Home church

Yesterday the weather forced the cancellation of our church services. Since we knew about the cancellation the night before, we told the girls that we would have church at home. Peyton and Reagan both got dressed up for the service in our living room. I was in my gym clothes and Lacey was in some sort of lounging outfit. We started by singing a couple of songs (In Christ Alone and O Church Arise) before listening to our special speaker, Dr. John MacArthur. Dr. MacArthur's message (delivered via DVD) was from Luke 17:11-19. It was the story of the ten lepers that were healed, appropriately titled "Ten Men Healed, One Man Saved". We heard about other families from our congregation having similar "services". While the change of pace was nice, it also served as a reminder of how important the fellowship of the saints is. That evening we were able to get together with our pastor and another family that lived on the east side of town for an informal gathering at our house. Unfortunately we did not have enough people to form a quorum to move the services there permanently (which would be the the one way that I could be assured of never being late to church).

Remembering Mom

I posted at length about this over at Two Edged Sword. Today would have been my mother's seventy fifth birthday. I can hardly believe that it's been five years since she passed away. It seems as though so many things have happened in my life since then that I would have loved to share with her. I know that she would have enjoyed hearing Peyton read to her, and seeing Reagan learn to walk and talk. She would have been devastated to have us move to Rockford, but would have loved to know that we were in a good church and had planted ourselves well in the community. I'm sure she would have been a faithful reader of this blog and would want new pictures every day. She probably would have been a frequent Amtrak passenger, coming to Chicago and taking the bus from there to see us in Rockford. She would be very excited about our upcoming adoption (she would probably refer to the new baby as her little china doll).

Still, as much as I know that she would have enjoyed those things, there's not even a remote chance that she would trade even one moment of her presence with her Savior for all of those experiences on earth. God gives us a glimpse of His glory in creation, and He gives us a picture of His love in our human relationships, but the glimpse and the picture fade into obscurity when we enter the glory and the presence of God. From an earthly perspective, Mom has had almost five years of perfect communion with God. And while we marvel at His grace in the good gifts that He gives us here on earth to display His glory, when we enter His presence we won't be tempted to turn back to look at mere pictures.

Some people take comfort in thinking that their loved ones are up in Heaven gazing down here on earth with a bird's eye view of what's taking place in our lives. It's almost as though they view Heaven as an arena to display earthly events. I've heard (and sadly, may have espoused) that view many times. Now I cringe when I hear it. If the saints in Heaven are preoccupied with what's going on here on earth, then I have seriously overestimated the Majesty and Glory of God. But I'm digressing here into something that probably belongs more on my other blog, so I'll stop.

Happy Birthday Peyton

Today we had a belated birthday celebration for Peyton. We delayed the celebration because Peyton wanted to celebrate it when her friend, Patience, was back in town. Patience has been back for a couple of weeks, but we've had things scheduled for the past couple of weekends, so this was our first opportunity to get to Club Libby Lu. Compared to American Girl, Club Libby Lu seems like a bargain, so I'm not complaining. But it certainly isn't a place that I would choose to hang out. That's a good thing. I suppose if a man my age hung out there someone would call the police.

It was fun watching the girls get their Libby Lu "makeovers". Still, I was experiencing a bit of moral incongruity as I watched the "stylist" apply makeup and nail polish to my five and eight year old daughters (and to my pastor's five year old girl as well). I know that it is natural and normal for little girls to like to play dress-up and act grown-up. It's as normal as it is for boys to make a gun out of anything that fits in their hands and pretend to shoot things. There's a certain precocious innocence about it. Still, in the back of my mind I mused whether this type of activity is what leads to image obsession in later years. Just because something is marketed to little girls doesn't automatically mean that it is age appropriate. I learned that lesson with Bratz dolls (I think we've gotten the last of them out of our house now).

On the way home Peyton put my mind at ease by asking when "she could get all the pins out of her hair." It seems as though the hairpins were making her head itch too much. She washed her hair once we got home and I breathed a sigh of relief. While she can enjoy playing in the make believe world of being grown up, she isn't quite ready to dwell there. And that's just fine with me.

Founder's Week in Chicago

I had a great opportunity to spend a couple of days in Chicago with some friends from church to see and hear John MacArthur and Alistair Begg at Moody Bible Church in Chicago. It was even better than I expected that it would be. For one thing, Keith and Kristyn Getty were leading worship for the services that we attended. I'm almost ashamed to say that I had no idea that they co-wrote what has become one of my favorite hymns, In Christ Alone. This song captures the entire gospel message in four simple, but beautiful verses. What I especially loved was the first words out of Keith's mouth when he sat behind the piano. "Let's sing our faith," he instructed, and we launched immediately into In Christ Alone. There's something special about hearing three thousand voices sing that song.

Dr. MacArthur's message was from Luke chapter 15 on the passage commonly referred to as "The Prodigal Son". What we heard was a one hour summary of a passage that he spent six weeks preaching at Grace Community Church. You can read a transcript of the sermon here.

I had already heard this sermon, but I especially appreciated seeing and hearing it "live". I listen to a lot of sermons via iTunes and various podcasts, but I definitely listen differently when I'm part of the congregation. I wrote as fast as I could trying to take notes. He started out by pointing out that the story illustrated the joy of God in the the salvation of lost sinners. He then proceeded to explain what the story would have meant to those who were hearing it nearly two centuries ago. By transporting us back to the culture of middle eastern peasant life, with its emphasis on shame and honor, Dr. MacArthur shows how this parable of a father and two sons (if you only focus on the prodigal son you're missing the point) exposed how far removed the Pharisees were from a true relationship with God.

On Friday we were treated to another message from Dr. MacArthur and, in the evening session, a message from Alistair Begg. Both were exceptional. In the afternoon we visited Chinatown and did some shopping at the LifeWay Christian Store on the Moody campus. On Saturday I traveled with even more members of our church to Waukesha, Wisconsin to hear Dr. MacArthur again (I almost felt like a groupie, but groupies hang around for autographs and get pictures....um, well, uh, I don't know what to say).