and speaches and read some blog posts lately about evangelizing. Too much that I can't ignore it anymore . . . and the fact that I have wasted sooo many opportunities to talk to people I am around and get out of my comfort zone and get involved in someone elses life. I have decided that that is not going to happen anymore. I have deliberately kept myself from saying something when someone swears too many times at the ballet studio where I work. And lately I have been getting to know two girls from the studio that I am talking to more. One of them is actually my neigbors cousin and she keeps reminding me of the time quite a few years ago when my mom asked her not to take God's name in vain. Unknown to us, because I haven't really talked to her until just a few months ago, she was totally freaked by that and doesn't want to meet my mom again. I hope I can somehow, with God's help, stear that conversation next time towards sharing the gospel with her. She is Roman Catholic, so I don't know how effective I will be. But I can't just let these opportunities get away from me anymore. I am slowly seeing how unfailfull I have been to my awesome, all-powerful, miracle-working God, who can do things way beyond what we could ask or hope.

Reminders of God With Me and to Guide Me

Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses.

For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought,

But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us

With groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows

What the mind of the Spirit is,

Because He makes intercession for the saints

According to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together for good

To those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:26-28

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,

And I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,

For I am gentle and lowly in heart,

And you will find rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 62:8

Christ Be With Me

March Break? I don’t think so. Not for me anyway. The last few days have been very stressful. Something that needed to be ‘dealt’ with (and is not so easy to deal with) sort of crept up on me and it has not gone over so smoothly.

Sometimes I just feel like giving up. Yesterday I was close to tears I was so frustrated. I turned to the piano even though I wasn’t in the mood and started playing from my praise book. I came across this awesome song that I learned last fall. I think it’s going to be played a lot in the next little while.

St. Patrick’s Prayer

By St. Patrick and Dwight Beal

Christ be with me and within me

Christ behind me and before

Christ beside me and to win me

Christ to comfort and restore

Christ beneath me and above me

Christ in quiet and in danger

Christ in hearts of all that love me

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger

Christ in every heart that’s broken

Christ in every joy and pain

Christ in every word that’s spoken

Christ is sun and moon and rain

Christ in resting and in rising

Christ the Lord of all my life

Christ to guide me and to shield me

Christ protecting me in strife

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be make known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Calling Attention to a New Blog on My List

Hey blog readers,

Just calling your attention to the new blog link on my list, my sister Amy Janna has started a blog. Check it out at http://amy-janna.blogspot.com !!

Welcome to the blogging world Amy!

Need A Good Laugh? Read On!!!!!!

I got these from the Puslinch Pioneer, March 2007 Issue. They had my sister and I randomly laughing until my mom called from another room, asking us what was so funny. Enjoy . . . don’t laugh too loud!

Car-Jacking

This is a true account recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida.

And elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drawing a handgun, proceeded to scream at the top of her voice, “I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of my car!”

The four men didn’t wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver’s seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then it dawned on her why! For the same reason she did not understand why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12 packs in the front seat.

A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.

The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed.

MORAL OF THE STORY? If you’re going to have a Senior Moment, make it a memorable one.

$50 is $50

Morris and his wife Esther went to the State Fair every year. Every year, Morris would say, “Esther, I’d like to ride in that helicopter.” Esther always replied, “I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is $50 and $50 is $50.”

A few years later, Esther and Morris went to the Fair. Morris said, “Esther, I’m 85 years old. If I don’t ride that helicopter now, I might never get another chance.” Esther replied, “Morris, that helicopter ride is $50 and $50 is $50.”

The pilot overheard the couple. He said, “Folks, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word, I won’t charge you! But if you say one word, it’s $50.”

Morris and Esther agreed – and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, “By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn’t. I’m impressed!”

Morris replied, “Well, I was going to say something when Esther fell out, but $50 is $50!”

The next two were candidates of the Darwin Awards.

from California . . .

A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who “totally zoned out when he ran”, accidentally jogged off a 100-foot-high cliff on his daily run.

This one is kinda grose, but it’s funny, so . . .

Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt (Paderborn, Germany) fed his constipated elephant Stefan 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally let fly, and suffocated the keeper under 200 pounds of poop! Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded on him. “The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant continued to evacuate his bowels on top of him” said flabbergasted Paderborn police detective Erik Dern. “With no one there to help him, he lay under all the dung for at least an hour before a watchman came along, and during that time he suffocated. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents!”

EPHESIANS 6

Finally, my brethren,

be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against principalities,

against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your

waist with truth,

having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the

preparation of the gospel of peace;

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able too quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,

being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Toronto: Saturday Night

Living Worship at Tyndale on Saturday night went very well - except the part where I bent over to pick up my violin and smacked my head against my mic when I stood up.

Every time we have a LW evening, I realize again and again how blessed I am to be a part of such an amazing group of young people that serve the Lord. And who share a passion for music. Thanks for all of your friendships. Looking forward to Guelph!

- - - - - - -

I got home at 12:30am. I think that is the latest I've ever been home. And I have never slept so well either!

The ride home was crazy. If you have ever hung out with Lodders, you'll understand. It was soooooo fun though. I'm relieved to know that my family is not the only weird one out there! Singing songs at the top of your lungs . . . in a few different keys at once. And combining the words of two songs into one. Forgetting words and singing blah, blah, doda doda do instead!

Justine, Kira, and Anton: good times! Thanks for the fun drive. Nice to meet you Kira!!

Oh, and here it is:

bbbbbbbb bwaaaah, bwaaah, bwaaaaaaaah, bwake i' downnnnnnn

Peace

You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trust in You.

Isaiah 26:3