As Much As You Want

"You are as holy as you want to be."

- Keith Daniel

Family Camp Potpourri

Photo: Christy Danielle, the newest little rosebud at our church. Born just a couple of weeks ago, we were happy to see her and her mama at camp!

Family Camp ended yesterday afternoon. We were there till after dark, cleaning up, going through leftover food, and wrapping up all of the book keeping.

This morning we slept in till the neighbor showed up needing the kids to help him look for his missing pigs! I think they're still out in the woods looking for the last missing one. (They found one dead and half-eaten, and another one alive, but badly chewed up. Coyotes? Anyway, he's hauling it to the butcher plant today.)

I'm busy unpacking the van and doing laundry. I hope to post Camp pictures soon, but for now, a few quotes from some of the sermons will have to suffice. (Some of these quotes are not word-for-word, as some of them are summaries of thoughts I scribbled down during my note-taking.)

Even at the end of life, as you die, you should be in awe of the staggering love of God to you, your life, and to your soul. There is so much of the greatness of God's love to discover, that you will never run out of things to be amazed at every day that you live. -- Keith Daniel

Give me the Godly, rather than the crowds to stand with me, to house me, to love me, to be my friends. -- Keith Daniel

You cannot believe what the devil will make of you if you give him half a chance, toying with sin. You will become something that you in your right mind would have abhorred. -- Keith Daniel

It's not how you start the race; it's how you finish it. -- Pastor Don Courville

If you want to know how Godly a man really is, just listen to how he speaks to his wife. It's the tip of the iceburg, but it tells you everything about what is hidden below and who he really is. -- Keith Daniel

It's a terrifying thing to see a man who has to get what he wants, rather than being content with what God has seen fit to give him to fulfill his needs.
-- Keith Daniel

The Second Look

Keith Daniel made a statement that I don't think I'll ever forget. He was talking about guarding our eyes against lust. But it could be applied to about any area of temptation.
He said:

"When David saw Bathsheba washing herself, the first look wasn't his fault.
But the second look was."

Think of all of the second looks, thoughts, etc. that we entertain when it comes to sin.

"I shouldn't say anything. But....."
And then we go ahead and say what our conscience just told us would be wisest not to say about someone.

"Oh, this isn't what I expected. I should stop reading it. But... I have to finish this page."
And then we go ahead and read to the end of the paragraph or page.

"That thought is not of good report. I shouldn't even think about it anymore. But... "
And we find ourselves fascinated by the thought of something new we have just learned about someone or something.

The second look happens when our heart has been drawn towards something.
And frequently, we find our hearts drawn to things that grieve our Heavenly Father. Perhaps it is plain evil, or perhaps it is sin just because it is not ours to have or covet right now.

Lot's wife in the Genesis account, turned back for one last look at Sodom as they fled the city - because her heart was there. She loved Sodom, a place that blasphemed God with every action and motive. Perhaps she didn't love all of the immorality. Maybe it grieved her heart, as it did Lot's. Perhaps what she loved was the ease and pleasure, the operas, and fine arts and fun that was to be had there. But she was willing to compromise and love an ungodly place for the comforts it afforded her.

The first thought of wrong - anything that displeases God - is not sin. The second thought - my voluntary choice to continue thinking, to take another look, another listen, IS.

But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 1: 14,15