Confession:

This morning I told myself I needed more spiritual discipline in my life.
More fasting. More praying. More reading. More listening.
Less talking, less watching & less eating. "I'll fast from sugar" I heard myself suggest. (Myself tends to be overly ambitious in the morning, leaving my afternoon persona to be overwhelmed.)

This evening, the sight of me eating dessert rivaled the chocolate cake scene in the movie Matilda. (For the record, it was a s'mores bake and I've never had anything more delicious in my life. Thank you Pinterest.)

Clearly, the need for spiritual discipline (let's just go ahead and use the term "self-control") is more glaringly obvious than it was a mere 14 hours ago.

Good books & generous friends.

My sweet friend Chelsea mailed these books to me this week as a gift. I've never heard of them but I'm excited to crack them open this weekend and see what she's so excited about. 

More.

Today I am struck by Galatians 1:24

"And they glorified God because of me."

The fact that the gospel was powerful enough to soften Saul's heart (read the story here) and he was now preaching to the people he once persecuted resulted in them glorifying God.


I love that feeling.
The moment where your heart feels cloaked in joy
and every region of your soul praises God.

It's a unique, yet hopefully reoccurring, moment when you see that God has saved the seemingly unsaveable.

I can't believe I referenced that.

I'm reading through Galatians this week and only made it a few verses in when I was stopped by a particularly compelling verse.

Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed."

The other times I have come across this verse, my mind immediately thinks of the Mormon church. This is what their faith is based on; an angel coming down and sharing an additional gospel to man. If it offends you that my mind makes that connection, you can read more about their beliefs on mormon.org. (Or watch the South Park episode that makes a less reliable, yet highly entertaining and informative song on Mormon beliefs. If that offends you, you are justified. It's South Park.)

But this time, I felt a more personal conviction from the verse. I noted that Paul writes "but even if we" in his warning. Who's we? Maybe pastors. Probably mentors. People with spiritual authority in my life. Even if they proclaim a gospel that contradicts Scripture or adds on to it, let them be accursed. This got me thinking.

Do I filter everything my pastors say through the word of God?
And not just the belief statement typed up on the website, but what they preach. How they live their life. What they proclaim, how they describe gospel-centrality. If they lead their church like Jesus led his people. Or even the things I want to hear about myself. Whether it's fine if I do this or that. Go here or there.


Paul is wise (shocking, right?) to encourage his churches to believe in God, not him. This verse is a great reminder for me to take heed and listen for spiritual leaders to say things like "these are God's words, not mine" or "check your Bible if you disagree". The greatest and most Biblical leaders in my life have been the ones who are constantly discrediting themselves.


And lastly, this verse in Galatians calls me to know the gospel in order to determine what's authentic.

Celebrate.

Today would have been my friend Michael's 23 birthday. I took some time today to celebrate his life and reflect on the things I loved about him.

In the 7th grade, Michael wrote me a note with Romans 8:28 scribbled on it reminding me that "God works for the good of those who love him". It's still one of my favorite verses, but quite honestly mostly because I imagine it in his scribbled, bold handwriting.




I miss Michael often and am thankful when he appears in my dreams, happy & healthy.

Podcasts.

I'm missing my church family at Ekklesia this week. Wesley Towne brings the word to a room like no one else I've encountered.
You can listen to his sermons online here.

And if you have the time or interest, be praying for their leadership! They are doing a great job spreading the gospel to the city of Eugene so I'm sure Satan is doing a great job pestering them. 

We'll come back to it.

I've been thinking a lot about why God asked Abraham to kill his son Isaac on the alter. {If you aren't familiar with the story, you can read it here.} 

I think that God is worth obeying and trusting.
And I know that he gives and he takes away.
I'm not sure what this story says about him though. Or what he wants me to learn from it.

God is testing Abraham, and when he passes the test correctly he gets rewarded.

I'm uncomfortable with that. For a lot of reasons.
And if anything, this story reveals the great character of Abraham. God asked him to do something really hard and terrifying and he obeyed him. I haven't formed an opinion on what this says about God's character. Or at least one that I'm comfortable typing out for the internet to read.

Maybe I'll tuck this back into my brain for right now and file it away under "misunderstanding sovereignty" and "the Old Testament is fascinating".