You Alone Can Lift My Head, Now Bowed in Shame

 "O Lord, so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. I have so many enemies. ² So many say that God will never help me. ³ But Lord, you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame." Psalm 3:1-3

 

 Shame....

 We've all experienced it - that feeling of shame that comes over us when we've messed up and we know it. When we realize again that we fall short of even our own expectations.  Shame comes with sin.  It entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned.They immediately realized that they were naked and hid from God.  Shame isn't only attached to our sin, we feel it when those we are close to sin, when our family is less than stellar and when our own children choose to live in sin.  We hang our heads and hide.

I'm reading through the Psalms (again) in my quiet time and read Psalm 3 this morning in the Living Bible.  I've read this Psalm many times and sung songs based on it, but for the first time, it was a living picture for me and I could picture Jesus, lifting my chin and looking lovingly into my eyes, reminding me that He has washed away all my sin and shame.  He is the one who lifts my head.  His love gives me courage to look up again.  This Psalm was written while David was fleeing from Absolom.  He understood what it is to be ashamed because of the behavior of your own child.  But he looked to God who lifted his face and freed him from the shame.  

HE IS THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD! 
 

Faith Outlasts Sorrow and Our Deepest Wounds Birth Wisdom

"When darkness overtakes the godly, light will come bursting in." 
                                                                                  Psalm 112:4 NLT

This Spring was so very slow in coming!  The cold and the dark hung on like the tentacles of some dark many-armed monster and like those long nights when you can't fall asleep that seem interminable, I wondered if the cold of winter would ever pass or if we were under the curse of the White Witch as they were in Narnia before Aslan came - "always winter and never Christmas...."
My heart sometimes feels that way, that there is only more darkness around each corner, that evil is prevailing, that what I've known is only the tip of the iceberg and that there's no getting around this polar glacier.  But then I soak myself in the Psalms and I claim with David the comfort of our forever faithful and victorious God.

I recently read this insightful quote by one of the characters in Jamie Langston Turner's By the Light of a Thousand Stars:  "Maybe, she thought, the test of grief for a Christian was whether you stuck by what you knew was right even when you didn't feel like it in your heart yet.  Maybe talking publicly about "God's will" and His "perfect plan" and the "assurance of His love" was okay even though your heart was aching so badly you hardly knew what you were saying.  Maybe going through the motions of faith in a time of sorrow wasn't as bad as she had imagined....
… the habit of trusting God--could there be such a thing?  Could such a habit be a lifeline when tribulation swept over you?  Could you hang onto it during the worst of the storm without seeing any evidence that it was real?  And then when the strongest waves and winds of sorrow had passed, could you realize that what you had held in your hands all along was genuine, and that it was your means of rescue?
     Light moves faster than sound... Faith moves faster than feeling... no, that wasn't right...
     No, it wasn't a matter of the speed of faith so much as its power and permanence that was it -- faith outlasted sorrow.  Grief might knock you off your high wire, but faith was your safety net."

I just started reading The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp and think I will weep through it!  These quotes are from the first chapter: "...maybe you can live a full and beautiful life in spite of the great and terrible moments that will happen right inside of you.  Actually--maybe you get to become more abundant because of those moments.  Maybe--I don't know how, but somehow?--maybe our hearts are made to be broken.  Broken open.  Broken free.  Maybe the deepest wounds birth deepest wisdom."  and …"'Never be afraid of being a broken thing.'  I don't--I don't even know what that means.  I am afraid.  And I think this journey, this way, will not spare any of us.  But maybe--this is the way to freedom?  I've got to remember to just keep breathing--keep believing.
     In Christ--no matter the way, the storm, the story--we always know the outcome,
          Our Savior--surrounds.
          Our future--secure.
          Our joy--certain.
     When we know Christ, we always know how things are going to go--always for our good and always for His glory.
     Somehow love can lodge light into wounds.

"Maybe the deepest wounds birth deepest wisdom."

So, in my pain, I open my hands to receive His wisdom....

Worldliness - What is it?

It seems the topic of worldliness has been coming up repeatedly in the past few months from the pulpit at our church, with our preaching elders alluding to and defining worldliness in various ways.  I also have been watching one of my daughter's come of age, seeking to define her Christianity and dress standards for herself wondering who she is and where she fits in this world - asking what is modesty and who defines it.. 

 We all agree that worldliness is to be avoided, but what is it?  The Amish feel that rubber tires and electricity are worldly. Our conservative Mennonite friends believe that ties for men, neck scarves for women, movies for entertainment, and current fashion trends are all worldly.  Another church I know defines worldliness by the color of dress you wear - pink, purple and red and even some shades of blue and green being worldly and of course prints are definitely considered worldly.  There are so many voices out there trying to define what worldliness is, in fact each person or group seems to want to draw the circle to fit themselves and exclude those who are not like them.

Often when I'm wrestling with an issue, insights will come in the early morning hours as if they were dropped there by God.  The other morning a Biblical story came to mind and I knew that it applied to this issue of what is worldly!  Esau came home from hunting, thinking he would starve if he didn't immediately have a bowl of the lentil stew Jacob was cooking!  Jacob bargained with him for his precious birthright and Esau easily sold it off saying, "What good will it do me if I die of hunger?"  There was nothing wrong with the stew or even with being hungry, but there was something terribly wrong with Esau's value system and priorities.  He was willing to sacrifice the long term and spiritual for the present physical need. That was worldly! I don't think worldliness can be simply defined as what you do or don't wear or what you do or don't do, though those things will flow out of a worldly or spiritual heart, I think rather the root of it is defined by how we use the resources and things of this world.  Do we use our earthly position and resources to further the Kingdom of God or do we sacrifice the Spiritual on the altar of meeting our immediate fleshly needs and desires.  What are our priorities and where is our heart. Perhaps the outward expressions of a right heart will look different for different Christians according to their different cultures and settings and their specific gifts and calling by God.  It's much easier to just set a standard and reject everyone who doesn't fit into my "circle" but God is the judge and He is able to make my brothers and sisters "stand" if they are seeking Him. 

Years ago I read a book by Watchman Nee, Love Not the World I think I'll see if I can find it again and reread it. 

The Secrets of Heathersleigh Hall

I just finished a beautiful series of four books by Michael Phillips, The Secrets of Heathersleigh Hall. 

These are the first books I've read by Michael Phillips himself, though I've read many of the George MacDonald books he's edited.  I was so blessed by the deep heart issues he raised and dealt with in a beautiful Biblical way.  I related deeply to the prodigal, Amanda and her parents as they prayed and waited for her return.  I identified with the beauty of her return to the Father and to her family as I am daily thankful for the return of our prodigal and the beauty God continues to mold into her life and the joy we share now that she is home!  Pages and pages were filled in my commonplace journal as I read this book - Michael Phillips has a beautiful way with words, but even more powerful are the Biblical concepts easily taken to heart in story form.  I found the introduction to the ideas and political climate behind World War I and the issues of women's rights and one of the character's explanations of the atonement.   I can't wait to start another Michael Phillips series!! 

God is Faithful

Just listened to this encouraging video of music by Jonathan Urie and text by Roy Lessin of Meet me in the Meadow.  I hope it blesses you, too...  God is Faithful.

He Holds Me By the Hand

"The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord.  He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Psalm 37:23,24NLT

What a blessing to know that step by step we ARE being directed by the Lord.  But even more than that, that He delights in EVERY DETAIL of our lives.  When I am stressed or worried about some part of my life, not managing to "pull it together",

not sure which direction to take, or just overwhelmed with it all, I can reach for His hand and tell Him all about it, He WANTS to hear the details - He's never too busy - He DELIGHTS in EVERY DETAIL!  And even if I stumble, He is HOLDING ME BY THE HAND and he won't let me fall....  Beautiful picture!!! 

Teaching the Young Women to Love Their Children

Titus 2:3-5 KJV says,

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Portrait of an Old Woman

 

Years ago as a young mother, I cried out, "Where are the older women?!" I longed for a mentor to walk and talk me through the wife and mother issues.  As I looked around me in church and even community, I found that most of the older women had quit with only two or three children and had sent those to the public schools for training.  They were now free to pursue jobs and individual interests and had filled their lives full. They didn't have time or answers for me. I promised myself and the Lord then, that when I got "old" I would be an older woman to the younger women.  I'll be 55 in March and my "baby" is nine years old.  I'm thinking I might be entering that "Older woman" category.  From this vantage point, I can see some of the reasons the older women of my younger years were reluctant to speak.  From this position, my own failings seem much more apparent.  Ideals have not always been realized and even when they have, I see how I missed other important things along the way.  But there are certain decisions I made and stands I took, that I wouldn't go back on given the choice again.  I'd like to talk about one of those here.  When wrestling through how to plan our family we decided to trust the LORD to design our family and the spacing of our children (more on that story here). I want to encourage you too, to love the children God hasn't given you yet, to consider them a gift and to welcome them into your life and home.   I have yet to hear a woman say, "I wish I hadn't had so many children." Even in my darkest moments with a rebellious teen, I never wished I'd had fewer children and now today with her walking with the LORD again she is a daily joy to me. But I've had dear friends who with tears of regret bemoan the fact that even reversal surgery wasn't able to bring them babies now, and their arms are empty and their hearts barren.  I can say that after years of home schooling, though I am still learning I have years of experience that would be wasted if I had no one to educate and train at this point!  You may feel that to welcome these yet unborn children is to love the ones you have less, but that has not been my experience.  If you quit having babies, you won't necessarily spend more time with the children you have - other things will come in and fill your time and you may even end up eventually spending less time with your children as your focus is much more easily diverted outside the home, when you don't have small children to keep your focus there.  Focusing on a baby or toddler doesn't need to exclude your older children from your attention, actually, it is something you can enjoy together, a wonderful way to train them for the future with their own children.  Raising little ones is a wonderful training ground and discipleship opportunity, to be embraced together as a family team. When your first few children are born, you imagine that you will be continuing to add to this chaos exponentially and feeling at the breaking point yourself with the child/adult ratio getting out of control you may desperately decide to nip this disaster in the bud.  I want to encourage you to plant liberally - you will turn the corner and begin reaping benefits of your love soon.  It may take a few years, but eventually those older children become much more of an asset than the drain they seem in the early years. You turn a corner and those you served are serving alongside you and even serving and blessing you with spiritual insight and physical service.  I looked around my kitchen the other day and there were six girls all working happily together.  A team like that can accomplish a lot in a short time!  I have gained more spiritual insight from my children than all the sermons I've ever sat under. As they share their spiritual journeys there is rich fellowship! Each of my eleven children is unique with unique gifts and I wouldn't want to be without a single one of them.  The possibilities for the advancement of the Kingdom of God through your offspring is multiplied if you are willing to embrace the children God wants to give you and divided if you reject them. Psalm 127:3 says, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." I do want to say here, that God doesn't give all of us big families and if he chooses to give you none or one or two - I believe He has special ministries for you and that this is a gift to be embraced and explored.  He's not in a box. My friend and neighbor years ago conceived on her honeymoon, didn't have another baby for three years and then, though they didn't do anything to avoid children, they never had any more.  This was God's plan for their family - all His plans are good!  But if you choose to reject the children God would like to place in your family, it is a burying of your "talent" your resources, your life. If you embrace His gifts, it is true that you will be called upon to pour out your life.  Even though I don't have babies any more, I am still stretched thin - my Mom (Dad's already in Heaven) and my in-laws are aging, I am now a grandma to ten, add to that time spent with my young adult children as well as the ones still in school and you have a very busy life. But  as Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose." It is my belief that you won't regret  the exchange of your life for a single one of the eternal souls God blesses you with. And remember, without Him we can do nothing, "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it." Psalm 127:1  But as you allow Him to "build your house" and family in His way, walking with your hand in His, in obedience to His will, you will see that He does all things well. 

Merciful wonder - I'm not afraid!

I don't feel afraid, that is the merciful wonder!  Because God has been there in all my yesterdays and I feel His presence and know His power in today, I have confidence in tomorrow, whatever it may hold.  But still I ponder and imagine what will happen if things continue to get worse, specifically with Rachael's health.  She is now having blackouts several times a day.  Her CT scan shows abnormalities deep in her brain. When she passes out, she can still hear and think - she is completely aware but also completely unable to respond, to open her eyes, move or talk - she is hidden away completely inside herself.  I've been pondering what it would be if the damage to her brain continues and she ends up completely locked away from us.  How would we encourage her and what would it be like for a person of words, an author, to be locked away completely unable to communicate? She chuckles when she can't come up with words or the end of a sentence, what would it be if she can't respond at all? I know she would continue to be a prayer warrior because that is how she has always used her sicknesses and being set aside, in bed or even nights awake in pain, she has spent those hours in prayer for others.  So I have confidence that God's work through her will go on no matter what happens with her health! 

     On a more positive note, I was thinking last night how God is the creator of everything.  He can calm a raging storm, heal a man blind from birth or a cripple.  This sickness is no mountain to him - it is easy.  He could heal her in an instant and we've begged him for that!  She is confident He will heal her at the right moment and I see no striving or worry in her that He won't - just quiet rest that this moment, this way, is His will for her, that His strength is made perfect in her weakness.  She chooses rest in Him when her nature would be restless to be busy working on the writing projects she has with approaching deadlines and the discipling and building relationships with her siblings she had hoped to do this winter.  But He is the LORD and we worship Him in trust that He is in charge of our moments and days. 
     I do feel stretched thin.  Life is so busy! And medical things take hours and days, while the rest of life continues to march on.  School still needs to be done with our four who are students, dishes need to be done, wood stoves to keep stoked,  the house cleaned, conversations had with the other adult children in our household, stories to be read and that sweet grandbaby who is at my absolute favorite age (3 months) to love and talk to! I've been neglecting time with my Mom - which hurts - and my correspondence and reading have gone on the back burner.  But I feel privileged to have these moments and hours for meaningful conversation and prayer with Rachael.  She is a joy to be with and even in the E. R. last week we laughed and joked and shared deeply while we waited for her CT scan....  She had asked me the week after Christmas if I wanted to go out for coffee, but it was cold out and I had lots of projects I wanted to get done while school was out so I declined.  When we wound up with those four hours in the E.R. I teased her that next time I'll go to coffee so she doesn't have to get my attention by going into the E.R.  But truly, time with her is such a privilege! Conversations in the car, traveling to appointments and waiting for doctors, memorable moments, prayers, and conversations I'll treasure forever!
     And so the Redeemer shines!  He continues to redeem our souls, to redeem our hours, to turn even our pain into joy!  What's to be afraid of with a Lord like that?!

Light vs. Darkness

 

You don't fight darkness with a sword.  Instead it is dispelled by light.  Light overcomes darkness - ALWAYS!  If you bring light into darkness, the darkness cannot overcome the light.  Darkness is not a thing, it is the absence of the thing.  Light is the true entity, darkness is just the absence of the presence of light.  Therefore Light is stronger - Light displaces darkness.  Jesus is the Light of the world.   

 
He shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome Him. 

So, too, fear is displaced by love.  "Perfect Love casts out fear".

And Love is a person, Jesus Christ.  Knowing him doesn't mean we're never afraid but the more present and fully we experience Him, the more our earthly fears recede. 

When a child puts his hand in the trusted hand of another it's the protection and the care represented by that hand, not the hand itself that dispels fear.  It is the love of the adult represented, their presence that brings comfort and subdues fear.  

In the words of a favorite childhood book character, Piglet, when they're lost in the mist trying to "unbounce" Tigger -

 And so, we reach our hand out to our mighty Creator, and we find that He, who is perfect love, replaces our fear with trust, that He who is light drives away the darkness in our lives.  And His light kindles in us a light that shines out to others in their darkness. 

TRANSFORMATION Beginning with Repentance

It has long been the prayer of both my husband and me that ALL of our children would walk with Him serving Him in the Kingdom wholeheartedly, working in the King's vineyard!

 The following promise jumped off the page during my devotions yesterday and I feel that it is a promise for our family for the coming year.... 
Zechariah 8:6-9a, "This is what the LORD Almighty says:  All this may seem impossible to you now, a small and discouraged remnant of God's people.  But do you think this is impossible for me, the LORD Almighty?  This is what the LORD Almighty says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west.  I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem.  They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God.  This is what the LORD Almighty says: Take heart and finish the task!" 

I haven't been given a word for the year before like my daughter and some of my friends have the past few years, but this year I feel I've been given a word for the year - TRANSFORMATION and that it will begin with Repentance. 

So, I'm excited, filled with expectation over what God is doing in me, and what he will do in our wayward children as we "take heart and finish the task", which, for me at this time, means a spiritual battle - my own repentance (learning to love unconditionally with God's love, bringing healing in our marriage) followed by faithful and faith filled prayer for our children with God giving a 100% increase. The task won't be finished until not just 8, but all 11 are faithfully walking with their God and I feel the promise of this is for this year!  A miracle only God could do!!

Repentance

What is repentance?  I have generally thought of repentance more as getting on the right path, a change of mind and heart, a seeing the truth and pursuing it, than as a grief over past sin.  Perhaps these are two sides of the same coin.  
I recently read a blog post by Misty at Simply Convivial.  Here are two excerpts from her post on Repentance:   “True education is a form of repentance. It is a humble admission that we’ve not read all that we need to read, we don’t know all that we need to know, and we’ve not yet become all that we are called to become. Education is that unique form of discipleship that brings us to the place of admitting our inadequacies.” – George Grant, and Misty's words, "Repentance is bravely and faithfully changing our attitudes, changing our perspective, changing our actions, whenever we are made aware that they are not aligned with God’s Word, His revealed will. It is hard, but it is life-giving." and this:
"These children and their problems are given to sanctify us. Let us embrace this life of repentance.  Let us bravely face our inadequacies, faithfully following the path before us, trusting God and not our efforts for the increase. God can feed 5,000 with 5 loaves, and He can take our dismal efforts to obey and transform us, others, and the world through them."  

I finally had some quiet time to pursue the Biblical meaning of the word Repentance this morning.  I started with Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. (excerpts follow).
 As a verb it is the word METANOEO which means literally to perceive afterwards (meta, after, implying change, noeo, to perceive; nous, the mind, the seat of moral reflection, in contrast to pronoeo, to perceive beforehand, hence signifies to change one's mind or purpose, always, in the N.T., involving change for the better, an amendment, and always, except in Luke 17:3,4, of repentance from sin. 
The second verb is METALOMAI, meta, as in the first word means change, and melo, to care for signifying to regret, to repent oneself.  
The noun METANOIA, means after-thought, change of mind, repentance.  It corresponds to the first verb above.  It is used of repentance from sin or evil, except in Heb. 12:17, where the word "repentance" seems to mean, not simply a change of Isaac's mind, but such a change as would reverse the effects of his own previous state of mind.  Esau's birthright-bargain could not be recalled, it involved an irretrievable loss.  
"As regards repentance from sin,(a) the requirement by God on man's part is set forth, e.g., in Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8, Acts 20:21; 26:20; (b) The mercy of God in giving repentance or leading men to it is set forth, e.g., in Acts 5:31; 11:18; Rom. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25.
In the N.T. the subject chiefly has reference to repentance from sin, and this change of mind involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God.  The parable of the prodigal son is an outstanding illustration of this.  Christ began His ministry with a call to repentance, Matt. 4:17, but the call is addressed, not as in the O.T. to the nation, but to the individual.  In the Gospel of John, as distinct from the Synoptic Gospels, referred to above, repentance is not mentioned, even in connection with John the Baptist's preaching; in John's Gospel and 1st Epistle the effects are stressed, e3.g., in the new birth, and generally in the active turning from sin to God by the exercise of faith...."

New Unger's Bible Dictionary includes the following:
 " In the theological and ethical sense a fundamental and thorough change in the hearts of men from sin and toward God.  Although faith alone is the condition for salvation, repentance is bound up with faith and inseparable from it, since without some measure of faith no one can truly repent, and repentance never attains to its deepest character till the sinner realizes through saving faith how great is the grace of God against whom he has sinned.  On the other hand, there can be no saving faith withhout true repentance.  Repentance contains as essential elements (1) a genuine sorrow toward God on account of sin; (2) an inward repugnance to sin necessarily followed by the actual forsaking iof it; and (3) humble self- surrender to the will and service of God....

"Repentance, it is thus to be seen, is the gift of God.  It is so because God has given His word with its revelations concerning sin and salvation; also the Holy Spirit to impress the truth and awaken the consciences of men and lead them to repentance.  But as with faith so with repentance--it is left with men to make for themselves the great decision.  

So it appears that indeed both sides of the coin are implied in the Biblical meaning of the word repentance.  

The current application in my life is coming through reading Larry Crabb's, Men and Women Enjoying the Difference, which spends the first half of the book explaining how our self-centered natures are sinful and we need to repent and ask God to change us.  I first saw this flaw in myself almost 30 years ago when I realized that even the good I did was because it made me feel good and was saddened by it, but felt that it was only God who could rise above such motivation.  This is in part true, my nature is fallen and by myself, I am unable to rise about my selfish nature and self-centered focus.  But, I now see that if I ask God to change me, and yield to His Spirit's work in me, change is not only desirable but possible! So as I asked God to give me love for our prodigal daughter, I am now asking God to love my husband and others through me. Looking to Him for the removal of my natural self-serving goals and His supernatural love flowing through me.  

So again to repeat Misty's words from above: "Repentance is bravely and faithfully changing our attitudes, changing our perspective, changing our actions, whenever we are made aware that they are not aligned with God’s Word, His revealed will. It is hard, but it is life-giving."  
and from the New Unger's Bible Dictionary: "But as with faith so with repentance--it is left with men to make for themselves the great decision." 
 

Motivation - Outcome or Relationship

Oh my!  I read this post from Simply Convivial's--Simply Contemplate: Wisdom is Fearing God & Keeping His Commandments.  I have read and reread it and want to weep - it touches something deep in my heart.

Since a few years ago when several of our children started to  rebel, walking away from the faith, I have wondered how to keep on with parenting and especially homeschooling with such an unsure outcome?! I had given 20+ years to the all out pursuit of godly fruit - including homeschooling. Now the fruit of our homeschooling efforts was all over the map - we have children who live the kingdom life with radiant countenances and lives fully alive, in love with Jesus, growing and serving others and we have those who are pursuing the world fast and furious - with immorality, alcohol, and a divorce.  When you pour your life out moment by moment day after day, you want to know that it is a valuable pursuit that there will be a desired outcome. Hope has been deferred and I have become heartsick.


But in this article hope sneaks back in - mine isn't the outcome to look for, but the faithful obedience to my loving master - with complete trust in Him that He holds the outcome in His hand.  I can do this - I can look into his loving eyes and navigate the wave-troughs walking on water.  My inner motivation can't be pragmatic but rather relational (my relationship with God). It might look the same from the outside but my expected reward is the LORD's smile and "well-done" rather than the immediate harvest of children who all walk with the LORD. 

More coming soon on Repentance....

Repentance and Brokenness

I've been reading a book by Larry Crabb, Men & Women Enjoying the Difference.  I'm halfway through chapter four and he hasn't talked about the difference between men and women yet at all.  Instead he is talking about the way we deal with the hurts that inevitably come into relationships.  He suggests two general ways Christians address these hurts and broken places, either through psychological counseling where we identify the hurts and sympathize with them or the traditional Biblical approach that says "just read the Scripture and DO what it says".  He spends these first chapters explaining these approaches and showing how neither one really deals with our root sin of self-centeredness. Here in chapter four he discusses two ways of dealing with sin.  "When we realize we've done something wrong, we typically do one of two things: either we quickly apologize or we wonder why we did it.   The first response looks biblical but often reflects a shallow repentance that leads to no enduring change.  The second keeps counselors in business but like the first one, it rarely leads to joyful other-centeredness." And then a few paragraphs later,  "A moralistic approach that defines sin as merely wrong behavior fails to get at the root problem of justified self-centeredness any better than a more psychological approach that stresses damage as central.  Whenever people proudly acknowledge that their problem is sin, you can be certain they have no idea what they are talking about.   And when confession is easily made, followed by confident resolve to bear the fruit of repentance, you can conclude the same thing.  Unless Christian teachers bear the marks of brokenness, their teaching will not highlight grace.  More often, their study of Scripture will feed a harsh judgmentalism that enforces rules and delights to reprimand.  Such teaching will entice few to follow Christ.  
      "There is no such thing as 'easy' confession.  True confession is always an agonizing process.  Brokenness over personal sin is a necessary step in learning to love graciously.  Routine confession of easily admitted sin does not deal adequately with our faults.  Neither a surface look at sin nor a deep look at damage will disrupt self-centeredness."

     I am very much looking forward to the next section which is titled, "A THIRD WAY".  
     I think the LORD is speaking to me about brokenness and repentance - I need it! When a topic comes up in more than one place  you can pretty much figure God is trying to tell you something.  Last night after a ladies tea where the Berge family sang, I had a chance to talk with Becky.  We haven't taken time to catch up for a very long time.  She is a precious sister in the Lord and wise and godly.  I asked her how she managed to pass on a certain value to her girls who have stood strong against culture in this area.  Her answer really struck me, especially as I'm already reading the above book - she said, "Ken and I repented of our own sin and the girls saw our brokenness and chose the truth without our having to formally teach it to them."  Wow!  How much sin and error is in my children because I have failed to recognize my own sin and to repent in deep brokenness? 
     I also read this blog post yesterday by Jennifer Neyhart about "the Un-dragoning of Eustace" from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (click on her name to read her post - she says it so much better than I can). Eustace's experience with Aslan seems to go along with the ideas from Men and Women.  The deep repentance that really brings transformation requires a touch of God on our hearts, a work that is deeper than we can conjure up on our own. 

     I hear you, Lord!  Show me the way and do the needed work in me!