risk

when you let a friend into the stirrings of your mind
those ones that i see whirling behind your eyes
but they just never quite make it out of those tightly sealed lips
like a prison,
the key held by yourself
that fear needn't be so controlling a taskmaster
when you have One greater living within you
because intimacy comes after risk
true freedom comes as a result of true surrender
and when you place your full trust in He who can never fail you
never abandon you
never turn His back on you
never hurt you futilely
never overlook you
never hold out on you
you're free
to open
and let go
to be known
but that risk knows that mere men
can and will hurt you
betray your trust
be unable to read your mind
occasionally feed your fears
break your heart
but
if you can trust
He who is faithful
you can trust Him working, always, in those tender hearts and minds
of those who just may hurt you some day
but
let me encourage you
that the risk
is well worth the pain
because the pain is temporary
the growth, grace, trust, holiness
is of colossal value
so take a risk, friend,
knowing that you cannot fall from grace
and your identity and eternity are sealed in Him who has called you by name.

dear mr. president

dear Mr. President,
with all possible respect,
because i fully believe that you've been set in place by God and that your obligation is to Him first,
us second,
please understand the job that is yours.
leading, not dividing, the American people.
this health care bill has become your idol, your pearl of great price for which, it appears, you will sell anything. democracy even?
so i appeal to you on behalf of the adults in this country who are watching this juvenile argument over issues that need not carry this weight.
we live in a democracy. you are responsible to lead a democracy.
what we see, however, is your whole-hearted pursuit of a dictatorship under which all national decisions fall on you, and to whichever advisors you prefer to listen.
please do not make this a democrat vs. republican fight. please forego the blaming.
this is a democratic, a representative, issue. and the reality is that men and women in Congress, with complete freedom of speech and vote, have chosen on behalf of the Americans whom they represent that funding this health care bill is not in the best interest of the whole, though it indeed appears to be in your best interest, the best interest of your pride...perhaps.
because, as far as i've been informed to date, America is a democracy rather than a dictatorship, you, mr. president, have the responsibility to do what is best for the people based on what the people desire and what their representatives choose.
i imagine that, in your marriage, you do not steamroll your wife when she wants something that is different from what you want. i imagine that you have to stand down at times and adjust your desires and form some sort of compromise - because of your love for your wife - for the ultimate good of the marriage.
please show the American people that they are priority, that unity is paramount. please show them your character, your leadership. please show the world why America is respectable and stable and most of all, united.
please humble yourself, sir, and be willing to let your pride suffer a loss, so that one step back can lead to many more steps forward.
i plead with you, see the panoramic whole. think beyond 2013. this tunnel vision is less that beneficial for the long term and for we, the people of the United States.

respectfully,
tammy dykstra
grand rapids, michigan.

abundance

to my 5.
if i could communicate anything to you over our next 3 years together it is this picture of God,
He who modeled for you how to pursue joy and righteousness,
He who is not primarily concerned with your happiness and comfort - though, yes, He says that these are good things! - but these are not the qualities that will develop your character and these will not equip you with the strength to walk victoriously through life's trials.
He is concerned with your deep and lasting growth, your holiness and humility, that you might know Him as richly as possible.
this world teaches (and will only do more so) that God's love means
that He is willing to accept unrepentant sin,
that He encourages men and women to satisfy every desire that stirs within them,
and that ultimately He will overlook every sin, every rejection of Him and allow all men access to joy in His presence for eternity.
know, dear ones, that God has spoken clearly (though not necessarily simply) in the Bible
that He cannot and will not tolerate any sin that is not both covered by the costly blood of Jesus and removed from daily life,
that joy is found when walking according to His desires alone,
and that the way to the Father is by faith alone, through grace alone, through Jesus alone, and that this relationship is made evident only by the fruit of a pure and transformed life.
be willing to sacrifice anything that does not make His name greater,
be willing to suffer the loss of any desire that doesn't purify you to become more like Jesus,
be willing to deny yourself any pleasure that only increases your appetite for the empty way of life that this world so liberally extends to you.
deny yourself, take up your cross, for the joy set before you.

refuse to settle for the muddy poisoning water when the pure, life-giving water is freely given to you. and with it abundant joy.

 

^"15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,.."  [Deuteronomy 30]

snatched.

zechariah 3.
then He showed me joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
the Lord said to satan, "the Lord rebuke you, satan! the Lord, who has chosen jerusalem, rebuke you! is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
now joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
the angel said to those who were standing before him, "take off his filthy clothes." then He said to joshua, "see I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you."
...
"and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
"in that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree," declares the Lord Almighty.

and why?

filthy,
sin-soaked like a slice of bleached white bread lost in a calf-deep puddle of rich muddy clay,
but our Representative stands on our behalf to declare us clean, righteous, before the Judge who judges each man according to what he has done.

why?

love.
and i guess i just don't accurately comprehend yet what love means.
a gift offered, not for exchange,
free and unnecessary,
only necessary for rescuing the little image-bearing bits from the fire.

so we fix our eyes on Jesus, and we store up for ourselves a treasure that will last.

ps. sometime this week, this link will have available today's sermon [rod vansolkema / zechariah 3 / joshua / sept. 1]. a ridiculously firm foundation of truth on which we stand.

tongue

"A basic condition of successful literacy... is that it should be attained in the mother tongue. Literacy achieved in any language other than the mother tongue is like... to remain superficial and incomparable with the literacy of people who learned to read in the language in which their mothers sang them to sleep." - Margaret Mead 

told

my God who has handed me opportunity after opportunity
He, who has provided for all of my needs one day after another
who has been consistently faithful to me
who has acted out of nothing but goodness.
who am i to complain to Him about the things that i do not [yet] have?
and who am i, for a moment, to neglect to trust Him
the One who is not only sovereign but so very good, simultaneously
a mention of coming discipleship placed in my unsuspecting hands
a home with support and generosity and grace that reflects Jesus
friends who would drop anything to be with me if i asked
a church family that has all of my respect and investment.
joy upon joy: available to those who will acknowledge and obey
i just need to be told sometimes

warren

rick warren, after his son's suicide:

"for 27 years, i prayed every day...for God to heal my son's mental illness. it just didn't make sense why this prayer was not being answered. but i would rather walk with God and have my questions unanswered than to have all my questions answered and not walk with God."

amen.
and praise God that this was aired on national television..

pray for healing; comfort; and continued, steadfast faith for the warren family and the saddleback community.

education

discipleship

...is incredibly malleable. it is selflessly willing take on plenty of forms.
and this week it looked like this...

 

johnny

7.3.2013

john.
"God is gracious"
alynn.
(a combination of al and lynn - in honor of the grandpas)
"little rock"
round-faced, tiny baby boy.
6lbs. 5oz. to be exact.
a little rock -
steadfast and assured
that your God is indeed gracious.
you have plenty to teach us.
my prayer for you is that you'll grow up to be the kind of man that people talk about,
as one of deep integrity,
that your private life and your public life are in unity like the reflection in a mirror and its source,
the kind of man for whose time and approval other men secretly hope,
as young men humbly ask for 30 minute pockets of your time
as young women secretly watch the way that you treat your friends, wife, children,
and they make note of the kind of man to whom they should give their time.
i pray that you'll be the kind of man who treats those around him with all value and honor,
compassion, gentleness,
that you would be bold and firm and confident
because your life is hidden in Christ
and that you would know Him early and increasingly
seeing that all of your hope and joy depend fully on Him and His grace toward you.
i pray that you would bring peace and a offer a servant's heart to those around you (like your daddy)
and humility, patience, and compassion (like your mommy)
and ridiculous light-heartedness and joy (like your daddy + mommy together).
i pray that you are a blessing to your parents' marriage,
a protector of your brothers/sisters that we'll meet later, a friend to your cousins,
and a gift to your future communities.
we love you, our first dykstra baby, our newest little one.
i can't wait to see what God has planned for you.

(and i still can't believe you're a boy.)