Are You Toying With An Affair?

If so, you need Proverbs 5. Like, now. It's strong medicine and shock therapy. Then please go read this personal testimony to the wisdom of Proverbs 5.

Even if you're not toying with an affair, you need Proverbs 5. It's vitamins to guard against spiritual immunocompromise. You need all the defenses and offenses the Bible offers in your fight against the powers of sexual temptation.

If you think you could never toy with an affair, read this. Then humbly flip back to Proverbs 5. God opposes the proud, but gives marriage-protecting, marriage-sweetening grace to the humble. 

HT: JT

Listen To Your President, Church

It is sadly ironic that such a powerful pro-life message is on the lips of such a pro-choice President. May God mercifully grant him eyes to see how desperately these convictions need to work back down into the womb.

And we, the Church, need to listen to the call to a dogged, persistent, it-doesn't-matter-how-complicated-the-politics-are engagement on these issues.

Listen to your President, Church: 

"We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. But that cannot be an excuse for inaction."

"If there is even one step we can take to save another child, surely we have an obligation to try."

"Are we really prepared to say that we are powerless in the face of such carnage; that the politics are too hard?!"

"Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"  

Newtown was a horrible, horrible tragedy. We are rightly outraged over the 26 lives that were cruelly snuffed out. We ought to be heartbroken for their grief-ridden families.

If we feel this way about this tragedy (and we should!), how should we feel about the more than 50 million lives that have been cruelly snuffed out since 1973? If this is the public and national response to the carnage in Newtown, what should be the response to the ongoing, legalized carnage that takes place every day, "year after year after year," in every state in the Union?

This Sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. A Door of Hope is a ministry worthy of our prayers and support. They put this video together for this upcoming Sunday.

HT: JT

A Song for Fathers. A Song for Sons.

Jeremiah 6:16

Thus says the LORD:

Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. ...

(Andrew Peterson, "You'll Find Your Way" from the album, Light For the Lost Boy)


John 14:6

Jesus said to him,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Matthew 11:28-30

[Jesus said,]

Come to me, all 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.

 HT: JT

Fighting Cancer With A Song

Yesterday we sang the song "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman. Beth leaned over and said, "That's one of Chase's favorite songs. There is a video of him singing it on Ellie's blog." I made a note on my bulletin to find that video and watch it.

Bob & Ellie Ewoldt are folks we know from Grace Church of DuPage. Their story is sopping wet with grace...and trials and sorrows. Their 3 year old son Chase has been fighting cancer since this past summer. Ellie has blogged consistently through this ordeal. You would not regret taking some time to read through her posts.

We have been praying for them as a family. Last night Beth read us a couple of recent updates from the blog before we prayed. We cried. We blessed God for the grace he's poured out on this family. I thought I would share the blessing of "knowing" them, and give you the opportunity to join with us in prayer.

Here's the video of Chase singing "10,000 Reasons."



I love that he's wielding a sword. Reminds me of this message by John Piper. I hope you go and listen to it.

Pray for Chase. As you can read here, today is a big day.

When Friends Fail You

Ever had a friend fail you? A Christian friend no less? Jesus has something to say to that. The gospel has something to say to that.

I read this post by John Piper a little while back and made a note to share it on the blog. Lots of good, practical, gospel wisdom here: 

My most recent message struck a chord with many when I spoke of Christian friends letting you down. I argued that sometimes they forsake you never to return — like Demas. He loved “the present world,” and so abandoned the great apostle who craved the Lord’s appearing more than he craved the world (2 Timothy 4:8).

And, even more relevant, we saw that many friends let you down but can and should remain your friends and your partners in ministry. Paul said that nobody from his team or from the church in Rome showed up to stand by him at his trial (2 Timothy 4:16). Nobody. Not Luke or Eubulus or Pudens or Linus or Claudia or any of “the brothers” (2 Timothy 4:21).

Nevertheless Paul graciously includes them with himself in greeting Timothy, and writes, “May it not be charged against them!” (2 Timothy 4:16). Amazing. Beautiful. Their fellowship survived this painful moment of abandonment.

After the sermon one of my own partners in ministry, Amanda Knoke, Director of Communications at Bethlehem, pointed me to C. S. Lewis’s wise words on this issue. Here’s what he said to “An American Lady.”

I think what one has to remember when people “hurt” one is that in 99 cases out of a 100 they intended to hurt very much less, or not at all, and are often quite unconscious of the whole thing. I’ve learned this from the cases in which I was the “hurter.” When I have been really wicked and angry and meant to be nasty, the other party never cared or even didn’t notice. On the other hand, when I have found out afterwards that I had deeply hurt someone, it has nearly always been quite unconscious on my part. (C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, Grand Rapids, 1967, 57)

Amanda connected this with Proverbs. 19:11, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

Yes. And we should keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who was abandoned by all 11 of his apostles, and was denied by Peter. Then he built the church on them!

We look to Jesus not only because he was the great model of holding onto friends who let him down, but also because he died and rose again to be the joyful bond of broken and restored friendships.

So keep Jesus before your eyes, and pray this into your heart: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:7–8).

Whatever you do, don’t let the failure of your Christian friends become the basis for abandoning the one Friend who never fails.

Amen.

Plan Your Diet and Menu For 2013

What would happen to you in 2013 if you never planned to eat? What if you failed to stock the cupboards and the fridge with cereal and milk or oatmeal and fruit (or whatever floats your breakfast boat) and woke up each morning hoping there was something left over from yesterday's last minute run to Dunkin Donuts? What if you arrived at 6pm each night and didn't have a dinner plan? What if you never planned ahead for the grocery store? I know, I know. In our microwave, fast-food, easy-access grocery store and restaurant world, you can get by with very little culinary planning. Not many bachelors die of starvation. The point is that we don't eat well if we don't plan for it.

How well did you "eat" in 2012? If you could look in a special mirror and your soul became a visible body, what kind of shape would it be in? Would it look anemic and weak? Would it look strong and healthy?

Matthew 4:4

[Jesus] answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Do you have a plan yet for 2013? Here is a great list of some really helpful options. This is not a box-checking, belt-notching issue. This is a soul health and strength issue. This is a "Will I live a barren, chaff-like existence or fruitful tree-like existence in 2013?" issue.

If you're not a big reader, there are plenty of audio options available. Beth prefers to listen to the Bible (and sometimes also to follow along) in the morning. She usually uses biblegateway.com. If audio works better for you, you can even subscribe to your daily Bible reading in podcast form (see again this link to learn how to do it). You can really leverage the audio option if you've got any kind of commute above 5 minutes. Believe it or not, it only takes 75 hours to listen to the entire Bible! In other words, if your commute is 15 minutes one way, you could listen to the entire Bible...in a year...listening on only the inbound or outbound leg of the journey! Or, how long does it take for you to make the coffee and eat breakfast? 15 minutes? One year. The whole Bible. Over breakfast. The news can wait.

May I draw attention to the obvious? One of our main excuses for not reading the Bible is "I don't have time." This is a really lame excuse. It's simply not true. It just feels like it's true. But that's because we don't plan to "eat."

And...underneath the planning and discipline issues are the desire issues. We're simply not hungry enough. Or, we're hungry for the wrong things (Does anyone need to bug you to try to find 15 minutes a day to keep up on Facebook or keep up with the sports page or your favorite news feed?). If it's important enough, you'll find a way. Necessity is the mother of invention.

"Ah, the guilt trip! Excellent! Is your next post going to chide me for eating too many sweets over the holidays?"

Guilt tripping isn't going to carry you very far into 2013. That's certainly not my intention. My intention is to encourage you to be intentional about feeding your soul in 2013. My intention is to encourage you to pray for hunger and fight for your faith. The point is not to wag an accusing finger in your face. The point is to point you to The Fountain and The Food your soul needs.

Isaiah 55:1-3:

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live...

You may need to fast from some other things that tend to stuff your soul. You may need to drag yourself to the Word so that your appetite gets whetted for what is good. But whatever you do, pray for hunger and plan to eat.

McGarvey Christmas Letter

Dear family and friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012 in the McGarvey household was filled with lots of life and growth. To be sure, there was plenty of struggle and sin and “I’m sorry” and so on, but God’s grace is stronger and more decisive. We look back on such a wondrous ton of grace and mercy and kindness – a very conspicuous and beautifully contoured ton. We are very thankful.

Beth and I have been married 16 years now. We’ve experienced so much grace in our marriage. Each year has been grace-filled, tough patches included, but this year we’ve had a particularly sweet awareness of God’s grace toward us. We thank God for it.

And then there are these five kids…

Parenting is obviously a lot of hard work. And all that hard work doesn’t guarantee desired outcomes. Our kids are far from perfect. There were plenty of pull-your-hair-out moments (each week?!) in 2012. Dad and Mom are painfully aware of their parental sin. And yet, God has been so gracious. What a joy these children are to us! We thank God for each of them.

So…here’s the run down on the kiddos:

Hannah is 12 now and in 7^th grade. She’s a great big sister (and little mother) to her siblings. She is a diligent student and enjoys participating on her school’s volleyball and basketball teams. When she has time, she likes arts and crafts and giving expression to her creative impulses. One of the highlights of this past year was that she was baptized in November. Daddy had the privilege of baptizing her. You can hear her testimony here. It’s been a deep joy to observe God’s grace at work in her life.

Sam is 10 now and in 5^th grade. He has a lively imagination and sense of humor. His interests this year have ranged from Pirates of the Caribbean Legos to Captain America and the other Avengers to The Lord of the Rings books (and Legos) to the Harry Potter books. Whatever he is into, he is all in. Aimed at the right things, that trait will serve him and others well in the future. He also enjoyed participating in the school’s Drama Club this Fall, culminating in his role as Inspector Nick Kerbocker in the short play “CSI New Pork.”

Lily is 8 now and in 2^nd grade. She is still our sweet little flower, and she still loves flowers. When we go to Longwood Gardens, she wants to be the family photographer and take a picture of nearly every flower she sees. Though her love of flowers has remained, her love for animals has eclipsed it. She would happily move to a farm, and her Christmas wishes are to ride horses and swim with dolphins. She wants to be a kindergarten teacher when she grows up, and regularly practices her pedagogical methods with her willing pupil Jonathan. The treehouse is regularly set up like a classroom in session.

Jono is 5 (and a ½!) now and in Kindergarten. He has happily made the transition into school and loves his teacher and all he is learning. The first day of school, he came home proud of the fact that he had grossed out his classmates. He acquired a love for dried seaweed via his best friend Daniel Ho. He packed it as his snack and relished the reaction. He loves to color, and is meticulous about his work. He is a gym rat (along with Lily) when Mom is leading practices for Hannah’s basketball team. He has a special affection for his little brother. He tells us, “I love him to life!” His explanation: “I don’t like the expression, ‘I love him to death.’” He loves to wrestle with and pummel dad, regularly pulling a Jimmy Johnny SuperFly Snuka dive onto his unsuspecting target.

Ben is now 1. He is growing so fast. It’s no wonder. He eats like a teenager. To look at him, it’s pretty obvious he’s not missing any meals; but seriously, the kid can pack it away! His interests include high speed home demolition (the boy is B.U.S.Y.), taste-testing anything he can get his hands on, removing all items from any surface he can pull up to, grabbing and throwing any ball in sight, seeing the moon at night, cruising around on the driveway in his walker-saucer thing, raiding the chip and cracker shelf in hopes of shaking food loose, music and dance (we’ve learned to decipher the “please turn on the music” grunt that gets aimed at the ipod speaker), his siblings (he lights up to each of them and they sure love him!), waving at strangers in the store (you’d think he watched the Miss America pageant one too many times), and cat wrestling (see video - note: no cats were injured in the making of this video).

 

We continue to be thankful for our wonderful church family at Bethel Baptist Church. They truly are our spiritual family. Chris is thankful for the privilege of being their pastor and Beth enjoys her leadership role with women’s ministry and her various other involvements. The Lord is teaching and growing us in a many ways.

This Christmas, we’ve been pondering the irony in the typical American Christmas experience. Songs fill the air painting idyllic scenes of inner (and world) peace and relational harmony. But we know better. The world is a mess, and a lot of our relationships are too. Christmas seems like irrelevance and irony for many. The season is a thorn in their flesh rather than a warm fuzzy in their stomach.

The marketeers keep preaching their gospel of acquisition. Advertisements evangelize us left and right. All you have to do is trust and obey. Happiness is right around the next consumer corner. Just receive their message into your heart and follow. You’d think we’d know better. You’d think we’d be offended by their shameless confrontational evangelism. They are bold. Their promises are disproportionately large. They never deliver. And yet we aren’t offended. We welcome this preaching. We drink it in. We pour it out on others once we’ve drunk deeply ourselves. We are dissatisfied, but we still find ourselves as harried shoppers frantically searching for the stuff to satisfy ourselves and others.

The highest and saddest irony is the posture of so many toward Christ and Christmas. They may tip their hat to the baby in the manger. They may throw him and that common crèche in with the sentimentalism and irrelevance of holiday tradition. They may reject him as the symbol of yesteryear’s religious narrowness and intolerance. And yet…if God really did take on flesh and dwell among us, to live with us and die forus, to save us from our sins – and if that is irrelevant and merely sentimental, and if the false gospel of the marketeers doesn’t offend us, if the gospel of Jesus does, then that is the sadist irony.

The world is a mess and Amazon.com can’t save us. A big screen TV or an iPad will not “change your life.” There are a lot of voices preaching to you this Christmas. We hope the living words of the Living Savior will rise above all the din and fill you with true and lasting peace and joy and love.

Come to me, all 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)

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)

With much love to you all,

The McGarveys

I Like Adoption

This is beautiful. Grab the kleenex.



Our Father's got a great big house, and through the death of his Son, he's rescuing all kinds of kids from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. Family is everything.

Rom 8:15

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

1 John 3:1

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Hallelujah!

HT: JT

Confused About the Fiscal Cliff?

Here's a very helpful summary of the issues by Joe Carter.

What Would You Say To A Leader of Hamas?

If you had the opportunity to speak to a leader of Hamas, what would you say?

Here's what Ravi Zacharias, the gifted evangelist and apologist, said:

I love the power and beauty of the "weakness" and ugliness of the cross!

HT: JT