SRO

What a joy to get to spend time with friends old and new this past weekend! After picking up Andrea Parker at the airport, we drove 2.5 hours, to beautiful East TX. Our friend, Barbara, had invited Andrea to lead a ladies' event called Birthday Bash. Each year, the church celebrates all the women's lives at once! The tables are beautifully decorated by month, filled with ladies born that month.

We spent two nights in Barbara's lovely home, in a gorgeous country setting. God gave Barbara an extra dose of hospitality...made me think about my house, and how rarely we've invited people over in recent years. Oh, I'm so thankful for the time with Barbara. Her sweet face radiates her love for the Lord. And I was able to see her mother, Helen. They both reminded me of the preciousness of Christ.

Barbara's house was full...there were friends who'd come in from all over. Donna, Debbie, & Loretta came from the Dallas area. Darlene drove in from near Houston. Joyce & Liz live near Barbara, but joined the slumber party. I guess you could say it was Sleeping Room Only. (Each gal deserves plenty of blog time....maybe tomorrow?) Others had hoped to come, but circumstances tied them up (you know who you are....and I hope you know you were MISSED!!:)

We had a great time....catching up on our lives, laughing, and praying together. It was a blessing to get to spend time with the girls...some down time. But I have to admit, it took me all weekend to find a place to relax in my mind. Now that I'm looking back, maybe I should have had a sermon at the beginning of the trip instead of at the end.

Barbara's husband, James Kinman is pastor of Central Baptist of Kirbyville, TX. Barry & I call him Bro. Jamie. He's a great man of God...and somehow balances the preaching and pastoring perfectly!!! (OK, almost perfectly!!!)

It had been 22 years since I'd heard this dear pastor friend preach, and I wasn't prepared to be blown away by his sermon this weekend. I tried to take notes carefully, and will now take a few minutes to share some highlights with you.

Opening our Bibles to Mark 2, I settled in, in my mind, that this was a familiar passage. I had been the one in need, at the mercy of my friends and family who knew Jesus and helped me get to Him. I had put myself in the friends' place, bringing others to Christ.

But the pastor explained that he wanted to show us why Peter's house was full. That caught me off guard. I was expecting same-o same-o. Here's a bit of the outline:

1) Jesus was PRESENT. (Peter had welcomed Him)
2) Jesus was PUBLICIZED. (not the house, not the furnishings, not the menu)
3) Jesus was PREACHING. Jesus IS the Word of God. The Word of God must be preached. We are to be ready in season and out of season.
4) Jesus was POWERFUL. The friends broke through the ceiling because they knew the power of Christ. And Jesus proves His power that day. Not only over physical affliction. In V5 He sees their faith and says, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." The forgiveness of SINS is GREATER than physical healing.

Bro. Jamie also said the saddest verse about God's house was in Nehemiah, when it is asked "Why was the house of God forsaken?" And the happiest: "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord?"

It all got me to thinking about a book I first read in the 80's My Heart, Christ's Home (by Robert Boyd Munger)....Bro. Jamie's sermon began to pierce my heart. I want my heart to have Standing Room Only...packed full of Jesus' presence. I want to make much of Jesus, publicizing Him. I want Jesus to preach to and teach through my heart. Is His power made known in my heart? Truly? In depth? Is the forgiveness of sins greater than physical healing?

And, now that I'm thinking about it, here's a big question? Would anyone feel like they could cut a whole in the roof of my heart, to carry a friend down for God's help???

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Come, make yourself at home in my heart...filling me to SRO.

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By the way, there were special blessings along the way.
Not only did I get to hear Andrea sing,
but at the birthday bash she sang two songs
that are near and dear to me:
December Rain (Townley/Wilson/Miller)
Let Us Pray (Utz/Wilson)
I praise God for giving these messages....and for the messenger!!!

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oh, here's the passage Bro. Jamie preached from:

Mark 2:1When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home.

2And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

3And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men.

4Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.

5And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Marked

There are a lot of things marked in my Bible...in the front, there are special notes, like the dates of my kids' salvation. And notes...lots of notes. Some reveal the depths of my heart, like when I'd lost a loved one and the Lord comforted me with Scripture. Others are verses I was clinging to...sometimes with great joy...other times, I was holding on for dear life!!!

For example:

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Ps 116:15 (in memory of missionary friend Carolyn Campbell dated 1-14-05)

Michael Joseph Wallace was blameless. Not perfect. Only Christ is perfect. 2 Pet 3:14. In memory of my 21 yr old nephew that SEEMED perfect. A gentle giant.

On parenting:
Affirm
Build bridges
Choose battles carefully

On WORDS:
Is it TRUE?
Is it KIND?
Is it NECESSARY?

Random verses the Spirit prompted me to write:
Revive me, o Lord, for your Name's sake! Ps 143:11
Too deep for words? Rom 8:26-27

And random places where I've written notes to myself:

Eva, are you pleasing God? Rom 8:8
Eva, be a vessel of mercy. Rom 9
Eva, owe love ~ nothing more! Rom 13:8
Eva, you're accountable to God ~ for your SELF! (Rom 14:12)
Eva, your faith is in the power of God! (1 Cor 1:22)
Eva, submit to Barry as you submit to Christ in EVERYTHING (Eph 4:24)

Then, there are other parts of the Bible that I've filled in with notes during sermons...like, from James 3

Roots of Worldly Wisdom:

Bitter jealousy: you have something and afraid you'll lose it. Or that someone will have better than you.

Selfish ambition: do you change your story as you go along?

Lying against the truth: we know the truth but build a case against it. Defending a lie?

Roots of Godly Wisdom:

Purity ~ not by nature, but by the Spirit
Peace ~ doesn't cause strife
Gentleness ~ considerate of others
Willing to yield ~ reasonable, open to discussion
Merciful ~ compassionate about the things God cares about
Good fruits ~ more good than bad
Without partiality ~ unwavering
Without hypocrisy ~ without masks

Ouch! that makes me want to go back to square one. Back to the day I turned my life over to Christ Jesus. Jan 24, 1982. That's a lot of years. Should be a lot more markings in my life...more good fruits than bad. I can't change the past...but there's still today...it's not too late for me to make a difference today!!!

I also found another special reminder my Bible, in my own handwriting:

Many pages of my own Bible are marked. But while I was at my brother's house, i was reading his Bible and noticed that there was only thing written there:

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You
Psalm 25:21

This is a reflection on my brother's life, and I pray it will be mine, too. dated June 24, 2006

And, last, but not least:

Many people mark their Bibles, but does the Bible mark YOU?