God brought us to Louisville to learn to trust him more. A year ago, while I knew we were trusting in God when we came down here without a job, we still had so much to learn. God has used the past year to teach us a great deal about trusting him. One of the biggest lessons that I needed to learn was that this lesson is one that never goes away. Trusting God is meant to be a continual occupation of the Christian. This is something that really struck me as I studied for the lesson that I taught last Wednesday night at church. We are going through the Psalms and last week we were on Psalm 62. In this Psalm of David, we find David reminding himself that God is his all (v. 1-2). Then David deals with his current struggles as he is being attacked and dealt with falsely (v. 3-4). In verse’s 5-7, David returns to the theme of the beginning of the Psalm demonstrating our need to be reminding ourselves over and over again about our need to trust in God alone. It is very encouraging in verse 6 to see David grow in his trust as in verse 2 he says “I shall not be greatly shaken” then in verse 6 he writes, “I will not be shaken.” What a great encouragement we have from David as he demonstrates for us the proper way to trust in God alone. How great is it to be reminded that in God our trust is strengthened as it goes through adversity. Living faith grows. Adversity helps us bring what we know of God to bear on our everyday circumstances. David also shows us that living faith is personal. Throughout the Psalm he speaks of God as being my salvation, my rock, my fortress, my refuge, etc. God doesn’t just want us to know about him, or to know facts about him. It isn’t enough that we can ace our doctrines final. God wants us to know him, and to know him is to trust him. As I reflect on the difficult experiences that I have gone through, knowing that God is sovereign helped, but it was the experience of God’s sovereignty that really helped me through the trial. Verse 8 tells us that trusting God is something with which we are to always be occupied. Verses 9-10 remind us that our attempts to trust anything, even in addition to God is only vanity. As the verses clearly point out, no man, no matter how powerful, and no amount of money, no matter how it’s gained does anything to strengthen our trust in God. In fact, these things tend to hinder our trust in God alone. David then closes the Psalm with a word about how this Psalm should be continually on our hearts. For the singular word of God should echo over and over again in our soul. What God speaks we should always be hearing; it should be like a recording that plays over and over again (v. 11-12).

I know that this was a great lesson for me, and I know that I will be returning to it time after time. There is never a day or a season that will pass that does not require my soul to wait wholly and completely on God alone. It is coming to this understanding that brings me to the next point in this blog post.

As we “celebrated” our first year in Louisville, Jessica and I spent a lot of time talking about the direction of our life (what have we learned, where are we going, etc.). As you can see from the previous portion of this post, we have spent the greater part of a year learning that we need to learn to trust God more. However, it is the simplicity and singularness of this lesson that has been most profound to us. We have been writing blog posts on this blog for over 3 1/2 years on a wide variety of subjects. Yet, over the past year we have been blessed to see over and over again the faithfulness of God. We came from a difficult circumstance, and other than finding a great church to be a part of almost right away, things didn’t go too easily at the start. Through it all, God has been faithful, He has been our rock, our salvation, our refuge. As we have seen God’s providential hand provide for us time after time, a place to live, a Christ-centered church, jobs, great neighbors, and the list goes on and on; we have come to rest in him more, and to joy in him more.

It is in learning this lesson that has led us to decide to change our blog completely. We are going to be leaving Cogitavi behind. We enjoyed blogging here, but we want to do something new, something to mark our life in Louisville. We are going to be starting a new blog called “A Hill to Die On” (we will announce the opening on this blog and provide a link for you as soon as it is up and running). “A Hill to Die On” is going to be a blog focused on Christ and the hill he died on. We can think of nothing greater, nor more beneficial for us to spend our time meditating on and writing about. This helps us to narrow our focus on what is of most importance; that being that Jesus is the son of God, God made flesh to dwell among us to die for our sins. Of whom John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 ESV) This is just what we want to occupy our mind with, we have a great deal more to learn about Christ and we are eager to look deeply into the Word made flesh and share what we learn, even if we are the only ones who read it. We will still write about some other things as well, but the glory of Christ and the exaltation of his faithfulness will be the driving theme of the blog.

We thank you for reading and we invite you to continue to grow with us as we begin camping out on the hill on which we would die if it came to it.

“What is the good of reading what anyone writes is very like the question what is the good of listening to what anyone says?  Unless you contain in yourself sources that can supply all the information, entertainment, advice, rebuke, and merriment you want, the answer is obvious.  And if it is worth while listening or reading at all, it is often worth doing so attentively…A work of literary art can be considered in two lights.  It both means and is.  It is both Logos(something said) and Poiema(something made).  As logos it tells a story, or expresses an emotion, or exhorts or pleads, or describes, or rebukes, or excites laughter.  As Poiema by its aural beauties and also by the contrast and the unified multiplicity of its sucessive parts it is objet d’ art, a thing shaped so as to give great satisfaction.”

Happy belated birthday, Lewis!  You are worth reading and reading attentively. And when I read you, you not only tell me many things, but you tell them in the most satisfying way.  Thank you.

I think this character in the story moves me so deeply because I long for the real Day of the King to come.  I long for the Day when Christ the King will once again bring final healing and restore peace and order to the New Heavens and Earth.  The Shadow sometimes seems to hang so heavily on all the world and in my own heart too, but I know it is but a ” passing thing,” as Sam Gamgee once realized in what has to be one of the most beautiful paragraphs of LOR:  “There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while.  The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him.  For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

The King of  Kings has already come to His people, He has brought light and healing and hope, and He has passed through the door of death in triumph and victory.  The Shadow has been pierced, and the rent that was torn can never be repaired. A  Day will come, the King has promised, when the Shadow will be forever ripped asunder, never to return.  And it is only those who have lived under the Shadow, yet who have fought against the darkness for the King, that will be able to enjoy and experience the light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.

So be glad!  Rejoice!  For the King has come and will come again!  The Light of the World has pierced the Shadow, and it is but a passing thing.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18-23 ESV)

The connection between this portion of Romans 8 and the Jason Gray CD comes in one of his songs titled, “Nothing is Wasted.” In this song, Jason writes of how nothing is ever wasted in the hands of our redeemer; it is in our trials and tribulations that Jesus is drawing us closer to him, reminding us of what it is that we are longing for in redemption, to be made new. Jason writes, “Nothing is wasted in the hands of our Redeemer nothing is wasted from the ruins, from the ashes, beauty will rise, from the wreckage, from the darkness glory will shine.” We have seen glory shine in the darkness as Christ came to defeat sin for us and now we longingly wait for the glory to be revealed again, for the glory to shine into our darkness and make all things new, redeem our bodies. All things that happen are part of God’s glorious plan of redemption and every day brings us closer to the culmination of all history, when God says, “Enough! Behold the Lamb of God who takes away your sin, I am sending him again to redeem all things to himself and restore my creation in its fullness.”

As you read the rest of Romans 8, you get a glimpse of just how glorious a day it will be. Paul delivers to us a dose of strengthening medicine to help us through the dark days we will face as we wait for the glory to shine.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
    “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
     we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 ESV)

As John Newton wrote in the song Amazing Grace, “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who called me here below, Will be forever mine.” Nothing is wasted. Even the hard times are used for our good to help us remember why we were created. In fact, I think that is what the most familiar verse of the whole passage is referring to,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)

“All things work together for good” is the message of the song “Nothing is Wasted.” In the hands of our redeemer, even our difficult trials are worked together for our good. As Thomas Watson wrote of verse 28, “To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that ALL things which fall out shall cooperate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned to blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over.”

As you struggle to think of something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season, remember that Glory has shone in the birth of our Savior and glory will shine when he returns to make all things new, to set all things right. That truly is something to be thankful for and something well worth the wait.

Here is what others are saying about the books:

Song of the Stars

“The skies shouted it to the seas that thundered it to the waves that roared it to the great white whales that sang it to the starfish in the deep. And tiny sandpipers danced it on shining sands… “It’s time! It’s time!” On one quiet night, creation whispered a secret. Grass and bees, robins and trees all spread the word. Sheep told their young while angels sang the song to the shepherds. Hushed news of a miracle echoed to the ends of the earth. The moment had come. The long-awaited child had arrived! Creation cried out in celebration, but only a few people heard. Only a few joined nature’s chorus, a song in praise of the newborn King.”

Behold the Lamb of God

“Drawing from the hallowed pages of Scripture and with an eye toward both wonder and ground-level detail, Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative brings to life the people, the places, and the earthshaking significance of the greatest story ever told—the true tall tale of the coming of Christ.”

“What better way to prepare our hearts for Christmas than to do what Russ has done so well in Behold the Lamb of God—rehearse the magnificent story that begins centuries before, the magnificent story woven through all of the Bible. The story of how God loves his children and has come to rescue them.”—Sally Lloyd-Jones

I look forward to getting these books and encourage you to look into it as well. Sally’s book is available at both Westminster books and The Rabbit Room Store and Russ Ramsey’s book is available at the Rabbit Room. The Rabbit Room is also offering a bundle of Russ’ book and Andrew Peterson’s CD. Sounds like a great Christmas gift to me.

John Quincy Adams grew up the oldest son of John and Abigail Adams. Growing up in the tumultuous revolutionary years of our country, seeing the way in which his father labored for the country and was so maligned despite the sacrifices he made to help establish America, it is a wonder that he pursued a life of a politician. He was a man very much beholden to duty; a characteristic instilled from a very young age. Sent on his first diplomatic mission at the age of 14-15 as the aid to the US minister to Russia, he demonstrated a capacity for languages and for diplomacy. However, upon returning to America, John Quincy tried to follow his own path as much as his father would let him. He graduated from Harvard and began to pursue a career as a lawyer. It was a pursuit that would be interrupted by the call of duty, the call to serve his country. The call to serve was made harder to turn down as it came from the first president and revolutionary war hero, George Washington. Washington tapped the younger Adams (27 at the time) as minister to the Netherlands in 1794. It was in this diplomatic post that John Quincy would flourish in many ways. I wonder if being out from his father’s shadow had anything to do with the growth of John Quincy. I do know that the distance across the pond encouraged some boldness in finding a wife on the part of Adams. Having his plans dashed earlier in life by his meddling parents, Adams moved quickly in securing the hand of his wife Louisa Catherine Johnson, the daughter of Joshua Johnson, the US Consul to Britain. To give credence to Adams’ short courtship, one must understand the meddling of his parents. John and Abigail had very strong opinions on the shape the future should take for their children, and when Abigail found out about her son’s intentions she wrote him, “Time will trim the luster of the eye, and wither the bloom of the face.” Abigail further encouraged John Quincy to “seek a more lasting union of friendship.” With the Atlantic separating them, John Quincy boldly replied back to his mother’s annoying meddling by writing that if he waited to find a woman that would suit her, “I would be doomed to perpetual celibacy.”

Adams’ successful life as a diplomat would open doors for Adams throughout his career, but upon the election of Jefferson and the animosity that grew between Adams father and the current president, it was apparent that Adams diplomatic life would be over for the time being. Adams returned to Massachusetts and was soon elected to the State legislature. Shortly after, he was appointed by the Massachusetts legislature to the US Senate to fill a vacant seat. While in the Senate, Adams proved to be his own man, not a party politician (imagine that) but a statesman who served for the good of the country as a whole and not just his party’s or his region’s best interests. This obviously alienated Adams from everyone and his first and only term as a US Senator ended abruptly as he was essentially forced to resign just months before his term was to expire. Things looked bleak for Adams at this time, but he didn’t stay unemployed long as new President James Madison called on Adams to be minister to Russia in recognition of Adams non-partisan work during the previous election.

Adams would make the most of his years abroad and it was during these 8 years that he would really make a name for himself as a diplomat and statesman. He would serve with great distinction and be among the chief architects of the Treaty of Ghent which officially ended the War of 1812. Adams made such a name for himself diplomatically that our 5th president, James Monroe would name John Quincy as secretary of state, a post with presidential aspirations if not implications as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th presidents all served at this post before becoming president. It would serve the same purpose for Adams as he would follow Monroe to the White House. However, it was probably in this realm of diplomacy and foreign policy that he really was at his best. In fact the well-known Monroe Doctrine that would police the Western Hemisphere for decades could just as simply been called the Adams Doctrine had he been in the White House at the time.

Elected the 6th president of the United States, Adams came to office amidst great turmoil. The election of 1824 ended with no candidate receiving enough electoral votes to be declared the winner. The popular vote definitely favored Andrew Jackson, but the Constitution called for the election to be decided by the House of Representatives. Henry Clay (Kentucky’s honored son) was the speaker of the House and also out of the election having not garnered enough votes to be considered by the House. Clay wielded a great amount of influence and power as he could shift his weight where ever he wanted. Striking a supposed “bargain” with John Quincy Adams, Clay through his support behind the secretary of state and favored son of the revolution. With the support of the speaker Adams was declared the winner in the house and became the 6th President of the United States. It was definitely a bittersweet time for Adams. While he celebrated victory and relished in the fact that his father lived to see the day, his opponents were crying foul and whispering of a “corrupt bargain” as Adams would name Henry Clay the next secretary of state. Jackson spent the next four years building up his election machine to ensure that Adams would be defeated.

John Quincy Adams was a man well ahead of his times and as a result was viewed by many to have had a less than spectacular presidential career. A great part of this comes from the propaganda campaign that Jackson successfully waged against his predecessor, but there was also Adams failings to grapple with reality. Many of his ideas were still just that for the time being, ahead of their time and the Adamsonian stubbornness would not allow him to relent on what he hoped to accomplish. With his presidential career over at the age of 61 (the same age his father became president), Adams believed his political career to be over and understandably so. Yet retirement would not fit Adams well, and just three years later he would accept a nomination as candidate for the US House of Representatives. Breaking with tradition, John Quincy Adams became the first president to return to public service after having served in the nation’s highest office.

The book I read is largely about Adams time as a congressman, a time that encompassed the last 17 years of his life. It was his “last crusade.” Adams was elected in 1831 and served in the House all the way up to his death in 1848, collapsing on the House floor and dying two days later in the speaker’s chamber. Adams last crusade was very much like the rest of his life, full of ups and downs. Adams would be lauded by those on both sides for the courageous stands he would take and vilified by both sides at the same time, to the point of facing censure. Adams was a man of no party, the ultimate statesman. Serving till his death and posting 50 years of service to his country, Adams endeared the greatest outpouring of grief since the passing of the legendary and iconic George Washington. The historical coincidence is uncanny as he collapsed on the birthday of Washington. The then speaker of the house captured well the luster that the passing of John Quincy Adams bore. Despite the fact that he never really won any political allies or seemed to enjoy the support of many, Adams was the last connection with the revolutionary era so endeared by the current generation. Speaker Winthrop said, “He was privileged to die at his post, to fall while in the discharge of his duties; to expire beneath the roof of the Capitol; and to have his last scene associated forever…with the birthday of that illustrious Patriot [Washington], whose just discernment brought him first into the service of his country.” While I have said more than I intended, I did so to jog your memory to one of, if not the greatest statesman our country has ever had. John Quincy Adams is a biography worth your time and attention. I particularly commend this one by Joseph Wheelan, Mr. Adam’s Last Crusade. Capturing very succinctly and effectively, Joseph Wheelan ably brings to life this great patriot and in my opinion, the last of the founding fathers. Let me leave you with the words of John Quincy’s son, Charles Francis in the epitaph he wrote for his father,

“Near this place reposes all that could die of John Quincy Adams son of John and Abigail [Smith] Adams sixth President of the United States, born 11 July, 1767, amidst the storms of Civil Commotion, he nursed the vigor which nerves a Statesman and a Patriot, and the Faith which inspires a Christian. For more than half a century, whenever his country called for his Labors, in either hemisphere or in any Capacity, he never spared them in her Cause. On the Twenty-fourth of December 1814, He signed our second Treaty with Great Britain, which restored peace within our borders; on the Twenty-third of February, 1848, he closed sixteen years of eloquent Defence of the Lessons of his Youth, by dying at his Post, in her Great National council. A son. worth of his Father, a Citizen, shedding glory on his Country, a Scholar ambitious to advance mankind, this Christian sought to walk humbly in the sight of God.”

Interestingly, I am also reading through the book of Esther and just read chapter 4 when Mordecai makes known to Esther the treacherous plans of Haaman. A similar exchange takes place between Mordecai and Esther as did Frodo and Gandalf. Esther doesn’t want to be in this position, most likely wishes she wasn’t queen at all and tells Mordecai what could happen to her if she tried. Mordecai’s reply is the precursor to Gandalf’s as he tells Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-15) Then Esther’s legendary response in verse 16, “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Frodo has a similarly courageous response. As everyone is arguing about what to do with the ring and how they are to destroy it, Frodo realizes that the task is his to bear and he silences the council when he says, “I will take the Ring…though I do not know the way.” It is amazing that those who write fiction well, write redemptively, just as the Biblical writers of the narratives did. As a friend recently said to me, Tolkien always wrote of more. You always knew that there was more to what he was saying. As I read through Esther, a book of the Bible in which God is never mentioned, I read knowing that there is always more. God is ever present throughout the story and though he is not mentioned by name, there is no doubt that He is active as he brings about these circumstances for the good of His people and glory of His name.

Remember, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” What are you doing with the time God has given you?

“Being able to articulate the gospel with accuracy is one thing; having its truth captivate your soul is quite another. The gospel is not just supposed to be our ticket into heaven; it is to be an entirely new basis for how we relate to God, ourselves, and others. It is to be the source from which everything else flows.”

What an awesome reminder that we all need from time to time. The gospel must captivate our soul; it is not just our “ticket to heaven.” How often though, do we live as if that were what we believe, that knowing the gospel is my way in and that is all I need. The right understanding of the gospel will not allow the “ticket to heaven” mentality to stay with us for long as we are transformed more and more into the image of God. We will see that the gospel enables us to relate in a New way with God, ourselves, and others. It will help us to apply the next quote:

“In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.”

In Christ there is true liberty, spiritual freedom from the bondage of our sin. With the proper understanding of the gospel mentioned in the previous quote, we will understand that this knowledge doesn’t encourage us to live how ever we want, but that it enables and encourages us to live God-glorifying lives that point others to our Redeemer.

I think the last quote I wanted to share sums up really well, what I was trying to say.

“The amount which you understand the gospel is measured by your ability to be joyful in all circumstances. If you grasp what a treasure the presence and acceptance of God are, then even when life goes really wrong you will have a joy that sustains you, because you’ll recognize the value of what you have in Him. When life punches you in the face, you’ll say, ‘But I still have the love and acceptance of God, a treasure I don’t deserve.’ And the joy you find in that treasure can make you rejoice even when you have a bloody nose. You have a joy that death and depravation cannot touch.”

That is the power of the Gospel, the power that made and still makes Christianity revolutionary.

I’m assuming that Christian parents have spent serious time and prayer thinking through their vision for their children.  The Bible does not come with a list of goals or a parenting manual.  Actually, the Bible is not a a list of do’s and don’ts or a manual at all, but the story of our Creation, Fall, and Redemption.  Within the framework of that story, however, parenting can be fleshed out.  My husband and I have four over arching goals for Andrew that we try, however fallibly, to consider when making decisions about him. We believe that these fit into a Biblical framework. They are to inundate him with the gospel, to protect him from sinful, worldly influences, to foster a heart of love for others, including the lost, and to equip him with the best education that we are capable of giving him, so that he may learn to love truth, beauty, and goodness, and then shed the light of these into the darkness of the world.  We think these are good goals that most serious, Christian parents would share with us.

But parenting is an imperfect skill, because parents are imperfect, children are imperfect, and the world in which we live out our lives is also a fallen place. But, by God’s grace and for His glory, we strive to do the best we know how.  I try to assume that about other parents, and I hope that they will try to assume that about me too. I try not to judge even when they do things differently than I would, so it’s frustrating when I sense that I am being judged by others.  It’s frustrating, for instance, when people think they know better than you what books your child should read or not read, how much technology they should or should not be allowed to engage with, and how they should or should not be educated.  For example, I’ve heard numerous times all the arguments as to why we should be sending Drew to public school.  Apparently, John and I don’t have a heart for the lost because we haven’t chosen this educational path.  I’m not judging those who choose public education for their children!  If they have decided that this is how to best educate their child, who am I to say otherwise?  I have enough to worry about regarding my own parenting!  But I’d appreciate the same respect.

Extending grace and resisting spiritual pride would be a good thing for evangelical Christian parents where this issue and other parenting issues are so hot.  We can have strong personal convictions without worrying ourselves about whether or not everyone else shares them. In the end, all of our efforts are only just efforts after all, for God is Sovereign, and it is only through the work of HIs Spirit that any genuine fruit can be seen in the lives of our children.