Sunday afternoon Sonya had a pretty good scare.  We were headed to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and she could not find her wallet.  She looked high and low for it but it was nowhere to be found.  She then  thought of the last place she had it.  The last place was Wal-Mart (proof that we spend too much time and money there).

We prayed!  Sonya went to customer service at the store and asked about her wallet and they had it.  The guy at the counter couldn’t guarantee everything was still in there.  Nervously, Sonya opened it up and everything was in tact.  Nothing was missing from it.  An honest person had found it and turned it in.  There are honest people left in this world.

I know there is temptation in hard economic times.  Someone could have gladly taken the money or credit cards out of the wallet and used it freely.   But not the honest person who found it!  There are many people who are honest these days.  Do not let the news or the paper fool you.  There are some dishonest people and thieves for sure, but there are alot more people who are good and honest.  I do not know who found Sonya’s wallet, but I pray God blesses them for their integrity.

Sunday we begin our Stories Series.  I am excited as we look, not only at lives in the Bible, but also people within our church family.  What kind of stories?  Stories of Transformation.  Transformed Lives, Transformed Circumstances, Transformed Marriages, Transformed Bodies, Transformed Minds.

We have a great line-up of people sharing their stories over the next month.  They will give a ten to twelve minute “story” of what God has done in their life.  Then I will follow up with a “Story” from the bible.  Although mine will be longer than ten to twelve minutes.  This Sunday we will look at Transformed Lives (Salvation).

I am believing God to move and transform lives during this series.

Speaking of transformed lives, Sunday we will be baptizing 4 people in water.  These are exciting times at RFA!

My birthday present arrived via UPS today.  A New Bible.  I am a lover of books and a collector of Bibles.  You can never have too many Bibles if you ask me.  Sonya asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her a Bible.  She was shocked!  (Just kidding!)  Actually, I believe she thought, “Why do you need another Bible?”  So she told me to pick out the Bible I want and get it.

I have been looking at the Scofield Bible for quite a while.  It has been in print for a 100 years and is a quality study Bible with great notes.   It has a smaller scale of the chain reference system made popular in the Thompson Chain Bible.  Scofield’s notes give a sound background of the Scriptures. 

The thing I like most about a Bible is the quality of  the leather.  This version of the Scofield, produced by Oxford Press, has a good quality leather that has the feel of goatskin.  I was impressed!  You can’t beat the quality and the price on this!

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion, that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be out-done by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, in California an archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: ‘California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.’

One week later, a local newspaper in Texas , reported the following: 
After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Cut-n-Shoot, Montgomery County, Texas, Bubba Rathbone, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Texas had already gone wireless. 

The other night as we were getting ready to go to bed, Hannah looks up at me, holds up her finger and says, “I’ll be right back, I have to go check my email.”  She’s 2 years old mind you and she has to get out of bed to go check her email. 

That one incident let me know that maybe our society is a little too consumed with technology.  Hannah has heard us say on many occasions that we are going to check our email and she has picked it up. 

It got me to thinking about how often we are consumed in our life with, not only technology, but also things that distract us from our families and more importantly distract us from our relationship with God.  You notice, Hannah didn’t say, “I’ll be right back, I have to go read another chapter in the Bible.”  Or, “I have to go pray a few more minutes.”  So in all of our busyness, what are we doing that is the most important?  Is it checking another email or finishing up some household chores?  Is it filling our schedules with events and other things or are we making time for the deeper things of God?  I believe we miss some our greatest times with God because we have too many other things to do.  Make a renewed effort to grow in your relationship with God.  Don’t let busyness consume you!

Many people have a hard time with the growing old thing.  They do not like to get more wrinkles, or lose their hair.  Others do not like the thought of leaving their youth behind.  For me, getting older is not that hard.  Now granted, I am only turning 37 but I find beauty in growing old.  When we go through life as a believer,  the game of life is different.  We look at things different!

Growing older doesn’t just mean we are one step closer to death’s door.  We are not even guaranteed to grow old.  Growing older doesn’t just mean we will be getting arthritis sooner.  Growing older doesn’t mean that we have lost our zest for life or even our youth.  To me, growing older means that I am growing older in Christ.  The older I get the more mature in Christ I get.  For the believer, we are meant to grow in Christ.  So with years, comes more maturity and growth.

In the Bible you see incredible blessings when men and women of God grew older.  As Joseph and David turned thirty, their dreams were coming to pass.  Abraham and Sarah’s promise was fulfilled when they were finally in their nineties.  Anna, at the age of 84, was in the temple day and night.  Certainly, there are some good things about getting older.

I look forward to the future of life, if the Lord tarries His coming.  I am excited about the prospect of young minister’s seeking out an old man for wisdom.  I can’t wait to see how my prayer life and knowledge of the Word have grown when I am in my seventies (if I am privileged to live that long).  So on this birthday, I am looking back at my Christian life and look to see how far I have come since I gave my heart to Christ.  God has been good to me!

Looking through a box of Valentine heart candy always makes me want to spend more time with Sonya.  It always describes with simplicity my love for Sonya, as well as my heart’s desires.

The candies read:
Soul Mate
You Rule
UR Mine
and my all-time favorite…Kiss Me.

Sonya and I have spent many valentine’s together and these words still ring true.  She is my soul mate.  She is mine.  And yes, I like her to kiss me.  I am fortunate that God has allowed us to be partnered together for life.

“This past Sunday I reminded everyone that if we Christians are asked what we want to do with our lives and our answer is anything smaller than, “I want to change the world” than we are offending God with our small expectations because God is changing the world and he has enlisted his fallible people to join him in his work. Small things are used by the Devil to fuel big anxieties–which inevitably become big distractions. Don’t let him get a foothold. Don’t let the “ankle bites” steer you off course (and don’t allow yourself to become an ankle biter). If your vision is smaller than God’s vision, it needs to change. Focus on the Big Things!”

-Tullian Tchividjian-