by jphilo | Jan 21, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
The winter of 2013–2104 has been a cold one so far. It came early, and from the looks of things, intends to stay late. So Down the Gravel Road is posting this top ten list as a public service announcement for the inhabitants of the frozen tundra. Keep in mind that the list is more metaphorical than practical, the contemplation of which should offer enough food for thought to get you through Ground Hog’s Day when Punxsutawney Phil tells the northern hemisphere how much longer this winter will last.
10. Car seat warmers. The Man of Steel and the Woman of Aluminum are far to steely (and cheap) to own a car with these. But the Woman of Aluminum is adept at finding out if the cars of acquaintances, with potential to become good friends, have them.
9. Mouse traps. Those of you who live in old farm houses where the frozen tundra meets the edge of town know why this item made the list.
8. Happy lights. One way to fight back against the lack of daylight hours in the winter.
7. Chocolate. This item is self-explanatory.
6. Hand lotion.
5. The ability to day dream. Specifically, the ability to day dream about warm places like Florida, Hawaii, and the southwestern United States. To watch an instructional video on how to gain this ability, go to your local movie theater’s showing of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
4. TV and movie DVDs. Visit your local library’s selection for free or purchase a subscription to Netflix.
3. Friends and family. Those long winter nights go by faster when you have company over to supper and play games afterward.
2. A Bible. It promises that our present sufferings can’t compare with future glory. (Romans 8:18). While Paul is referring to future glory in the next life, the new life that bursts forth each spring is a type and shadow of what’s to come. The middle of winter, when all seems dead, is the perfect time to meditate upon the promise of the life to come.
1. Books, books, books. A good book is good company any time of year. But they are essential in winter. The best book I’ve read so far this winter is The Book Thief. You?
by jphilo | Sep 30, 2013 | Church Newsletter Columns
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you,
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and the love which you have for all the saints;
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven,
of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel.
Colossians 1:3–5
Sometimes, I don’t like being a grown up. Last week, when it was time to say good-bye to dear South Dakota friends and head home, was one of those times. A piece of my heart remained with them as I climbed in the car and drove away from the little town filled with people who loved and supported us during the early years of our very sick baby’s life.
But I had to leave because another piece of my heart lives in Iowa, in the town where Hiram and I raised our kids, where we have many friends who supported us during the trials and joys of life for almost three decades. Other bits of my heart are scattered all over the country and the world, wherever beloved rellies and friends now live. And every year, my heart cracks anew as I say final good-byes to dear ones God used to bless my life before he called them home.
With each good-bye, a bit more of my heart chips off. These good-byes makes it impossible to hold onto my foolish childhood belief that everyone who populated my secure world and loved me would be with me forever. Life…and death…continually prove that my childhood belief isn’t truth. The truth of the matter is this:
People change.
People move.
People die.
In the shadow of that reality, my grown up self longs for and seeks after Someone who is true and loving and secure. Someone who never dies. Someone who can repair my heart, and the hearts of all who seek Him, for eternity. Who can that be but Christ, the One Paul calls “the hope of heaven?”
Christ is our hope on earth and in heaven. He is hope a person can cling to when saying good-bye. Hope to share with those God uses to bless our lives. Hope to encourage us to pray for those we love who don’t yet know Him. Hope to makes mature believers rejoice, knowing they are drawing ever closer to the Hope laid up for them in heaven.
Hope to make us eager to join Christ and the cloud of witnesses surrounding Him in a heaven where there are no more tears.
No more sorrows.
No more pain.
No more broken hearts.
No more good-byes.
And no more grown ups.
Just children of the Father, His saints reunited with one another and worshipping God’s Son forever and ever.
Amen.
by jphilo | Jul 1, 2013 | Church Newsletter Columns
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,
much more those who received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:7
Summer in Iowa is a time of abundance. Our neighbor’s sour cherry tree is covered with enough fruit for their family, our family, and the birds. Hiram and I are working our way through a two gallon bag of lettuce given to us by friends. Every week, we feast on fresh-picked strawberries from our CSA share.
But the abundance of summer garden produce pales compared to the abundance of God’s eternal grace described in Romans 5. Over and over, Paul reminds us of two things: the abundance of human sin and God’s abundant grace. He reminds us that have a choice: to walk in the path of sin, or to follow the path where God’s grace. Whichever choice we make leads to abundance. The first, to abundant sin. The second to grace abundant enough to wash away our sins through the sacrificial love of Jesus.
The love of Jesus demonstrates God’s abundant grace. His vast capacity to absorb darkness into his light. His ability to take what was meant for evil and turn it to good. Not just for some sins in a few lives here and there. But for every sin in the lives of all who come to know him.
God doesn’t force this life-giving grace upon us. But it is always present, as long as we live. Always available, hiding in the mundane circumstances of our lives. Present in the midst of challenge and sorrow. Waiting to be discovered in the unexpected compassion of friends and strangers. Breathing hope into despair.
God doesn’t use an invading army to reveal and deliver this abundance. He uses one man, his Son. And he doesn’t grant blanket absolution to everyone on earth. Instead, he saves us one-by-one. Then he initiates a tender, intimate relationship with each believer. Not an elaborate, one time ceremony, but a daily, quiet conversation. Not a lightning bolt, once-and-final change of character, but a process of sanctification that begins when a person gives his heart, once-and-forever, to the Savior who died so we might live.
God offers his children an abundance of relationship. A relationship that lasts a lifetime, an eternity. A relationship in which we are free to explore his character, delight in his presence and enjoy his gifts. Through that relationship, we see him more fully revealed. We come to know the God, the One-and-only who intimately, simultaneously, and eternally lavishes abundant grace on all who come to know him as Lord and Savior.
by jphilo | Jun 3, 2013 | Church Newsletter Columns
Wretched man that I am!
Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:24–25
A snowstorm one week. 100° the next. I wish I could blame the discontent swirling around in my heart on the crazy weather. But this self-condemnation has more to do with my inward spirit than outward circumstances like snow and heat.
For several years, I’ve searched my heart and confessed my sins. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the same issues rise to the top of my daily sin parade. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I ask forgiveness and beg God to change my heart. To conform my mind to Christ. To give me His power to think, speak, and act in accordance with His will.
Every day, I fail. I judge others harshly. I brag about my accomplishments. I’m not satisfied with what God provides. I doubt His provision for tomorrow. I choose my agenda over His. I seek the approval everywhere but in God.
Some days, I epic fail. My actions and words hurt others because I consider only my own needs. I say unkind things to my husband, who is one of the kindest men on earth. I doubt God because my struggle with sin goes on. And on. And on.
In Romans 7:15, the apostle Paul describes a similar struggle: For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. In the following verses, Paul piled up more ls and mes:
I do the very thing I do not want to do…
So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me…
For I know that nothing good dwells in me…
For the good that I want, I do not do…
I find then the principle that evil is present in me…
Wretched man that I am!
Finally, Paul asks a desperate question: Who will set me free from the body of this death?
When the apostle looks outside of himself, the answer comes: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!…Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
When the burden of our personal sin weighs upon our hearts, when the condemning Is and mes, hope can only come outside ourselves, when we look to the One who bore our sins and freed us from them (whether we feel free or not), when we rest in the certainty of His abundant forgiveness and grace.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
by jphilo | Apr 5, 2013 | Walking Down the Gravel Road
These April mornings,
When my walks begin.
I need a pep talk to push my feet
Out the door and down the lane.
The grass is brown.
The tree branches grey,
The wind is cold,
The landscape bare.
Still the cardinal,
bright red with promise,
Sings words to warm my frozen, winter soul.
“It’s spring! It’s spring.”
