Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess! As we boldly forge ahead towards a Happy New Year 2018 I am blessed to share this vision of a Happy New Legacy born right here in Texas for People & Families Affected by Disability worldwide.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of MissionAccess.org!
FALL 2017
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess!
As we Fall into Winter 2017 I am thankful for Faithful Followers like You who “Like” what we do and support us Exceeding Abundantly throughout the year.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess! Today marks the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Chapel and transforming the Church forever.
If Martln Luther had a Life Verse it would be:
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
” For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Suffice to say that in the 1500 years since its birth the Church had wandered far from the Gospel. “Indulgences” were sold to pay down time spent in purgatory as the price for earthly sin. But Lo & Behold! A humble monk named Martin Luther could remain silent no longer, releasing the power of The Word still resounding throughout our world today.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess!
This month our Legacy Series features a closer look at what happens when Legacy is thrust upon us. Every year on September 11 we reopen our surprisingly still-tender emotional wounds to relive—-yet again—what happens when our Faith collides with cold, hard, tower-toppling reality. Scriptures abound for comfort & peace if only to help us drag ourselves through another day. And doubtless millions found Jesus in the smoldering aftermath that fateful day.
But what happens over time?
How does a loving yet Sovereign God relentlessly press forward with our never-ending Sanctification this side of Heaven to reshape us into the image of His Son & Our Savior Jesus Christ?
Lisa Beamer, widow of 9-11 Hero Todd Beamer, now 15 years beyond that unthinkable day, reflects on how His Glory burns ever-brighter even as our collective memory fades.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team Mission Access! Delighted am I to welcome back Larry Thacker as our distinguished Guest Blogger yet again this month with his timely message entitled All Things.
Our home state of Texas is still reeling from devastating floods unleashed after Hurricane Harvey. Tens of thousands of Texans have been forced to flee with just what they can carry. Especially hard-hit are People & Families affected by Disability, many of whom are trapped in their homes waiting for help to arrive.
Thankfully an Army of Volunteers with boats, bungees and brave bare hands is helping to Seek, Snatch & Save tens of thousands of families all along the battered coast. Praise God for them!
So how are we as Christians supposed to explain this ‘Act of God”? Especially to those who lost everything? I pray that Pastor Larry’s thoughtful message emboldens you to turn hearts to Jesus…even in the midst of the storm.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess! Let’s chat about something Christians simply LOVE to talk about, shall we? Let’s chat about Hell!
(insert awkward silence here)
Moved by a local news story about a 65-year old woman who died in a South Dallas house fire, her charred power chair could easily belong to so many people at Bartimaeus Baptist Temple (our home church for people and families affected by disability)– including me! This Hellish vision prompted my Bible Study focused on “fire” which led to this simple verse:
Jude 1: 22-23 NIV: “Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
Expanding that search to the phrase “Christians Hell” I found only 13 verses! Look up “Heaven” and there are 422 verses! Do a similar search on Amazon for books and only two are listed. Suffice to say Christians are somewhat squeamish when it comes to discussing Hell. But we HAVE to talk about it!
However in Matthew 10:28 NASU Jesus does not shy away from it, saying “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Q: So What?
A: Because Hell is eternal separation from God! And without getting into some deep theological weeds, we know Jesus did go to Hell (only briefly Thank God) after His Crucifixion and before His Resurrection three days later. And if He allowed His Only Son to go there He will allow anyone to go there also.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess! So lemme ask you: Are You Suffering? Or Sanctifying? Today’s Blog is based on my recent Bible Study at Bartimaeus Baptist Temple entitled: “Suffering 2.0–The Sanctification Upgrade.”
John Piper’s excellent book Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification defines Sanctification as “the modest theological term we Christians use to refer to the process of being Holy.” [i] Books, Bible Studies, Sermons and Seminars abound exceeding abundantly on this thorny theological imperative.
Bottom Line? It’s TOUGH! So I’ve got Good News…and Other News. Let’s start with that:
There Are No Points If You Caused It
1 Peter 2:20 NASU says: “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”
But Good News! God Will Help You Through It!
Isaiah 41:10 NASU says:
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely, I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Thankfully Our Awesome Lord shows us it’s not only possible, He’s given us clear evidence in the Believers like David Brainerdwho have gone on before. Though we have ample evidence of David’s sanctification from his personal diaries, it is this humble postscript penned by Jonathan Edwards (who published them after David’s death) whose own 18-year-old daughter Jerusha also died of TB after caring faithfully for the dying missionary:
“She had not seen one minute for several years wherein she desired to live one minute longer, for the sake of any other good in life, but doing good, living for God, and doing what she might for His Glory.” [ii]
May Her Humble Example Serve To Redefine Sanctification As A Suffering 2.0 Upgrade For His Glory!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
[i]1 John Piper & David Mathis, “Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification” (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), Kindle Edition.
[ii]2 “The Life And Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd” (with Notes & Reflections by Jonathan Edwards) 1749, Kindle Edition.
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess!
As we Spring into Summer 2017 I am thankful for Faithful Followers like You who “Like” what we do and support us Exceeding Abundantly throughout the year.
IMAGE SOURCE: SHEA FAM ARCHIVES Harry (My Daddy-O) Shea The Bullfighter! Toro! Toro!
Greetings & Blessings Fam & Friends of Team MissionAccess! I pray everyone had a Blessed Resurrection Day Celebration 2017. But wait! Before we rush off to our regularly-scheduled lives I beg you to Abide with me just a while longer while we “roll back the stone” on an Aspect of Awesomeness you may never have considered before.
Here is a Diary entry for Easter Sunday 2008 (just before Beloved and I started attending BBT):
DIARY 032308 EASTER SUNDAY!
John 20:11-18 NASU
11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, ” Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ” Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, ” Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Thank Heaven He is Risen ‘cause like dozing disciples we slept in! Having worshipped Friday evening and risen early Saturday morning to attend the autism info session at Chase Oaks, I now have the luxury of doing a little long-overdue Bible study. This morning as I search the Gospels, I–like the women at the tomb– search in vain for the passage about Mary Magdalene and her encounter with the risen Lord. It’s got to be in Luke (the most beautiful) or Matthew (the most thorough)—nope. OK then what about Mark (the one I didn’t chart)—again nada. John? Could it possibly be in John, the most spartan of the gospels? Yes. For even though John was all business about everything else he waxed almost poetic with detail about Mary Magdalene’s encounter with our risen Savior. I focus on one word he said to her: Mary! I remember waking up in my bedroom on Monticello to what appeared to be the sound of my own father’s voice simply saying my name, just like that: Linda! Oh what would I give for just one more hug, to smell that musty essence that was my Daddy-O. For all the volumes written about Jesus he knows the sweetest sound is simply his name, spoken with tenderness. With the same tender sweetness one day He will speak our names—My child! Welcome Home.
Suffice to say before the Sacrifice of Our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ our “relationship” with God was a bloody mess of sacrifice, rules and ritual. But Praise God because He Lives we can have a Personal Relationship with Him and Enjoy Him Forever. No Bulls Required! Amen!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess! Ponder with me this month the concept of Legacy. How shall we honor not just the Milestones on our Christian journey but more significantly the Process we go through to prayerfully become transformed into the image of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ?
So let’s talk Diamonds, shall we?
I’m not talking literal diamonds though they certainly are precious. I believe our Lord is interested in creating diamonds of a far greater value. In fact I never cease to be amazed by how Our Awesome Lord allows suffering to produce Spiritual Diamonds out of us.
Our Scripture passage focuses not so much on the Product but on Process:
Psalms 66:10-22 NASB
“For You have tried us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
12 You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.”
Question: Who is “You”? And what is He doing? More importantly who is *NOT* doing it?
Ah! But Look closely: WHY is He doing it?
Oh Precious Peeps! (Insert Heavy Sigh Here) So much of our focus remains fixed on the “What” we’re going through. And rightfully so because we are urged to “Pray Without Ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17 NASB) for others as well as ourselves. But the Power lies not in the What but in the “WHY”: “YET You brought us into a place of abundance!” Amen & Hallelujah!
Speaking of Diamond’s Best Friend…it’s God! So why not get to know Him better? Here’s a suggestion: try simply spending more time with Him focused on the Why with a Daily Devotional. Joni Eareckson Tada’s powerful classic Study entitled “Diamonds In The Dust” I Highly Recommend!
