In preparation for my first Seminary class, which meets this Friday and Saturday, I read through and wrote a paper on the first of three text books.  The book titled "Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture" was written by Graeme Goldsworthy.  For a complete book review please open the file below.


Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scriptures - Book Review
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Has God ever spoken to you through someone else, maybe a friend, acquaintance or even a complete stranger?  Has anyone ever come up to you out of the blue and spoken truth into your life about a struggle that your in the middle of, and then gone away, if so, God has spoken to you first-hand.  It happened to me today.
 
You see, I haven’t slept well every since the miscarriage occurred and although deep down I knew it was due to the events that occurred, I wouldn’t let myself dwell on what had occurred.  Why?  Because I am the man of the house, the husband to my wife and the father of my children, in other words, I am supposed to be the rock by which my family can depend, or at least I thought so. 

When God talked with me today, he spoke though a new acquaintance of mine, named Thomas.  After service today, Thomas approached me and just started talking about how he had been praying for me ever since he had heard about our news, and that he too knew what I was going through as he and his wife had gone through the same thing years earlier.  That in itself wasn’t too unique as many people have been praying for us, however what he said next, pierced me in the chest and made me realize that Thomas was no longer speaking with me, but God Himself. 

He went on to tell me that everything my heart and mind had been thinking but not wanting to share with anyone else.  He said that I was:

Wondering if at anytime, maybe I didn’t really want this baby, and wondering if that is why this occurred or even blaming myself for it.
Wondering if my lack of faith around being able to financially support my family after this child caused this to occur. 
Wondering if it okay for me to mourn this loss, as I am supposed to be here for everyone else (be their rock)?
 
Then he said the one thing that you hear all the time, but when God says it to you for some reason we take it to heart.  He said, your feelings matter, and it’s not your fault.

After some very uncomfortable silence as I tried to hold back tears, Thomas’s cell phone rang and he was gone. 

I haven’t been able to get this out of my head or heart all day.  I just continue to replay it in my head.  How did Thomas know what to say at that moment, how did he know exactly what I was going through, and why did he need to bring it up, as I was more than happy to bury it, and never become emotional.  My answer…. Thomas was just the instrument that God used to speak into my life.  Now I have to respond…..

So what is my response…
1.     Thank you God, first for using Thomas, and I pray you would bless him for his service to you.
2.     Thank you god for not allowing me to continue to speak superficially about my thoughts of this situation
3.     Thank you God for validating my feelings
4.     Thank you God for reminding me of your presence in my life.
5.     Please be with me and guide me through this mourning process, specifically around guilt and fault
6.     Teach me to know how to mourn this loss.
7.     Through this, Grow (exponentially) my faith in You
8.     Allow me to use this experience to guide others to you and your kingdom.

As for you (those reading this blog), thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and I am sorry that I haven’t been as genuine with you as I could have or should have been during these tough times.  Please continue to pray for me and my family.  Please pray specifically that God would lead me through this mourning process and that I would follow His teachings which He has spoken into my life today. 

Doing my best to cleave to Christ.
- Keith Wagar

 

Do you take the time to ensure all that you do reflects the face of Christ? We all know that we should, but how many times does it actually happen?  I know for me, there are peaks and valleys..  You see it’s real easy to reflect the face of Christ when we are working on “Christian” things (i.e. helping out at a shelter, cleaning up a church, attending church, etc), but what about those other times?  How can you and I ensure that when we start, are working on and when we complete a task/job/project, that the face of Christ will be reflected for all to see? 

I feel that the video below is a great representation of how you and I can have that assurance,  no matter the size of or the stringent timelines for our task/job/project, if we build it upon What and Who Christ is, His face will always shine through.

Take a look and reflect!


 

 

Do me a favor…. Take out a pencil/pen and a piece of paper.  On the paper quickly right down 5 things God has blessed you and/or your family with..

 

 

 

 



 

Got them written down?  Great!  Now, go ahead and think about and write down 5 more things God has blessed you and/or your family with..

 

 

 

 



 

Great, now you have 10 things written down that God has blessed you and/or your family with, correct?

 
Okay.  Now look over your list and see how many of them fit into one of the following categories:

1.      Family

2.      Friends

3.      Work

4.      Possessions

Do all of yours fit into one of the 4 above noted categories?  If you’re like most Christians (including me), they do/did..  Also, like most Christians, you’ve probably thanked the Almighty Creator for these Blessings.  In fact, many of them you/I thank Him for everyday, right?

So now you’re saying, yeah what’s the point?  The point is, we all see/give thanks for the Blessings that God provides for us on a daily basis, but how often do you/I give Him Glory and Praise for our #1 blessing?  SALVATION

Let’s be honest for a second, shall we…. We just celebrated Easter right?  Since Easter Sunday, how many of us, me included, have given praise and Glory to God for His decision to sacrifice His only Son in order to save all of us?  That has to be the hardest decision any parent can make, and He made it in order that we, could be saved…. WOW as a parent of 5 children, I look at that and say, could I make that decision, could I sacrifice one of my children in order to save many?  My prayer is that I would never be placed into a situation where I needed to make that decision ….

I came across this video (below) last night and could not get my mind off the sacrifice that God has made for us... Watch the video and then give Glory to God for His ultimate sacrifice and your ultimate Blessing!