A wonderfully woven tapestry.

"We baptize the values of our culture and give them Christian names."
- Dr. Thoennes.

Tonight at Afterdark (a Wednesday night, student-run chapel), Dr. Thoennes taught out of Acts 4. Peter and John had just finished healing a man who had been crippled for life and had proceeded to share the gospel of Jesus' birth and resurrection with the crowds. The text tells us that 5,000 people came to believe just days after the city had been demanding Him crucified. The Sadducees arrested the two apostles and brought them before the council for a hearing. The apostles were then filled with the boldness of the Holy Spirit and spoke truth that the Sadducees could not deny. Yet the Sadducees denied it anyway.

Somewhere in the middle of Dr. Thoennes' sermon, he made an important point:

If the God I believe in is one that never "ticks me off", makes me feel uncomfortable, or tells me something that I don't like, then my God is no more then a projection of myself. We are fallen beings whose minds must be transformed and renewed to be like Him! When God defies my expectations of how I think He should be, I should prepare myself for a need of massive readjustment.

I think it fascinating the way that the Lord has been weaving my life together lately. So many women have been placed in my life. There is so much pain; There are so many questions. Yet the Lord is using each of them to teach me and engage with me in life-giving and edifying discussion that somehow naturally flows to fill the need of the next relationship or conversation. I'll hear a sermon or do some reading and the content will be directly relevant to a conversation I either will have or have recently been a part of. My life is looking a lot like a tapestry, my friend. A wonderfully woven tapestry.

God is good.
God is brilliant.
God provides.