A Note to the Ladies

"But what is the secret of marriage?...It is the message that what husbands should do for their wives is what Jesus did to bring us into union with himself. And what was that? 


Jesus gave himself up for us. Jesus the Son, though equal with the Father, gave up his glory and took on our human nature (Phil 2:5ff)...He gave up his glory and became a servant. He died to his own interests and looked to our needs and interests instead (Rom 15:1-3). 

The Christian teaching does not offer a choice between fulfillment and sacrifice but rather mutual fulfillment through mutual sacrifice. Jesus gave himself up; he died to himself to save us and make us his. Now we give ourselves up, we die to ourselves, first when we repent and believe the gospel, and later as we submit to his will day by day. Subordinating ourselves to him, however is radically safe, because he has already shown he was willing to go to hell and back for us." 

-Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage 

Ladies, look for men that reflect Christ before they are married. Men who "give themselves up" for others. Men who serve and look not to their own interests only. Men who show they are willing "to go to hell and back for us." This radical, sacrificial manhood glorifies and honors Christ. 


Obviously, no man is Christ. But there should be patterns and inclination in their hearts to "lay down their lives." 


And while single women do not have the opportunity to submit to their husbands, we can honor God by gladly affirming male leadership. Christ's example of looking to the interests of others instead of only our own is a woman's call too. 


But, keep your eyes open for the ones that are willing "to go to hell and back." Those are the keepers. I'm convinced. 

Risky Prayers

Exactly a year ago I wrote in my journal, "Regardless of how my time goes this week, may my joy be in You alone. May I be a woman who hopes in God, not boys." 


Sometimes we don't really know what we are praying for. We don't realize that God really will answer. He answers in ways we don't expect or even in ways we wouldn't choose for ourselves. 


My initial reaction is to be more careful in what I am praying about. As if the events in my life and how God is working in me are completely dependent on my prayer life. I can't control my pain by praying safe prayers. Jesus is constantly interceding for me, and praying for me in ways that are far more in line with God's will than my prayers will ever be. His prayers will always trump my requests. 


I think I'm just a little sobered. To pray for something good, and holy, and biblical may turn out to be utterly painful, hard, and scarring. 


But, if I am honest, no matter how painful the process is for God to answer our prayers it is good. It's more than good, it's life-giving. It gets us to our Great Good, our Ultimate Good. And if our pains get us closer to Christ, our treasure, then they get rejoiced in. 


Rejoicing today that God has made me a woman who hopes in God, not boys. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible

Some excerpts from The Jesus Storybook Bible. It's hard to read it and have dry eyes! 


"Dear Little Flock, 
          You're all wandering away from me, like sheep in an open field. You have always been running away from me. And now you're lost. You can't find your way back. But I can't stop loving you. I will come to find you. So I am sending you a Shepherd to look after you and love you. To carry you home to me." 


"Everything sad will come untrue. Even death is going to die! And he will wipe away every tear from every eye. Yes, the Rescuer will come. Look for him. Watch for him. Wait for him. He will come! I promise." 


"Did it sound too good to be true? A story that ends happily ever after? Well, it does sound like a fairy tale, doesn't it? And, as anyone will tell you, fairy tales aren't true. Or are they?" 


"And still God's children didn't trust him or do what he said. They thought they could do a better job of looking after themselves and making themselves happy. But God knew there was no such thing as happiness without him."


"God doesn't want us to be happy," they said. It was the same lie that Adam and Eve had heard all those years before. "God has brought us out here to kill us. God doesn't love us!" But they didn't know God very well, did they? 


"But Joseph looked at his brothers and his eyes filled with tears. Even though his brothers had hurt him and hated him and wanted him dead--in spite of everything--he couldn't stop loving them. His heart, which they had broken, filled up with love, and Joseph forgave them." 


"Now when Leah knew that God loved her, in her heart, suddenly it didn't matter anymore whether her husband loved her the best, or if she was the prettiest. Someone had chosen her, someone did love her--with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."


"This prince would love God's people. They wouldn't need to be beautiful for him to love them. He would love them with all of his heart. And they would be beautiful because he loved them. Like Leah." 


"Sarah didn't believe God could do what he promised. She had forgotten that when God says something, it's as good as done. (Of course, it was as easy for God to give her a baby as it was for him to make all the stars in the sky.)" 

No Scar?

No wound? No scar? 
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be, 
And pierced are the feet that follow Me; 
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has nor wound nor scar? 


-Amy Carmichael 

So That I No Longer Live for Myself

I love my church and I believe God has brought Garden City Church into existence for his glory, for my city, and for people like me. I have found that the very mission of my church, making disciples to impact the city for Jesus, frees me from preoccupation with myself.

My heart is prone to return to its stony, selfish, original state. It quickly turns inward and focuses on me, my life, and what I want. Before I know it, this inward self-focus causes a rapid downhill decay of my once alive, flourishing and joyful heart. I think this “hardening” must be what the writer of Hebrews warns about in Hebrews 3:13: "Exhort one another... so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

This must be one of the reasons God has called me to be a part of a new church plant in San Jose: Garden City Church. Every week I am called out of my self absorption and commissioned to labor with others for a much greater purpose than myself. San Jose is a city with a lot of people who don't know Jesus, who don't care about God, and are seeking their joy in things that will never satisfy. It is dark, spiritually dead, and loves sin. But God is in the business of bringing light to a dark world, pouring out love to the lost, and causing the dead to become alive. It's what he does best. It puts his glory on display and it makes him look ridiculously good. My pastor pleads with us to be people like Paul who say, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" I find myself wondering why my heart doesn’t resonate with Paul who, when talking about people that didn’t know God, says, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.”

It’s by coming to church and hearing the gospel that once again my stony heart is broken, and my rebellious heart rejoices in God. My layers of self-absorption are peeled off one by one and I start thinking about others. Names of co-workers, unbelieving family members, hurting people come flooding into my mind. I begin to beg God to make my heart break for them. I ask him to give me a heart that wants others to experience the power of the gospel that changed me.

I am not a natural visionary. In most cases, I tend to be more of a helper. I will help you get done what needs to be done, but don’t ask me what I think my life will look like five years down the road. So, I need visionaries in my life or my view will stay small and weak. My pastor and the leaders in my church are visionaries. They hope for great things. They pray big prayers, and dream big dreams. They expect thousands of conversions and a city forever changed by Jesus.

Being a part of Garden City is teaching me how to live on mission and placing in me a greater passion for God’s glory than I have ever had. And strangely enough, this frees me from my self. My heart that was wrapped up in its own kingdom is freed to partake in a more magnificent and infinitely more glorious Kingdom. God is using Garden City Church to help me be a person who, “no longer lives for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor 5:15).” I consider it my privilege to co-labor and partner with Garden City Church for the gospel. I love my church.

Five Reasons Why I Love My Church

Every week, and sometimes multiple times a week, I find myself saying, "I love my church!" I love that. Here are some reasons why: 


1. What you see is what you get. The people are real, honest, and want to live life with you.  


2. My church is passionate about non-believers AND believers knowing Jesus and understanding the gospel. 


3. My church loves my city. 


4. The mission and vision aren't just sayings on a website, it's the fuel that drives the members. 


5. The leaders are visionaries. They inspire me to dream big dreams and pray big prayers. 

Garden City Church --Making disciples to impact the city for Jesus.

I want to be like a watered garden.

“My most earnest of all pleas to singles is abandonment of the self, surrender to Christ of all unfulfilled longings, an unequivocal willingness to receive whatever God assigns, and a determination to practice the sacrificial principle of Isaiah 58:10-11. Life becomes not only far simpler, but surprisingly joyful and free.”

Elisabeth Elliot

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

Isaiah 58:10-11

No more cacophony, just symphony

"Jesus, I long for the Day when “all things in heaven and on earth” will be brought together in you—that is, “summed up,” integrated, reunited. No more discombobulation, just combobulation. No more chaos, just cosmos. No more cacophony, just symphony. No more frenzied pace, just perfect peace. No more racing about, just resting in you. No more half-conversations, just unbroken communication. No more indecisiveness and second guessing; no more “ifs, ands or buts”; no more fractures or fissures; no more juggling schedules or breaking appointments; no more disappointing anybody, just enjoying everybody. O, that looks, sounds and smells so very good…"


Scotty Smith 

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

"Other refuge have I none, 
I helpless, hang on Thee; 
Leave, oh leave me not alone, 
Support and comfort me. 
All my trust on Thee is stayed, 
All help from Thee I bring; 
Cover my defenseless head
In the shadow of Thy wing." 


-Charles Wesley