July 19th, 2010
Posted by Janice
This summer has been a wonderful season for growing things. A long spring with lots of rain gave way to hot summer days where everything flourished. Sporadically I spent time clearing one side of my lawn for a cutting garden. As always happens, other duties would intrude and several days would lapse between the weeding and planting. To my dismay, each time I returned, the newly cleared ground was rampant with thistles and weeds. It was a losing battle until I discovered the remedy was to not leave the patch bare. Immediately planting the empty space with flower cuttings and ground cover, left less area for weeds to gain hold.
In the same way, if we neglect ourselves spiritually, our hearts become just like my cleared garden plot. A root of bitterness can spring up in the rocky soil of hurt feelings; the weed of discontent will take hold when we don’t spend time in prayer and praise; and the snare of covetousness will rapidly take root in soil not cleansed by repentance. Like the weeds in my flower garden, that seemingly appeared overnight, little sins find fertile ground when our spiritual life has not been cultivated by the Word and prayer.
From the book, “The Power of Prayer,” by R.A. Torrey, some hindrances that keep us from setting aside time each day to pray are:
1. Idols in the heart (Isaiah 14:1-3)
2. An unforgiving spirit (Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:14,15)
3. Doubt (James 1:6,7)
4. Mistreating our spouse (1 Peter 3:1)
5. Unconfessed sin (Isaiah 59:1,2)
6. We don’t ask according to God’s will (James 4:3)
7. Stinginess in giving (Proverbs 21:13)
If you see any of these noxious plants appearing in your spiritual garden, you can find the perfect weed killer in Psalms 51:2 – “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Happy planting!
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May 2nd, 2010
Posted by Janice
I had been a pastor’s wife for about three years before I discovered there aren’t two types of pastors’ wives (as I’d assumed), but three:
• Type A is the PW with her own specific call to ministry. I assumed she soared — anyone with their own “God-mantle” surely didn’t battle the same doubts and fears that I did.
• Type B married a man with a specific call to the ministry. In this category are actually two sub-categories: those who are thrilled to share their husband’s call and those who feel that their husband’s call is just that — their husband’s – and spend their life busily drawing the boundaries between his call and their life.
• Type C, however, are pastors’ wives who didn’t marry a pastor at all. They married an electrician or an accountant, maybe a bus driver. However, sometime after the marriage their husband admitted to or received a call to the ministry and their life changed drastically.
I have great empathy for what they must go through. It is one thing to get on the road of life and aim your car for a specific destination. The road may be bumpy, but there’s security in knowing where you’re going. To suddenly be driving to one destination and have the driver wheel onto an exit and head in exactly the opposite direction must be catastrophic to the emotions. Jill Briscoe, in “Renewal on the Run” has encouragement for those who fit Type C. She uses Peter’s wife as the example. This is a woman who married a fisherman. It was a lifestyle she knew, it had a stable income and was socially accepted. However, God had another agenda for Peter’s life and took him down another road.
What this boils down to is it does not matter if you have a personal call, you’re sharing a call or whether you were drafted mid-season, for in whatever situation you find yourself you can rest in the knowledge that God foresaw it, even foreordained it, and with His help you can succeed.
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February 13th, 2010
Posted by Janice
I come from a family of avid readers. Long ago, we discovered that we didn’t need to waste time looking up an unfamiliar word in a dictionary. No siree. We knew it could be figured out by the way it was used in a sentence. Unfortunately, when we’d have occasion to speak this new word, we just assumed we knew its correct pronunciation. Not always. Like the time my brother announced at dinner that he didn’t like a particular acquaintance because his holier-than-thou attitude made him seem “pee-us.” There was a moment of stunned silence before we all jumped in to explain that the word is pronounced, “‘Pie-us,’ David, ‘pie-us’.”
I was in college before I knew that a false appearance wasn’t a “fuh-kade” but a “fuh-sod.” Sometimes I discovered that I preferred my own pronunciation to the correct one. For instance, it was disappointing to find the synonym for complete disorder — chaos — was pronounced “kay-oss” because I thought my version of “chay-ose” sounded more chaotic (if you know what I mean).
By now, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. I’m talking about tangled speech. The Psalmist says “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word fitly spoken.” Try as I may, my speech inevitably resembles peach pits in tarnished brass.
My verbal offences, while sometimes humorous in retrospect, often give others an untrue impression of me. While I’m quick to apologize when I’m aware of transgressing, I know I don’t catch them all. Therefore, I’m qualified to state that most people do not intend to be insulting. Comments you take as intrusive almost certainly are simply one person’s way of showing interest. This year, give your church members a break and learn to laugh at what appear as roughly spoken, snoopy, or rude comments. Being accepting of others foibles will reap you wholehearted love from those around you. There’s nothing nicer for your people than knowing you’ll accept them graciously, and that they don’t need to measure and examine each word before it is uttered.
[Reprinted by Permission from Brynwood Publishing]