Praise the Lord for sound doctrine

All too often we forget what many have gone through in the past to give us such polished theology for today. God has used those in the history of the church to expose truth to many who were in spiritual ignorance. This book is about just that. John Hooper, Rowland Taylor, Hugh Latimer, John Bradford, and Nicholas Ridley all took a stand for the truth of God's word and they were burned at the stake in return. I am amazed a the stand that these men took and the opposition they received yet they stood strong on the foundation of truth that we often times take for granted. This foundation of truth was not taught to them from years of tradition as well as thoroughly articulated systematic theology books. They were taught these truths by the Holy Spirit through the word of God in a time when hardly anybody thought that was an option. I will leave out the specific doctrines that they stood for (in hopes that you will seek it out) and just encourage you to thank God daily for good doctrine and the easy access that we have to it. I just want to give you a few quotes from the men this book was written about.

John Hooper wrote these words on his prison cell wall:

"Content thyself with patience, with Christ to bear the cross of pain: Who can or will recompense a thousand-fold, with joys again. Let nothing cause thy heart to fail: Launch out thy boat, hoist up thy sail,Put from the shore; And be thou sure thou shalt remain, for evermore.

Fear not death, pass not for bands, only in God put thy whole trust; For He will require thy blood at their hands, And thou dost know that once die thou must, Only for that thy life if thy give, death is no death, but amens to live. Do not despair; Of no worldly tyrant be thou in dread; Thy compass which is God's word, shall lead thee, and the wind is fair."

Rowland Taylor just before he was attached to the stake:

"Good people, I have taught you nothing but God's Holy Word, and those lessons that I have taken out of God's blessed book, the Holy Bible; and I am come hither to this day to seal it with my blood."

Hugh Latimer, who arose at 2 am to study each morning, left the world with these words:

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley (another reformer he was burned with), and play the man; We shall this day light such a candle. By God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

John Bradford spoke of his being wrongly condemned:

"When I consider the cause of my condemnation, I cannot but lament that I do not rejoice more than I do, for it is God's verity and truth. The condemnation is not a condemnation of Bradford simply, but rather a condemnation of Christ and His truth. Bradford is nothing else but an instrument, in whom Christ and His doctrine are condemned."

Nicholas Ridley offered up a final supplication as he was at the stake:

"O Heavenly Father, I give unto Thee most hearty thanks, for that Thou hast called me to be a professor of Thee, even unto death. I beseech Thee, Lord God, take mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the same from all her enemies."

The price these men paid for the doctrines we cherish today should not be forgotten. Read about the martyrs of the past; It will excite your hunger for spiritual growth and deepen your love and commitment to Christ and His truth. May we never take for granted sound doctrine. Praise God for His wonderful grace!

To Every Tribe Ministries

What's up y'all? (I said that because I won't be in TX to much longer)
Just thought you folks in Kentucky might want to know that the founder of "To Every Tribe Ministries" will be speaking at SBTS chapel soon. His name is David Sitton and he has recently set up the Center for Pioneer Church Planting. My little sister Caraboo (her real name is Cara) is enrolled and she loves it. They recently returned from a mission trip to Papa New Guinea where the Lord was pleased to save his people. Read about it at my sister's blog right here.
David loves the Lord and is fully committed to the unreached people groups in Mexico and PNG. Check out this quote of his - I am on a crusade right now to recruit martyr missionaries for the least reached people groups of the world. -David Sitton. I guess maybe that should worry me since my sister is being trained at his school, but it doesn't. Cara would love to die for the gospel of Christ and that is one thing I love about her.
Sarah went on a mission trip to Mexico with TETM and she roughed it, sleeping in a one-person tent with torrential rains slamming down on top of her only to find out that her tent wasn't water proof and hoping that her body weight and the tent pegs could withstand the winds. Ask her about it, she'll tell you.
Anyways (so much for a short post), David spoke at John Piper's pastor's conference and I think you would really enjoy hearing him. You can check that out here. The dates he will be speaking are April 14-17th. Sunday the 15th he will be doing a presentation/teaching at Auburndale Baptist Church. Then, Tuesday morning the 17th he will be speaking at chapel at Southern. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Resting in His providence,
Ryan and Sarah

Late St. Patrick's Day

Ok -- please hold all of your tantrums about the tardiness of the post and the title, but when you look at this picture, you will exclaim to yourself -- "MAN, I'm so GLAD they didn't keep this to themselves."

Some background:

We have a man in our church that is a former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett. He has an extensive ministry now to catholics, and preaching all across the nation, and even internationally. His testimony is simply encouraging and convicting. (P.S. He is Irish as well!!) You can check out his ministry at The Berean Beacon!!! His website is awesome! Great resources about catholic apologists, testimonies, church history, and much much more! So I encourage you, visit the site, listen to some of his resources, and be encouraged!



And now for the belated St. Patrick's Day gift to you all:

Our Sufficiency in Christ

What one word would describe this book? Solid, nourishing, meaty..I have no idea, but it was excellent. I cannot think of a better book to read if you want to be exposed to the problems facing the church today and their biblical answers. This book is amazing. I finished it on the flight home from Kentucky and I have to say that it made me long to be in a church somewhere and see to it that the Christ is preeminent through biblical preaching, teaching, counseling and study (not psychology or psychotherapy or any other psycho- word). J-Mac really hits the nail on the head with this one.

The thrust of the book is this; Christ is sufficient, stop settling for all the worldly gimmicks such as psychology, legalism, asceticism, exorcisms, pragmatism, quietism vs. pietism, and the like. I mean, you name a problem in the church and it is dealt with in one way or another in this book. That's the beauty of Christ, He sufficiently meets every need we will ever face! That is precisely what MacArthur is probing us towards. Be satisfied in Christ! Please, don't let me exalt this book over the bible, the scripture index is only eight pages long. In every chapter Johnny is expositing LARGE chunks of scripture to refute or expose the problems he is mentioning. After reading each chapter you will have a greater understanding of key scriptural texts necessary for the resisting of these sinful tendencies in the church as well as outright heresies that are creeping in unnoticed.

Probably the most entertaining chapter of the book (not that the book is meant to entertain) was chapter 3, "Does God Need a Psychiatrist?" Now you talk about scary. Macarthur exposes some problems and contradictions that exist within psychiatry. He discusses the professionalism of it all and questions whether or not it is a science at all. Here are some quotes from Time magazine in their article called, "Psychiatry on the Couch" pulled from chapter three.

"Psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that their profession often smacks of modern alchemy--full of jargon, obfuscation and mystification, but precious little real knowledge..."

"Scottish psychiatrist and poet R.D. Lang is sure that schizophrenia is real--and that it is good for you. Explains Lang: it is a kind of psychedelic epiphany, far superior to normal experience."

"The article went on to chronicle the failures of psychiatry, noting that, 'of all patients, one-third are eventually "cured," one-third are helped somewhat, and one-third are not helped at all.'"

Are you kidding me? Schizophrenia may be a good thing? Only one-third are actually cured (and that according to the psychiatrists standards)? Wow, that should make you thankful for Christ. The whole book is not an assault on psychiatry. I only chose to mention those quotes because they were extremely interesting to me.

This book is a must read for all Christians. Entire chapters are devoted to the sufficiency of Christ and His word as well as sanctification and obedience. To this date, this was probably the most insightful and encouraging book I have read, save God's Holy Word. I'll leave you with a few more quotes. If these do not make you love Christ more, read them again:

"We must hold fast to Christ's sufficiency -- never adding to it or taking from it. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). In Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form (2:9). We have been made complete in Him (2:10). And nothing can ever separate us from Him (Rom. 8:35-39). What more do we need?"

MacArthur closes the book with this:

"My prayer is that you won't exchange the fountain of life from which flow rivers of living water for the broken pots being sold today-which hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13

Our Trio is down to Two

I love random, bizzare, creepy, scary pets. I keep them in my classroom so the kids can ooh and ahh over them. I have a tarantula named Fuzzy; but that's not the bizzare pet that I am referring to. I also have three Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. I mean these things are hideous. Sarah won't even eat lunch within 10 feet of these things. This will help you get an idea about how big they are. Remember those rectangular pink erasers that you used to have in elementary school? These cockroaches dwarf those erasers. They are "ginormous" as some of my kids would tell you. The coolest thing about them is this; when they feel threatened they hiss really loudly. REALLY loudly. You know when grease falls off a barbeque pit, hits the fire and makes a loud hissing noise? You know how loud that is? They can hiss that loud. No lie. It's intimidating. You can check out Hissing Cockroaches at this sight:

 

http://www.angelfire.com/in/ghcfaq/

 

Well, their names are Larry, Moe and Curly and believe it or not, they have become loved by many in our classroom. Sadly, over spring break Larry passed away (Yes, I know them by name. Larry was the larger of the two brown roaches; Moe is the black roach). Funeral services will be held this afternoon as we bury him behind the school. Visitation will be all day today. Right now he rests in peace in the bottom of an empty goldfish box. He deserves the best. Comforting comments and prayers will be appreciated as it will be a tough day for all cockroach lovers.

 

Peace,

Ryan

Kentucky

WOW! Sarah and I are in Kentucky right now enjoying our visit to the seminary. This place is absolutely amazing. The staff is full of STUDS that authored many of the books that are on our bookshelf. Hanging out with all our friends and family has been a great encouragement and a confirmation of the Lord's calling on our lives. I cannot fully express in words what the Lord is doing here but I know one thing; this seminary is training men who will faithfully preach the word of God, rightly dividing it and bringing it to bare on the souls of all in the church. We are absolutely pumped about moving here sometime this summer. Well, i'm off to turn in my application in person so that I don't have to pay the application fee!! Oh, by the way...the REAL reason we are moving here is this: Every restaurant has sweet tea. Makes me feel good all over more than anywhere else.

Keep the dream alive,
Ryan

Thousands Saved, Millions Rededicated

Well, things are good in the Bebee household. Just wanted to let everyone know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything. We are headed up to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday and staying until Thursday. We hope to spend time with our family and friends that are living there, view the seminary, and look for a place to live in the Fall (as well as just get away from everything). We are extremely excited and can't wait to see everybody.

I preached on Super Bowl Sunday, the evening service. That's right, I preached during the Super Bowl. I thought it was probably a test by our pastor to see if I was really commited to preaching the word. If you want to hear the sermon click here.

Look down under the sermon descriptions and you will see it. It is labeled Ryan Bebee - 1 Pet. 4:1-6. If you have trouble finding it let me know. Thousands really were saved, and millions really did rededicate their lives...so be prepared, the same could happen to you.

Ryan

Ryan's preaching & surgery

Well, in the next two days we will be having quite a bit going on in the life of the Bebees. The first and most important though, is that tonight, YES TONIGHT, Ryan will be preaching at the evening service at Dayspring Fellowship. I will let you guys know if they record it and if it will be available on their website.

Please keep Ryan in prayer if you read this before tonight. He is preaching on 1 Peter 4:1-6. It has been late nights and lots of studying, but praise the Lord that He gives great joy in the reading and studying of His word! We have already had some great conversations, and I have been blessed by the preparation that Ryan has done already!

I am currently reading a book called "Acquainted with Grief". It is a biography of Wang Mingdao, who was a leading Christian pastor in China in the past centure. I'm not sure that we would all agree with all of his doctrinal stances, however, I have been so amazingly encouraged by his boldness to uphold truth, to not compromise when it comes to the gospel, to speak boldly when needed and yet seek to live a quiet life in the midst of the turmoil and dissention of communist china (1 Thes 4:11-12). I read this quote to Ryan and i wanted to share it with you all b/c it is the prayer that we have for our church and pastor, and for any church that Ryan and I have the blessing of joining!

"I have no desire to do something great. It is simply my hope, in this world where truth is beclouded and where teh lusts of men have broken their banks, to be able to testify to God's truth and to live out His life. I wanted to be faithful unto death; in my own particular sphere I want to glorify God; and I want to spread the fragrance of Christ wherever I go. It is not so much a large church that I want to build; it is rather to build up a church according to the mind of God. Two needs stand out in the world today. One is for model believers; the other is for the model churches. My prayer accordingly, is that we may be model believers, and that ours may be a model church." -- Wang Mingdao

And one more quote that I thought was so precious to our view of the gospel:

"What is the greatest need of manking? It is extravagant clothes? Is it lavish food? Is it a congenial occupation? Is it adequate medical provision? Is it upright politics? Is it a comprehensive system of law? Is it a higher level of society? Is it harmony among the nations? Is it the reform of our habits? Is it the establishment of virtue? All these are the needs of mankind. But the greatest need of all is not among them. Mankind's greatest need is to come to God for forgiveness of sin in order to have eternal life. Whether people acknowledge it or not, their greatest need is to be brought into touch with God. For God is the source of all happiness. But they have been cut off from God by sin and they themselves are unable to bridge the gap. What else can people do but endure pain and await the onset of death?" -- Wang Mingdao

I pray that we will be as passion and have the zeal that Wang has for the church, and the gospel. May we also fight the onset of a "Social Gospel" that seeks to meet people's NEEDS, but NOT THEIR GREATEST NEED!

ALSO -- tomorrow, Ryan goes into surgery for his shoulder. You can check out what happened if you return to the post from last year. He will be in surgery for an hour and a half, and they will reconnect an existing ligament to help support the shoulder and connect it to the clavicle. They will clean up some things in there, and will shorten his clavicle so that there is less possibility for arthritis and to aid in the reconstruction. We have to be in Fredricksburg at 11:00 and he will go into surgery at 1:00. You're prayers will be greatly appreciated, and I will keep you all updated when I get back to a computer! Thank you again for your support of Ryan and I!!!

New Attitude Conference & Mohler's blog

New Attitude
Registration Opens: Theme -- HUMBLE ORTHODOXY
The New Attitude conference for singles and young married couples returns to Louisville, Kentucky, May 26–29, 2007. Registration is now open, so join us as we gather to rediscover God's truth and recommit to living it humbly. They want to examine our lives in light of God's Word, because humble orthodoxy takes discernment. Joshua Harris, Eric Simmons, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, and John Piper will teach main sessions.If your church or organization would like to help them spread the word about New Attitude, send them an email. (For those of you in Louisville -- this would be REALLY GREAT!)

Also -- many of our friend bloggers check out Mohler's blog often, but let me TELL you...his blog yesturday was inspiring! I absolutely LOVE to read, and it was encouraging to see how important reading is to our Christian community, and how we NEED to encourage it in our children, student, friends, ect. Check it out! (PS -- it was Jan 24th post) And praise the Lord for God's healing hand on Al Mohler as well!!!

Do Not Love the World (Part 2)

I couldn't pass this up. I listened to part 2 of the sermon today...and MAN was it good! Here's some more:

Two Possibilities If You Don't Feel Much Love for God
Perhaps even as I say this, some of you are saying, "I don't feel very much love for God right now." There are two possible reasons for that.

1) You are not born of God...

2) The other possibility is that you have indeed been born again, but that your love for God has simply grown cool and weak. You've tasted what it means to have a heart for God. You can recall how once you felt that to know him was better than anything the world could offer. But this morning the wick is smoldering and the reed is bruised.
The prescription for your ailment is not much different than the prescription for seeking new birth in the first place. The same Spirit that begets life, also nourishes life. The same Word that ignites the fire of love, also rekindles love. The same Christ who once brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light, can take away the long dark night of your soul. So yield yourself to the Holy Spirit. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Cry out to Christ for a new vision of the glory of his grace. Don't be content with lukewarmness. Pursue a new passion for Christ.
......

St. Augustine captured the heart of our text when he prayed to the Father and said,

"He loves thee too little

who loves anything together with thee

which he loves not for thy sake."

Do Not Love the World

Ryan and I had a great weekend! We worked up at camp as weekend directors. It was the last weekend of spike and doe season (as some of you may or may not know)...and Ryan was in his deer stand despite the misting and hazy conditions. It proved to be successful!! Ryan shot a spike on Sunday morning! I good ending to the deer season, when the last weekend is always a little sorrowful for Ryan..as the end of a joyous past-time goes by another year.

This morning I have been enjoying a little bit more of some BIRTHDAY POSTCARDS! (No shudders please...). This has become one of my favorite duties of my job, b/c it gives me the time and attention to listen to some good sermons. Today's was from Mr. John Piper...Do Not Love the World. It was definantly to the point, and bold, and convicting, and encouraging all together. I encourage all of you if you have time to listen to this, and be reminded as I was, that our desire should be upmost to LOVE God, and this will be our motivator to turn away from teh things of the world. Here's a great quote:

In other words it is our love for God that overcomes the obstacles of disobedience and makes the commandments of God a joy rather than a burden. "Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her" (Genesis 29:20). Love for God makes his service a joy and overcomes the forces of disobedience. -- Piper

The Lightlings

I forgot to talk about the
best part of our trip! While spending time with the Moore family we had some Great conversations about the gospel. Ryan and I both had some one on one time with Aundera and Jonah to talk about Christ, baptism, and some essentials of the Christian faith. We talked about my dad, and blessing of knowing that he was a believer. I told them about the funeral, and how it was a time to really celebrate by dad, and his character, and how much we loved him. But even more than that, it was a time to talk about how much my dad loved Christ, and the truth of the gospel!! It was so neat to see how the Lord has already begun to soften their hearts. Aundera was baptized this past year, so we have been really continuing to talk about the gospel. While in the car with Jonah, we listened to this children's book, narrated by R.C. Sproul, called the Lightlings. It is a GREAT children's book about our state as humans, and the story of Christ! Love it! Jonah asked all kinds of good questions afterwards, and then said, can we listen to it again!!! So definantly check it out! We downloaded it on our ipod for free...so share with your young friends and family!!!

Baby FEVER

Little updating from the Bebees.

Baby FEVER!! Ok, for all of you dieing and hopeing that this will read...
WE ARE PREGNANT...it will be rather disappointing. However, Ryan and I have had some serious baby fever (def: the distinct desire to immediately have your own child or steal someone elses -- I mean adoption of some sort -- but you need a baby NOW). We spent the past weekend in New Mexico skiing with my sister and her family!!! Great snow, great weather, and man can my niece and nephew tear up the mountain. Aundera is parrallel sking blues like an ace, and she's even brave enough to go down some blacks!! Jonah is loving sking for the first time in his life -- (small run down of Jonah's life in skiing)

Year 1 -- Jonah is 1 year or so...spends all day at a daycare
Year 2 -- Jonah is roughly 2-3. spends the day at the daycare/ski school/spend a day in skis but just throw snowballs
Year 3 -- Jonah is extremely sick, and is unable to participate in the Stephens' family most beloved past-time sport
Year 4 -- Jonah now 4 tries skiing again...while his aunt Sarah is holding him and skiing down, close to the lift line -- projectile vomit begins from his mouth...yes, all over the ski run.
Year 5 -- well the past year, I think he did better, but he still was definantly not thrilled with skiing...
Year 6 -- THE BEST. Jonah learns to ski BY HIMSELF down the mountain. Greens are NOTHING for this kid. And his beloved response: "Sking is fun when you can do it. I can even ski around someone Aunt Sarah".

So back to baby fever. Ryan, with the seperated shoulder, offered to keep our 6 month old nephew Micheal while we hit the slopes. Yes, you heard right, Ryan babysat for two days, our little beautiful nephew. Diapers and all. It was like Daddy Daycare (although don't stress, I'm not ABOUT To ask Ryan to quite HIS job so we can have kids -- although we did discuss it...). And Ryan did an AWESOME job. Micheal LOVED him, and it was a huge blessing of a trip to spend time with the Moore family. I'll include pictures soon!

Other than that, you people in Kentucky probably can't believe that they closed Austin/Marble Falls/Llano schools for two days for icy conditions down here...and there were even reports of snow. Ryan and I spent two WHOLE days sealed into our little apartment..and loved every minute of it! -- although we began to run out of food!

Update on my Aunt Deborah. Many of you know that my dear Aunt Deborah has had hepatitis C for many years, and it has slowly completely demolished her liver. A few weeks ago she had reached the point where she was put on a recipient list in Baylor. This weekend, she was called in to recieve her new liver. It is a very hard and at times, risky procedure for the patient. But the Lord has been so gracious to work out all the many details, schedules, family flights/departures, weather, and in his goodness, my Aunt Deborah is in a recovery wing walking and talking, and her new liver is already working in her body! I am amazed at the ingeniousness that the Lord has given man to bring such blessings into our lives!!

So keep Ryan and I in your prayers as we continue to make plans for the upcoming year. Ryan has his shoulder surgery on February 5th in Fredricksburg, and we will keep you updated on that as well!

Reunion 2007

So for those of you that are not in the all consuming, and rather enjoyable Buckner circle...WE JUST HAD CAMP BUCKNER REUNION. (No, not a cult meeting!)

Ryan and I were able to spend time with his family for Christmas, then head north to spend a week with my family. It was exhausting, and yet one of our best Christmas ever! Christmas day was actually spent with my sister's husbands entire family...hehe! We are a weird group. Ryan and I even did the gift exchange and everything. It was great! I am sure many of you had as many Christmas days as we did, but I counted about six (including the one where we weren't family).

Ryan and I made it back into Kingsland in time to celebrate our SECOND anniversary! PF Changs treated us right!! Congrats to all of those that with us celebrated during this time -- Riedls (Happy TWO!), Polittes (Happy SIX -- I think), Franklins (Ashley and Ryan!!! TWO TWO!), Jones (Teesh and Stepho -- THREE!), and my sweet friends the Gossetts (Three!)!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES to them all!

Reunion went GREAT! We had roughly over 80 people come through our gates for the infamous get together...even as oldschool as the Dawson, Bethany Howe, the Cates!! Ryan's Bible studies were great. We were all challenged and definantly encouraged. Let us know if you want the notes, and we would be glad to share. I look forward to lots of great conversations with you Kentuckians about these subjects.

Some memorable moments from 2007 reunion:

1) Yes Brent, the sick-out game of twister. Cliff, Ryan, Brent and K-Chap spinning the wheel.

2) As Mindy stated on Jamies blog...tons, and tons, and TONS of games.

3) We set up the back kitchen area for those looking for their significant other. We had thirty minute conversation slot times open (although I think you guys talked WAY more in 06), and then you could exchange e-mail and phone numbers if you desired...in honor of none other than my best friends the Butts.

4) And just plain fellowship. I was SO amazingly encouraged by all of the counselors and friends I was able to catch up with, share life events, and search out wisdom in life's decisions! Can't wait for camp!!

--I hear there are some great pictures on facebook...although I can't see them yet. HOpefully soon!

For those of you that couldn't make it...sad day...but know you were missed, AND you missed out!

Buckner Reunion

In obedience to Bethany, I will post something new. Sarah and I are in the middle of a Camp Buckner Reunion. I cannot tell you how fun this is. I love seeing all these camp people come in during their Christmas break and go crazy during reunion. There are lots of games being played, plenty of snacks consumed (in fact, I suffered from a "hooch hangover" this morning. It's when you feel like your stomach is one solid chunk of junk food because you ate so much the night before. It is not enticing to say the least and it will greatly influence what I eat tonight between 8 o'clock and the time I go to bed), tons of catching up with old friends and the occasional Bible study. Well, three to be exact. I was blessed with the responsibility to do all three so I thought I would let you know what I have been teaching on. The studies are on the imputation of Christ's Righteousness and they are broken down as follows.

1) Our Need for the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness
- This deals with mankind's representatives, Adam and Christ, as well as inherited or original sin. We need Christ's righteousness because God demands righteousness and we cannot provide it due to the effects of sin. I also portray why this doctrine is important and the need to understand it and apply it to your life.

2) The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness -- The Basis of our Justification
- The title pretty much says it all. I go into the specifics of Justification and Christ's righteousness: His perfect obedience (both active and passive), justification being a legal or forensic declaration by God, Christ's righteousness being an alien righteousness totally outside of ourselves. God can declare us just on the basis if Christ's righteousness alone being credited to us.

3) How This Righteousness Becomes Ours and the Benefits of Possessing it
- This is pretty straightforward. It comes as a gift, through the instrument of faith (which is NOT a work). I will spend quite a bit of time reviewing the previous Bible studies during this time as well as explaining in greater detail the practical application of understanding our position in Christ.

Those are the three studies and I will come back later and fill you in a little on each one. But for now, that's all you get because I am supposed to be putting together the last one right now. I will leave you with a few quotes that I ran across during my study that are quite a bit encouraging. Eron and Kari, if you two are in Burnet while I am giving these Bible studies I will feel really bad. I would have loved to have had Eron staring at me from the audience insuring that I am speaking the truth.

Take it easy and boast only in the righteousness that Christ provides.

John Bunyan “Our righteousness is both imperfect and short of continuance. But Christ’s righteousness will abide forever, it is a garment that will never wear out, or wax old, it is a righteousness that will last our lives, be of service at death, appear fresh at judgment, and will answer for us in a time to come, and give us an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

John Murray “Regeneration is an act of God in us; justification is a judgment of God with respect to us. The distinction is like that of a distinction between the act of a surgeon and the act of a judge. The surgeon, when he removes an inward cancer, does something in us. That is not what a judge does—he gives a verdict regarding our judicial status. If we are innocent, he declares accordingly.
The purity of the gospel is bound up with the recognition of this distinction. If justification is confused with regeneration or sanctification, then the door is opened for the perversion of the gospel at it’s center. Justification is still the article of the standing or falling of the church.”

Christmas Lights

Well, most of you know that I will dearly miss Texas when I move to good ole' Looeeville to go to seminary. I just wanted to give you guys a tast of what I will miss. Three things have really caught my eye this year as I have been driving around the Kingsland/Granite Shoals area (which is where we live for those that don't know) admiring the beautiful Christmas decorations. Let me remind you that this area is made up of Jeff Foxworthy's favorite kind of people. REDNECKS!!

 

#1 - Yesterday I was driving home from my deer blind when I saw a partial nativity scene in a front yard. I saw Mary and Joseph admiring their beautiful baby boy who was lying in a manger. Each figure lit up and it was really great. At first glance I thought their were two animals gathered around but upon a closer inspection I found that not to be true. Guess who was present at Jesus' birth! Rudolph and one other reindeer!! Yep, according to one family in Kingsland, Rudolph and a fellow reindeer were present at Jesus' birth.

 

#2 - This one just makes me laugh. Jason and I were heading home from a football game and we examined a decorated yard near my house. Jason made the comment that he didn't think that it looked very good and I have to agree. This family took the approach to Christmas decor that requires no order or planning. It looked like the house threw up Christmas lights and the trees in the fron yard caught them. Come on, take some pride in your lighting.

 

#3 - My personal favorite. Some people put figures in their yard that are outlined in Christmas lights. A very common figure is the classic white deer with white lights along every contour and curve to bring the animal to life. There are many other figures such as Santa, Christmas trees, crosses, reindeer, stars, bells and holly. One individual in Granite Shoals has really put to shame any Christmas figure this side of the Mississippi. I laugh every time I drive home and see the CEMENT TRUCK lit up in his front yard with the MIXING BUCKET spinning and CEMENT pouring out the back!! All done with red and white lights. Whos decorates their yard with a Christmas Light CEMENT TRUCK? (rednecks)

 

So anyway, I will miss Texas...but I'll be alright.

SNOWPEOPLES!

This is in honor of Kari Plevan! Thanks for the link, I LOVED making my snowman. Check her out HERE!!! And make sure to click "make her move"!!! Thanks Kari for the holiday links...I think I"m going to hang out at Better Home and Gardens TONS!

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God -- a Good Christmas present

I know, I know, you missed me!! Well, I'm back!!

First, let me just tell you, Ryan and I had the most wonderful thanksgiving ever! We had all the goodies to eat, we had a house full of Ryan's family for four nights straight, and two kiddos (Jacob and the Ty-man) ready to play at the first signs of life in the morning. I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving. And I love the Bebee family that is now my own. We had a time of really just sharing what we were thankful for, and praying for one another. It was encouraging!!

FRIDAY! And for those of you girls that love to shop, Friday was IT! Shea, Cara and I woke up a little before 3:00, and were shopping at the Roundrock outlet mall directly after. There were SWEET deals, and for those of you saying "is it REALLY worth it"??? I have to respond with a resounding YES!!! I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping, and man, there were some great gifts.

Other than that, Ryan and I have been super busy with school and camp. I'm in the middle of Junior Counselor applications/interviews which has been a blessing to me. And Ryan has been jumping in the deer blind every opportunity he can (PS. my sister and her husband are coming down next weekend to hunt -- boys hunting, girls shopping and well, being girls!! LOVE IT).

For those of you looking for a good book to give for Christmas, I ran across a Piper book on his website. When my dad died, I read almost everything I could get my hands on regarding this subject, but as I went through some of the pages online again this morning, it was so heart warming and comforting to see GOD for the sovereign ruler that He is. So check out, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, by John Piper. It's only 7.00 bucks on his website. And here's a little snippit of the good stuff.

"The impetus for this books comes from the ultimate reality of God as the supreme value in and above the universe. God is absolute and eternal and infinite. Everything else and everybody else is dependent and finite and contingent. God himself is the great supreme value. Everything else that has any value has it by connection to God. God is supreme in all things. He has all authority, all power, all wisdom -- and he is all good "to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him" (Lam. 3:25). And his name, as Creator and Redeemer and Ruler of all, is Jesus Christ." (Chapter 1, pg. 17)

"And what I mean in this chapter when I say that God is sovereign is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, but that he does govern all things, for his own wise and holy purposes." (Piper, 19)

We all of those people in our lives, or ourselves, who are going through hard times, suffering, or have experienced great loss. May we point them to Christ. And may we know that "our comfort is abundant through Christ." (2 Cor 1:5).

Ohh yeaaaah, I have a blog...

Well, I guess I should post something every now and then.

 

-- Sarah and I met with our pastor last week to discuss the call to ministry. We had a wonderful time discussing the hardships that a pastor faces and the calling that the Lord has placed on mine and Sarah's life. It was extrememly encouraging as well as enlightening to the daily life of a pastor. There is a lot more to it than studying and preaching the word! The first thing that he wanted me to do was read chapter 6 of Preaching and Preachers by Martin Loyd Jones (sound familiar Eron?). I did, wow, and it too was encouraging and confirming of the call to the pastoral ministry. I will be preaching at Dayspring (our church) on a Sunday night sometime in January.

-- I got to explain The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to about 6 teachers today in the teachers lounge. It really paint a great picture of the gospel and sharing it was easy. I think that tomorrow I will explain the Lord's redemptive work using some other movie. How about Bull Durham.

-- My shoulder is getting much better, I don't think I am going to have surgery until I let it heal and see what I can and can't do. It feels pretty good, and although Sarah might not be to thrilled to hear this, I might even hunt with my bow during the Thanksgiving break.

Note: Sarah and I will discuss this long before it ever happens. I am not encouraging that husbands do anything that their wives wouldn't encourage them in (especially in non-spiritual matters such as bow-hunting).

-- Life is good. I don't have any crazy stories to tell you about school (at least none come to mind), but if anything happens I will let you know.

-- Sarah is still the most wonderful girl in the whole world. She is recruiting in Abilene today (HSU) and will be back late tonight. This also means that I will be hunting this afternoon (always a good time).

-- I still get sick to my stomach when I think about the Texas - K-State game.

 

I hope that you all have a great thanksgiving.

 

Sola Deo Gratia,

   Ryan

AC Joints Part II

Update on Ryan: Our first orthopedic guy, Dr. Hurt saw Ryan on Tuesday. He did some extras, and did some measurements. Turns out Ryan is officially a Grade Five AC joint injury. Meaning, the separation between the clavicle and the scapula is larger than 200% of the other side. Pretty major, and it also means that he has torn all of the ligaments in between. The surgery for reparing this is rather major, so we were advised to let it heal for 4 weeks and come back and see the progress. Then we will do physical therapy if needed for 4 weeks, and then will look at surgery as the last result. Most AC injuries heal on their own, but the shoulder will not pull back up to the clavicle, but he would gain all motor and physical skills back. We are going to another guy in Fredericksburg on Wednesday (the best in the area we hear) to get a second opinion, and make sure we can't do anything else to help the healing. We may even travel down to San ANtonio due to the Patyraks (some best friends of mine, who are also in the medical field) recommendation. We love you guys and thank you for the prayers.

Other than injuries ect...we have been having a great time reading! Ryan is obsessed with some real documentary style hunting books about Africa, and he has had a lot more time to delve into his theology books, and I've been reading some classics!

For those of you in the area too...we are still looking at the Jingle Bell 5K in Zilker Park on Dec. 17th (Sunday night). We'd love for you to join us! :o)