Happy Reformation Day!

"Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite ("Repent ye"- Matt. 3:2, Mark 1:15, repeated by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38), willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven."

The thesis go on to explain why this puts the system of "indulgences" out of line with Scripture, because if Christians are going to be repenting daily until they reach Heaven, then they can't buy a pardon with money. Indulgences are supposed to be pardons bought by a believer to short-cut your penance time on earth after repenting to a priest, and/or to short-cut your time in purgatory. As important as that debate was, and still is (this all flows out of unBiblical doctrines of the need for penance and purgatory...the ways you can get indulgences are just as unBiblical, often having nothing to do with living a lifestyle of repentance, and, it's just not prescribed in Scripture, no matter how systemized it's become now, and it has), my favorite thesis are these first four.

They comfort me because they remind me that I'm supposed to have to keep repenting! I'm SUPPOSED to! I will always have sin in my life and heart to confess and of which to repent. The Lord's justification is complete, but His sanctification of me won't be until I wake up dead (woohoo!). This is so encouraging to this "Sad Moralist" (read Elyse Fitzpatrick's Because He Loves Me, chapter 7) because I tend to get depressed at how much sin I still see in myself!

They convict and spur me on because they remind me that I MUST be repenting and confessing, not just sliding along, doing what I've always been doing.

Praise God for His mercy and grace which chose ME before the foundations of the world to be adopted into His family, as His daughter!! Not because of anything good I'd done (because...I um,... really haven't done anything good. Anything good I've done has been since being converted, and well, that was all Him! Gal 2:20), but just because He's good. And praise God for His continued mercy and forgiveness, as I daily must and should repent, and daily am forgiven!! No penance or wallowing in guilt is needed... instead, as Luther pointed out, a repentant heart will overflow into changed actions! Lastly, praise God for His continued keeping and love for His Bride, the Church. He is committed to making her pure and spotless, by the washing of the Word and Spirit through all the ages until He comes to marry her (Eph 5:27). We sure have a lot of ground left to cover, but He has never abandoned us!!! Amen!

Edit: Excellent, clear, helpful article on what defined "Catholic" and "Reformed" Doctrine in the 16th century.

Why I Am Excited About Reformation Day Coming Up

Quite a few people have a really bad opinion of "calvinism," either because the idea of a Sovereign God irks them, or they've been taught that God values man's free will supremely, or because they just find John Calvin a tough character to love. (I myself can identify with that last group-- I far prefer Martin Luther as Reformers go =D) Many people who react negatively to "Calvinism" haven't really searched the Scriptures to see if it's true or not; they've been taught or told that "Calvinists" are a bunch of anti-missions radicals. Several in my own family were this way. As a result, I don't usually label my theology "Calvinistic." Besides the knee-jerk reaction many give, the title is misleading: I don't follow some system a guy named Calvin made up. Rather, I have built my life upon the truths which he happened to catalogue before anyone else did. Calvin didn't invent Calvinism, and he didn't have a corner on believing it, either. With minor variations in practice, Luther, Zwingli, Knox and others writing, preaching & studying in the 16th century read Scripture and found the same Truth. Nowadays the usual term is "Reformed Theology," because this understanding of the Gospel aquired its distinctive characteristics during the Reformation. One last reason I don't usually call myself a "Calvinist" is that most people assume Calvinism is only embraced by paedobaptists (baby-baptizers), because Calvin was a Presbyterian. Heheh-- there IS a such thing as a Reformed Baptist! Until the 19th Century, ALL Baptists were "reformed!"

Name it what you will, I love the Gospel as Calvin catalogued it. The Gospel as the Apostles taught it. The Gospel as Christ (God the Son) preached it.

Spurgeon (the "Prince of Preachers" in his day) says it way better than I could. This quote made my heart leap for joy, and want to share it with you all. Reformation Day is on Friday, and you better believe I'll be building up to it in cyberspace!! :)

"I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called "Calvinism." It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel…unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called."

~Charles Spurgeon C.H. Spurgeon: The Early Years

Edjumacation at its Best

This is incredibly sad...

The saddest part is that these people WILL vote, and likely a lot of people are just as clueless as these 3 were. Some people will vote for McCain because they don't want a black person, others will vote because they want a female VP, and others will vote for Obama for the exact opposite reasons-- they WANT a black person... regardless of each potential-president's policies, view, voting record, or character. This clip also demonstrates the complete power of the press in our nation-- if a person on "the news" says something, many people will just think it's true, with no research or questioning of the newscaster's bias at all.

Please, don't be like these.

Think, pray, evaluate, research... THEN vote.

Lift Up the Suffering Symbol-- and Only Him

Our pastor for preaching, Ryan Fullerton, is preaching a series through Galatians right now. Today's message was particularly good-- or maybe my heart was particularly prepared for it. I've been thinking a lot about "the Gospel" and clear presentations of it, between my middle school girls Bible Study, my pre-school class, disciplining the children in my choirs when I need to, keeping it central in my own heart, and perhaps especially in the "Christianity Explained" study I'm leading two friends through-- one is Sherry, whom you've met before, and who is a wonderful encouragement to me in it, but the other friend is an unbeliever from an unchurched background. All these have tuned my ear to clear, simple, powerful presentations of how a person is reconciled to God. Praise the Lord, they are ALL OVER Scripture!!! (I will bring this back to today's sermon, I promise. Just bear with me in the meantime. =D)

As any of you who've read my blog before know, I love stories. One which came to my attention as a WONDERFUL picture of the Gospel is the story of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21. The Israelites sinned horribly against the Lord by AGAIN grumbling and complaining against Him, doubting His goodness and promises. God sent "fiery serpents" to chastize them; He is just and holy and does not let sin go unpunished. It's so clear that we are just like the Isrealites, deserving exactly the same sort of judgement they got. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved them, made a way out: He instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and nail it to a pole, and lift it high so all the people could see it. Anyone who looked at the bronze serpent, the very symbol of their suffering, as Michael Card points out, would be healed. Jesus himself viewed this as critical to understanding His own mission on earth: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:14-15) What a clear, concrete picture of saving faith: simply, and only looking away from yourself because you know you are dying, justly and mortally wounded, and looking towards Someone else to save you. That's all. And that's everything. (Elyse Fitzpatrick really presses this home in chapter 6 of Because He Loves Me, which I HIGHLY recommend.) This story has been so sweet to me, and I hope it is to you, too. But two things have come out of my meditations and musings, which I hope to pass on to you:
1. Saving faith has obvious results. The Israelites who looked at the Bronze Snake in faith were HEALED! It was that obvious. Have faith, be healed. Don't, die. So it is with us. Our faith must be proven by radical obedience, by a leaving of sin because we hate it now! Those who are raised to life by faith in Christ will not live like dead men anymore! Faith=Fruits. This is the point I want to press to my friend, who as of now still is loving her sin (as far as I can tell), though she claims to be looking in faith to Jesus Christ. There's no visible healing of her soul. Please pray for me as I tell her this, and for her, that the Lord would open her eyes and allow her to judge herself, before He does!! "Faithful are the wounds of a friend..." Wouldn't I rather have a friend judge me by my fruits, and tell me in time to truly repent, than to be judged by the Judge on the Last Day, and too late hear "depart from Me, I never knew you!"? (Read Matt. 7 for more on "Judging", espec. vv 15-23)

2. Only Christ is to be lifted up to be looked to for salvation. There was nothing in the actual symbol of the Serpent to be adored- later Israel made this very symbol of the Messiah an object of worship, an idol, and they were again chastized by the One True God, the Jealous God (2 Kings 8:14). God the Son (Jesus the Christ) is the only One Whose lifting-up is able to draw men to Himself (Jn. 12:32). This relates to the previous point, and to the sermon this morning, in this way: every person's faith will be shown by his or her works, and sometimes, we will all stumble and need to be rebuked. Even believers, whose lives are clearly characterized by fruit of the Spirit will at times bear bad fruit; the old man dies hard. We heard this morning about how the Apostle Paul had to confront the Apostle Peter to his face on a very serious issue (listen to the sermon!!! It is so encouraging! and helpful!, from Gal. 2:11-14). The Apostle PETER!!!! The guy who spent years walking, talking and eating with Jesus Himself! The guy who was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem, the one who was so bold before the Sanhedrin and the rulers of Jerusalem!! The guy who preached at Pentecost (Acts 2) and saw 3000 saved at once! Yeah, THAT guy. If HE can fall and need public rebuking (which he did, oh so clearly)... so can I. So can anyone. We all stumble in various ways, James wrote, and we all need friends to "wound" us at times, holding us the standard to which Christ has called us. Dude, the whole book of Galatians is to a church that was living quite out of line with the Gospel. A whole church needed a sound rebuking! Hear me, my friends: NO man-- not a bishop, cardinal, or pope-- is infallible. Nowhere in Scripture is that stated. (Come on, Peter, supposedly the first pope, an inspired author of Scripture!!, needed to be rebuked. He was not infallible!)* Do not follow anyone completely, unquestioningly, except Christ. He is the Only One whose lifting up brings salvation. NO author, no preacher, no president, no speaker, no church-planter, is infallible. We ALL stumble in various ways. We all need prayer, need rebuking, need encouraging, need "checking up on." We all need to be weighing each other's counsel against Scripture, constantly. Do it!

And the good news? When we are all singing our praises to Jesus, and tuning to His Word, we all will sing in wonderful, united harmony. Amen? Amen!

*If you want extra-Scriptural proof that Papal Infallibility is a false doctrine, you need look no further than Church History! Read more here. I don't jump on board with the author's every view, but this paper is very helpful on this issue.

We've Been Out Adventuring

Well, I'm about to fall asleep and drool all over the keys (which Ryan would not like), so this is brief. If you didn't know, Ryan & I took a road trip last weekend up to Pennsylvania, and got back Monday. I went to work Tuesday, and our parents (Szrama side) came to visit later that evening. They've been here all week, and we've been doing stuff... miraculous events are taking place all around our home-- like stuff getting cleaned and fixed; it's amazing! =D Anyway, not much time to blog between company and me still working every day and trying to stay healthy. I did finally put together two photo albums from our trip:

The Wedding (2nd Szrama Wedding in as many years! Everyone kept joking that Ryan & I'd given them a really good rehearsal last year, so they knew all about the pictures and the walking in and out. His dad even got to blow the shofar again.).

Other pictures.

Enjoy!

Last Days of Indian Summer

or, what to do with lots of tomatoes... :)

Mid-September, and our garden was still going (or growing?) strong! Now that it's mid-October, it's starting to finally slow down, but there was a time when I had more tomatos than we could eat up as salad or in sandwiches. I mean, they were coming from our garden, our CSA, and friends who knew we liked tomatoes! I didn't really want to make the mess of salsa, or spend the time nursing the stove while I cooked them down into spaghetti sauce (which I'd already done twice). I wanted to use what we had without going to the store, so dinner it would be. Here are three recipies we loved (of course the massive, vine-ripened juciness of our tomatoes added to the flavor...):

Baked Whole Eggplant, from The Joy of Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. 4 oblong eggplants, ~6 oz e. (halved lengthwise)
Score the cut curface with a knife without cutting through the skin.

3. Heat in a large skillet unitl hot: 1/4 c. EVOO. Add eggplants cut side down. Reduce heat, cook until golden (~5 min). Turn and cook on other side for several minutes.

4. Remove & arrange cut side up top to tail in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with ground black pepper, 3 oz. crumbled feta cheese.

5. Wipe out skillet and heat 2 t EVOO. Add 4 plum tomatoes, (peeled- I didn't) & chopped. Cook, stirring until broken into a rough sace (5-10 min). I added fresh rosemary and chives at this point. Season with real sea salt & ground black pepper.

6. Spoon tomatoes over eggplants. Cover and bake until eggplants are tender (about 35 min). Uncover and sprinkle the tops with 1/2 t dried oregano. Bake for 5 min. more

Tomatoes Broiled with Feta Cheese, adapted from Joy of Cooking

Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil glass pie plate.

1. Halve crosswise (across the equator) 4 med. ripe tomatoes. Arrange cut side up on dish.

2. Sprinkle with 4 oz. crumbled feta (blue, gorgonzola or other veined cheese would work too). 1 t dried oregano (or 2 t fresh, or marjoram). Drizzle EVOO on top.

3. Broil about 6" from heat until cheese has begun to brown (~7 min.) Serve hot! :)

Fried Green Tomatoes, Gluten-Free Version

1. Cut 6 large green tomatoes crosswise into 1/2" slices.

2. Combine rice flour (1/2 cornmeal if you have it on hand- I didn't), dried or fresh parsley, dried or fresh thyme, paprika, ground pepper and sea salt.

3. Dip slices 1 at a time into milk, then coat both sides with the cornmeal mixture..

4. Heat (a lot) of olive oil. Add as many tomatoes as will fit into a single layer. Fry until golden and crisp, turning once. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes, adding oil as needed. Serve immediately with garlic mayonnaise. ENJOY!! The garlic mayo makes it. Crush a clove into 2 T of mayo (safflower for me), more or less depending on how strong you want it.

Go See It

I don't want to miss time with my family, so this is brief as can be, but it ought to be said:


Go see Fireproof. More later... in the meantime, go see it. It's so refreshing to see a movie that leaves you ENCOURAGED!

Love,
a very happy, thankful wife,

--Christina

Happy Birthdays!

From Yesterday, October 10th:

Courtney Lin Elder, my sweet little sister-in-law, now 17!!

With cousins Kasey & Kelly (she's the one in blue)
We love you so much, Courtney, and are so proud of you. Remember every time that Ryan torments you that he does it because he adores you. :)

Today, October 11th:

Karina Ruiz Thompson (nee Vera Karina Ruiz Cabrera),
my darling Mommy, turning the big 5-0!!

She & my dad at my wedding last August
As you can see, she is still and always gorgeous.

I know this isn't the greatest picture of her, but I love it because it shows her doing what she so often does, and does so well: be a mother to others. Doesn't matter if you're 4 or 14 or 24; she'll love you, listen to, feed you and set you straight. :) We your children arise and call you blessed, Mom.

Courtney Ruiz Weber, turning 14 today!

A Ruiz family group shot from August, at my cousin Heath's graduation (he's front and center-- we are all so proud of him! She's the beautiful tall brown one to the far left.)
I was Courtney's nanny for a full summer when she was about 6, and her & Justin's babysitter until I left for college. You will always be special to me, always "my baby" because I have loved you and helped care for you so many times. I can't believe you are so tall and grown-up. Just the other day you were ecstatic at being "as tall as [my] leg!" I miss you and pray for you all the time. May you continue to grow to be a beautiful woman inside and out... one made beautiful because she is hoping in God as she submits to the authority in her life. (1 Peter 3]

Guess Who Showed Up!???

Arrived in Altoona, PA

My brother(in law) Greg gets married on Sunday to Miss Kendi Tremmel, so here we are in a corner of the country heretofore unexplored by the SzramaClan! While I'm thrilled for Greg & Kendi, and am thrilled to have another sister (yay for girls outnumbering boys at holidays, hehehe)... I must say I'm relishing my last 2 days as Courtney's favorite sister-in-law, and the favorite daughter-in-law... ;) No seriously, we cannot WAIT to see everyone and to get to witness God's goodness in action as He brings Greg & Kendi together for the rest of their lives!!! He is so kind!

Ryan & I enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL drive up from Louisville, through lovely fall colors and rolling hills, and over lots of rivers. The only thing I could have asked for was a less warm day! (I was dressed in long sleeves). We enjoyed the whole drive, complete with good music and Starbucks treats (compliments of my students' families)... honey sticks (nothing like raw honey to give you that extra "umph")... nice fast food... and the prettiest rest stops I've ever seen! I am really enjoying Wives and Daughters which is our Book Club's selection this month. Someone has called it the "most underrated novel in the English language," and I quite agree! It's like Jane Austen, but faster-paced, and the characters provide some "I've got to read this aloud" funny parts. Speaking of reading aloud, we finished CS Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet as we got into dark Pennsylvania... that was right about where the driving got slooooow, circuituous and construction-y. :( But we made it without incident! Here we are in our room:

We are sad because we are so tired...

Me keeping Ryan from taking over the world... I mean room

Better view of our actual room. Man I want to go to bed so badly!

P.S. I am also modeling several of my birthday gifts.... dude, I am one decked-out-for-fall chick this season! I love it! That's the Clemson shirt from Anna, the silver chain necklace from Grandma P., the headband from Mama Lulu, and the new glasses I got from you, Mom!! THANK YOU ALL!! We marvel at the Lord's provision through you!

Support a Local School!

Click here to vote to support a nearby public elementary school. We certainly need the money around here! Vote for the one in Louisville, KY.

You can vote once a day, every day!

Trying to love our community,
--Christina

Triple Picture of the Gospel of Grace

My dear friend Sherry was re-wed to her husband Rusty this past Saturday at our church. I got to coordinate the ceremony!! It was an amazing wedding in which to be so involved, because Sherry was saved only about 7 months ago, out of quite a hard and destructive lifestyle. If you ever get to meet her, her story is amazing! Right away, the Lord gave her a heart to serve and to spend as much time as she could with other believers. I got to know her as we worked together on Fridays at our Clothes Closet. The first time I spoke with her she shared her burden for her former husband "Rusty" (his full name is Christopher, lol). They still loved each other and were in a relationship of sorts because of Corinne (their 3 year old). I got to know Sherry & little Corinne more through VBS, and I still love to hear that little girl belt out the songs & explain what "Hosanna" means. :) Corinne went from being too afraid to be left alone in my care to being my shadow and my trusting, joyful little friend. The Lord has further grown Sherry's and my friendship through shared Bible Study, and just life together as sisters in Christ. All of us were praying the Lord would save Rusty, and even one day, heal their marriage... and ... HE DID!! Rusty was converted in August, and baptized soon thereafter. Our church has been wonderful about discipling them, and now... a godly family has been re-born. What sin had marred and Satan would have loved to keep broken God's grace has healed. Imagine the difference in Corinne's life: instead of growing up split across two homes, surrounded by crime, sin and pain, she has a Daddy AND a Mommy who love her, love each other, and most of all, love Jesus. Instead of growing up hearing the TV and swearing, she is going to grow up hearing songs and stories that exalt our God. Rusty & Sherry will be living with two other Christian families from our church in a huge house in the South End, so she'll be surrounded by other believing families... it's so amazing to me!! This is what the Gospel does! It reconciles: sinners to God, and then to one another.






During the wedding ceremony Pastor Jeff King shared each of their stories, and then charged them to live in this new marriage as new creatures; not acting as they had before, because they aren't those people anymore! It was the best wedding sermon- perhaps the best all-around sermon- I have ever heard Jeff preach, and knowing these people and having seen them through each step was amazing. Seeing Sherry cry under her veil, watching Rusty put his arm around her so tenderly-- these were two amazing pictures of what the Gospel does. It had reconciled them to God: hardened sinners were now weeping joyfully in His presence. Secondly, it had reconciled them to each other; Rusty's arm was around his bride. Thirdly, they were vowing to portray the Gospel in their marriage: Christ leading and loving His Bride, the Church submitting to and helping her Groom. Three times the Gospel.

Wow.

The Gospel Makes Community

...No... make that four pictures of the Gospel:

The fourth Gospel-image I saw in this wedding was the joyful, sacrificial giving our church community displayed. It was so "natural" that it was obviously an overflow of the love of God welling up in hearts, because the kind of serving and giving I witnessed and partook in is NOT "natural!" All day Saturday friends decorated the sanctuary, de-junked the Fellowship Hall and decorated it, and did everything in their power to make the wedding smooth and beautiful. They decorated a home volunteered for a bridal shower, and brought food and gifts and encouragements for the bride-to-be. On Sunday more friends did hair, did makeup, steamed/ironed dresses, videotaped, played music, photographed, baked a wedding cake, prepared and served food, and cleaned up afterward, not to mentioned shared in the joy of their Sister and their Brother. Again, that is the transforming reconciling Grace of God at work, clearly. I pray it was noticed and wondered at by all the non-believers there!

So many joyful faces

The cake made by Warren Kesselring (how cool is HE!??)...

Athena & I thought we were pretty clever in using an old desk for the "cake table"-- don't it look purty?

Every one of those tablecloths was loaned by women in the church. How cool is that!? And the fact that you don't see any chairs stacked or old tables stacked against the walls in that picture is a sign of our hard work the day before-- we were so pleased with how well the former dumping-ground of our church cleaned up!! :)

Some pictures from decorating on Saturday (I can't claim any part in the beauty of the sanctuary-- that was all Lynn Shreve & Athena Kesselring!):

Athena (and Oliver) in action.
Now that is decorating talent: one-handed with a baby on her hip.

Natasha, who helped prepare & serve all the food for the reception, as she gives me a characteristic "are you taking a picture of ME, young lady!??" :)

Birthday Pics

The Birthday Princess (or The Crown, as She Prefers to Call Herself)

My birthday got celebrated several times-- first on Saturday, Sept. 27th at our house with a Fondue Nite (yum!), then quietly on Sunday the 28th (my actual birthday)...although, to be honest I opened all my presents at midnight on the 27th :) so the two days' celebrations sort of blended into one...and again on Tuesday September 30th, with some of the gals from school. Not to mention the 4 days of hugs, cards and gifts from my students and their families!! WOW talk about generosity! :)

Here are several pics of the events. They were so fun, and such a blessing. It's so nice to feel loved and to have people going out of their way to lift you up or encourage you by telling you how you point them to Christ. Amen!

For more pictures, go here.

Fondue Night
three courses of lovely meltedness... first, cheese on apples & bread (one gluten-free pot for Sina & I), second, kabobs of steak and veggies in "Mongolian Hot-Pots", and last but NOT least, chocolate on strawberries & apples. Everyone pitched in, both in bringing the ingredients and in the kitchen-- so fun having so many girlfriends cooking together! Or, I should say prepping, because the beauty of fondue is that the cooking time is DURING the meal!

Guests: Ben & Amanda B. (+ unborn Junior), Jenny & Aaron M. (+ Baby Jane in utero), Ashlea D., & that's Natasha in the kitchen.

Other side of the table (borrowed from church =D): Sina & Dave S., Lyle M., and Samuel M. (Natasha's other half).

The boys' favorite part: the MEAT

The only picture of me from the night... guess who had the camera!

My 23rd Birthday

(carrying props for the SS lesson I taught)

Teacher-Friends Night Out on the Town

Corrie Ann & Sarah (Corky & Beebster, I call them)

Me & Corrie Ann. I don't know what I would do without these girls' smiles, help and encouragement every day!

Our initial plan (Coco's Chocolate Cafe) didn't work out, so we headed over to O'Shea's instead, where I knew they had GREAT desserts, among them...

... the Chocolate Decadence Flourless Torte (Gluten-free!!)

Another fellow teacher, Tekoah, came after we put the camera away... and I forgot to take more with her :(. But I love you and am thankful for you too, Tekoah!!

I've Got Friends in Boston...

Thanks to Jeanette, who pointed this article out to me. Very interesting... quite a different perspective, too. Comments, anyone?