before & after: vapor trail mix

On Tuesday night I had a discussion with my mom on the phone about spanking and property rights.  Atticus took by force a toy from Penelope while I was on the phone with my mom.  It was a present she had given to Atticus for Christmas.  Atticus received a spank not for asserting his property rights, but for taking by force "his" toy from Penelope and then refusing to heed my voice when I told him to return the item to her.

On Wednesday afternoon I had a discussion with my mom about how many times she had communicated to her doctor she would like to be resuscitated before letting nature take its course in allowing her to go the way of the earth should something go wrong during her emergency surgery.

In less than 12 hours life’s tenor changed from daily life to life and death.

We are a vapor according to James,

We are a fading flower according to Peter.

We are prone to forget this amidst the plans and performing, but God has a merciful way of bringing us back to the reality that life is not a guarantee and our expiration dates are not clearly posted and printed on our persons, but all of our respective expirations are without exception.

what "N" the "L"?

J-K-_-M-_-O-P.
Yeah, I recycled this pun.
But this time with a twist.
What in the hell?
Not noel.
Yeah, that's right.
I regifted it.
'Tis the season.

Who's your hollaback grrl now?

Revelation 14:9-11

⁹ And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, ¹¹ and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.

Myth #1 - Hell is the absence of God.

Hell is the presence of God without His mercy. Hell is not where God refuses to go. Hell is where God's justice and wrath are given full vent. There is nowhere you can go to escape God. You don't get to avoid Him. You will face Him. One way or the other. There exists no place where God is not. He is here, He is in hell and He is in heaven. How can He be three places at once? I dunno. How can He be three persons at once? He's God. That's why.

For now the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

One day, rain will not fall on the unjust anymore.

It will be drought.

It will be famine.

It will be torment.

Forever.

Myth #2 - The Devil "rules and reigns" in hell.

The Devil did not win hell as a booby prize when he fell short of securing Heaven. Hell was not the silver medal. The fight was not over Heaven with the loser to rule somehwere else. The fight was over the whole kingdom. The loser was to be ruled by the winner in any and every thing and place. The Devil was and is banished to hell. The Devil does not want to be in hell. He does not like it or find a way to make lemonade from the lemons of defeat.

Jesus rules hell.

It is under His direct oversight.

He personally supervises the torment of those who in pride reject His sacrifice.

C.S Lewis observed:

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"

Hell is the home of everyone who gets what they want.

God is the gift given to everyone who by grace get after what Jesus wants.

Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.

And He will take it.

On all who reject Him: the Devil included.

a timely reminder provided

My Utmost for His Highest was faithful to remind Team Van Voorst this morning that the reason we are leaving is to know God and to serve Him with our lives and livelihoods. Unlike Abraham, we know where we are planning to go.  Yet we do not know what life will look like when we get there. Like Abraham, we are following where God leads unsure of everything other than knowing it is with Him we go.

As it turns out, worrying is not even for the birds.

But Chambers' words are not just for those packing up and moving; they are for each one of us who call upon Christ. Strictly speaking, "going out" does not necessitate a change in geographical location, but a heart obedient and dependent upon God.  That can be done from anywhere. 

For the glory of Jesus, may it be so for each and every one of us who call upon Him by faith.

"He went out, not knowing where he was going" —Hebrews 11:8

Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is, “What do you expect to do?”You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out,” building your confidence in God. “. . . do not worry about your life . . . nor about the body . . .” (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did “go out.”

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you “go out” in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?

Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him. Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is! Let the attitude of your life be a continual willingness to “go out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have a sacred and inexpressible charm about it that is very satisfying to Jesus. You must learn to “go out” through your convictions, creeds, or experiences until you come to the point in your faith where there is nothing between yourself and God.

the world wide web‏

1 Peter 4:17-18

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁸ And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

Peter is not simply being rhetorical. When he asks, "What will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" he is not really asking. Peter knows full well. Peter knows that without Jesus the end of everyone is death.

If we, those called saints by grace and through faith, are saved only through the immense difficulty and intensity of Jesus being crucified on a cross, how bad will it be for those who do not have Jesus on a cross on their behalf?

If it cost God everything in order to save those who by faith draw to near to Him, how much will it cost those who reject God's provision?

Peter is not implying that God barely pulled this salvation thing off.

It was not too difficult for God to save us.

But it was very expensive..

The difficulty is rather for us in persevering.

It is difficult to live by faith.

It is hard work to rest in Christ.

Does your faith cost you anything?
Would Jesus have had to die for you to have your faith?

If faith cost God the difficulty of offering up His Son and us the difficulty of denying ourselves, how easy is it then for us to fall short and deny God's gift?

Very easy.

All it requires of us is nothing.

in memoriam

2012: scrap it or scrapbook it?

Does 2013 represent for you an opportunity to start anew or to reproduce the fruit of 2012?

die to yourself, live to God; be a slave, be free‏

1 Peter 2:16

¹⁶ As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil.

 

Peter faced a dilemma in articulating the central belief of the Christian faith.

 

On the one hand, the Gospel is the preaching of the full and final release from personal responsibility to present oneself worthy before God.
 

On the other hand, the Gospel is the preaching of the full and final release from sin and slavery to the world and it's patterns.

 

If you preach the Gospel in its full glory and power, some will attempt to take advantage of grace and live a life dishonoring to their own bodies and the Lord they claim to seek for salvation.

 

If you preach the Gospel in its full glory and power, some will assume more tasks and to-do's and assume these are what makes them right or keeps them right with God.

 

Christ set us free.

But we are not free to worship freedom.

 

Everyone is a slave.

 

We are either yoked to sin or to Jesus. It is as simple and as difficult as that.

If you are a Christian, you are proclaiming that you are no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to Jesus.

 

This is why Peter says, "as God's slaves, live as free people, but don't use your freedom as a way to conceal evil."

 

You can't be free from sin and not be a slave to Jesus.

Put another way, you are either free from Jesus or free from sin.

 

To be free from sin is salvation.

To be free from Jesus is judgment.

happy new year! unless you liked 2012 in which case i'm so sorry for your loss

Congrats Christians and Christanettes!
We did it!!! 
Another year!!!!!
Exclamation points!!!!!!!

2013 stands to be a banner year for the minivan voorsts.

Stay tuned or get left in the exhaust of our Windstar (affectionately called "the vidi van").