John Maust shared his Facebook message from artist Didier Millotte with OneWord Journal:
Didier also wrote me to say, "One of the artists who died was an illustrator I watched on TV when I was kid. Everyone knew him here. Tragedy in France, tragedy in Europe. Dark time. We need the Cross. We need Christ, the life of the Savior. We need to work to share the gospel. Your job at MAI is part of it. So precious."
"La vie sera toujours plus forte que la mort" by French artist Didier Millotte
We met Didier Millotte through College Church missionary John Maust. This gifted artist participated at LittWorld 2012 in Limiru, Kenya, where the STAMP 2012 Kenya team served. The caption to Didier's watercolor says, "Life will always be stronger than the dead." A poignant reminder as the world tries to make sense of the killings at Charlie Hebdo magazine. Follow Didier's blog.
As a new year begins, we look back and ahead. What happened last year? We might look back and rejoice or we might look back at the year with regrets. With the first week of 2015 almost over, we can look forward to what might be possible in the year ahead.
So this month of January, we look for “insight.”
We could be looking at personal insights into life, relationships, God or something else. Whether it’s a memorable book read last year or something that happened recently in missions or a breakthrough in local ministry or witness, January 2015 is a time when we are open to looking back and ahead at the same time to discover new insights and new possibilities.
Let’s gain insight from one another.
In Proverbs 1:2, King Solomon wrote, “to know wisdom and instruction to understand words of insight.” Our goal, no, our prayer, is that these posts, these insights, will help us to understand—either for the first time or for the millionth time—that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
So here we go, into 2015, together.
Missions Pastor Bruce Wilson's best books for 2014 included:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. A beautifully written, poignant novel. (This book showed up on a few more lists this year.)
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power by David Yergin. Well-researched and engaging history of oil exploration and the impact of oil on our daily lives and world events.
Indonesia, Etc: Exploring the Improbable Nation by Elizabeth Pisani. Keen and occasionally humorous insight into the world's fourth most populous nation.
Director of Children's Ministries Diane Jordan chose these titles as some of her best books.
IF by Amy Carmichael. Actually a booklet that is only 27 pages, but so very inspiring, challenging and encouraging. A call – almost like a diagnostic – to have us examine what we know of Calvary’s love by how we live our lives.
Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry. Sets forth what the Bible says about homosexuality, looks at cultural influences and gives great practical counsel.
Love Into the Light by Peter Hubbard. Again a book that sets forth a biblical understanding of the issues, and then challenges the church to look beyond the label to reach out and love the lost no matter who they might be.
God in the Whirlwind by David Wells was Pastoral Resident Ryan Potter's choice of his best book. Says Ryan about the book, "The book was a favorite because of the way Wells unpacks the gospel and its implications for our understanding of God. Often we emphasize either the holiness or love of God over and above the other, but in the cross we see that God's character is "Holy-Love," which both hates sin and loves us so much that he sent his son as a sacrifice for our transgressions. We are not left with a God that we conjure up from our own imaginations, but with God who is wholly other than ourselves and calls us to know him as he truly is."
Pastor Josh Stinger had this to say about some of his best books of 2014
The book that topped Pastor Steven Lee's list was Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller. Writes, Steven, "The best book I've read this year and the best book on prayer that I've come across. A Praying Life by Paul Miller was also a great read on prayer (I've read it many times over the years) and I've read my fair share of E.M. Bounds, but Keller's book is particularly helpful because he shows the reader the reasons and motivations behind prayer, defines prayer against other writers that may have had a skewed understanding of prayer; then delves into practical ways to learn how to pray (citing extensively from Calvin, Augustine and Luther). It has enlivened by prayer life and I would highly recommend it.
Pastoral Resident Michael McKittrick describes some of his best books for 2014.
Gail Pflederer sang this at Lessons and Carols this year.
Jen Brewer and her husband, Jeff, went out from College Church to plant a new church, Hope Fellowship in Lombard, where Jeff is now the lead pastor. At the College Church Women’s Bible Study Christmas celebration, Jen talked about how her family shines holy light this Advent season and throughout the year.
There’s a sign in our kitchen that says, "Welcome to our crazy, fun, happy, loud home." Granted it's certainly not a complete description, but it's accurate, to one degree or another.
We are the kind of parents who have our kids dump out all their Halloween candy in the middle of the family room floor just to see the massive mounds of candy given out that year. It's just fun.
When the kids were little we often had 80s dance parties to get out all our energy at the end of a long week—and we turned up the music really loud! Today, the music is still loud on occasion and we have four girls who enjoy hearing themselves talk. We’re an all there kinda family. We’re excitable, we’re loud.
Our evening Bible times would hardly ever be described as smooth sailing. Take the night when our story of Mary and Joseph was interspersed with random discussions, wonderful insights and revelations and thoughtful questions from our youngest daughter about exactly how babies are delivered.
In the midst of the chaos, we desire that the overriding tone in our home reflects our faith in Jesus, our love for others overflowing from the hope laid up for us in heaven, the gospel, the word of truth, bearing fruit and growing, increasing knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God resulting in lives that please him, endurance, patience, joy, thankfulness and forgiveness through God's power at work within us.
These are the beautiful qualities Paul praised and prayed for the Colossian believers in his letter. And these are the beautiful qualities we want exemplified in our family, in our lives. Along with Paul's praises and prayers in the Book of Colossians, he shared loving encouragements, warnings, admonitions and instructions about how to live out the Christian faith.
And I need this help. I need all of the Word of God to help me for two reasons—so I can recognize lies and so I can respond in truth. When we studied Colossians in Women’s Bible Study, we discovered one of the main reasons Paul wrote was because the believers there were being deceived by various false teachers.
There are a myriad of ways we are influenced, and sometimes deceived, by the world—television, movies, ads, books, Pinterest, Facebook, well-meaning friends, churches, seminars and blogs that all share how to be a phenomenal (or at least, a more effective) wife, mom, grandma, sister, friend, neighbor, hostess, community member, co-worker, coordinator, communicator, caretaker, cleaner, crafter, Christian.
And many of these things are fine and helpful. But what's not helpful is when they become our highest ideals instead of God's standards ruling our lives. But there is one other influence that deceives me most. It’s my own dreamy, often unrealistic expectations that cause wrong thinking about how life ought to be or ought to go. My standards. My ideas. My ways.
Recently, there was an incident in which my girls needed correction for their relationship struggles. Since they are older, I was delighted with the opportunity to sit down and share much of what we had learned in Colossians—about what Christ did for us and how we are now to live out our Christian lives with one another.
Here's what I envisioned happening, and what I would like you to believe happened at that moment (and every moment I discipline my children).
The classical music started playing overhead....dun, dun, dunna, dun, dun, dun, dun... And the girls profusely thanked me with, "Oh, thank you, dearest mother, for so clearly and faithfully revealing our hearts to us through God's wonderful Word. Please forgive us and continue to pray for us as we live out our lives together in a manner worthy of the Lord." They hugged each other and merrily skipped out of the room together. Oh, what a delight to this mother's soul!
Recognize the lies, the lofty expectations in my head?
Here's what really happened. There was no classical music, just some barely audible mumbled apologies, some rolling of the eyes, furrowed brows, two unhappy countenances, and then the question--"Can we go now?" That's it. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect and it certainly didn't fulfill my picturesque dream.
So, I respond in truth. The reality is that just like me, my kids are sinners and are still growing in the grace of God. Like me, they are still being established in the gospel. Once again, I'm reminded that I cannot control my kids' responses or change their hearts, but I can trust God to bear fruit in all of us—in his timing, in his ways, for his glory.
Author Paul Tripp states, " Admit it, we’re all still a bit of a mess; that’s why we need God’s grace today as much as we needed it the first day we believed. You and I need to say it to ourselves again and again. We need to look in the mirror and make the confession as part of our morning routine. Here’s what we all need to say: 'I am not a grace graduate.' "
You and I need to come to him broken and acknowledge that we can't fix ourselves. We need to truly believe that through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, Jesus is able to forgive us and restore our relationship with God. If you've hesitated and never confessed your need for Jesus or never submitted to him as the ruler of your life, that is something you can simply do now. You will become a child of God. You will have new life in Christ.
I'm not sure if you will ever visit our home. If you do, I hope you will enjoy a warm, pleasant, peaceful atmosphere. You may not get a sense for how loud we are. You might not notice the crazy. You probably won't have the privilege of being folded into our 80s dance parties. But I do pray that you find our family rooted, established, built up and walking in the faith of Christ Jesus our Lord, abounding in joy and thanksgiving.
