Lisa notes

Great worship study resource

By LisaNotes October 13, 2013 Book quotes, Worship 6 Comments

If you’re looking for a great resource to study worship in both the Old and New Testaments, this might be your book. It’s thorough and well annotated, both literary and scriptural.

But it’s not dry and purely intellectual. Author Allen Ross illuminates the glory of the God we are to worship, which makes these writings not only informative but also engaging. My book review is here.

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Excerpt from Recalling the Hope of Glory

Too many Christians have settled into a familiar routine called worship; they are not comfortable with change, and they are afraid to do things that might look like what other denominations do.

But worship is one of those aspects of the Christian faith that must continue to grow and flourish, or it will cease to have the dynamic impact it can have on believers who must cope with life in this world.

There is no reason for individual congregations to change everything they have been doing; but there is every reason for all congregations to evaluate everything they are doing to see how they can do it better.

And the test for this evaluation is how well the worship activities transform the lives of believers for service in this life and fit them for glory.

. . . The church, believers, must always be discovering more meaningful and more glorious ways to worship God, for worship is essential to the spiritual life.
– Allen P. Ross

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Truth from high places

By LisaNotes October 12, 2013 Book quotes, Trust 12 Comments

Hinds’ Feet on High Places is a beloved novel that is much more than mere fiction.

This allegory of Much-Afraid’s spiritual journey is one I’ve read over and over to help me push through my own fears and to learn to trust the King of Love more and more.

Enjoy today’s quotes.

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Excerpt from Hinds’ Feet on High Places

She began to understand quite clearly that truth cannot be understood from books alone or by any written words, but only by personal growth and development in understanding, and that things written even in the Book of Books can be astonishingly misunderstood while one still lives on the low levels of spiritual experience and on the wrong side of the grave on the mountains.

She perceived that no one who finds herself up on the slopes of the Kingdom of Love can possibly dogmatize about what is seen there, because it is only then that she comprehends how small a part of the glorious whole she sees.

All she can do is to gasp with wonder, awe, and thanksgiving, and to long with all her heart to go higher and to see and understand more.

Paradoxical as it may seem, as she gazed out on dazzling vistas, so glorious that could not look at them steadily or grasp their magnificent sweep, she often thought that the prayer which best expressed her heart’s desire was that of the blind man, “Lord, that I might receive my sight! Help me to open myself to more light. Help me to fuller understanding.”
– Hannah Hurnard

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Is this dangerous to say? By grace alone

By LisaNotes October 11, 2013 Book quotes, Grace 10 Comments

This is the type of hard but beautiful truth you find in By Grace Alone:

Sadly, thinking that I deserve heaven is a sure sign I have no understanding of the gospel.
– Sinclair B. Ferguson

Read more quotes below to see why this is one of my favorite books on grace. My book review is here.

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Excerpt from By Grace Alone

Your salvation rests not on what you have done but on what Christ has done.

You, therefore, can be sure of it, no matter how weak the faith by which you hold on to Christ, no matter how strong the attacks and accusations of Satan may be.

Remember that you are not saved by increased levels of holiness, however desirable it is that you should reach them.

Indeed, while we often say that we are “saved by faith” or by “faith in Christ,” as Benjamin B. Warfield shrewdly comments, it is not even faith in Christ that saves us.

It is Christ who saves us—through faith. Your faith is a poor and crumbling thing, as is your spiritual service. Jesus Christ alone is qualified and able to save you because of what He has done.

. . . You are not pushed back on your own resources or spiritual qualities. You are able to rest exclusively on what Jesus Christ has done for you. For what He has done for you is absolutely perfect. What Christ is doing in you is still incomplete. But in what Jesus Christ has done for you there is not a single tiny crack that the satanic arrows can penetrate. Jesus Christ is your shield.

. . . [For] the only righteousness we have before God is Jesus Christ’s righteousness, to which we contribute nothing.

Faith contributes nothing to that righteousness. The years we may have lived the Christian life contribute nothing to that righteousness.

Conversely, our sins cannot diminish that righteousness.

Is that not a dangerous thing to say? It would be if it were distorted. But the truth is that no other kind of righteousness can justify us.

– Sinclair B. Ferguson

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Gifts from a personal God

By LisaNotes October 10, 2013 Encouragement, Grace No Comments

While Luke told more stories about women than the other three gospel writers, he only relayed names of ten women in stories where they had parts to play. Ten others with roles remain unnamed.

Did these unnamed women not matter as much?

Do you not matter as much when you’re not acknowledged by name?

Read the rest here . . .

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There’s nothing impersonal about God. While His salvation gift may look the same for all, His other gifts of grace are unique, personalized just for you.

How has God blessed you in a unique way, perfect just for you?

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Please join me there.

Take a calculated risk

By LisaNotes October 10, 2013 Book quotes, Church 2 Comments

Today’s excerpt is about losing some of our risk-aversion and instead stepping out of our comfort zones so we can learn and grow.

I know I keep saying this during this month of #31 Days of Books (and I mean it each time!), but this book is one I really, really like and highly recommend you read. My book review is here.

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Excerpt from The Faith of Leap

Becoming an adventurous, liminal church means getting over risk aversion.

Often the difference between a successful person (or organization) and a failure lies not in having better abilities or ideas, but in having the courage to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk—and to act.

Risk-ability is vital to learning and innovation.

. . . For us it meant putting our interns “at risk.” If they are standing within their current realm of expertise, then they are only going to learn what they already know, or perhaps even confirm their ignorance.

So the learners take one step out of their comfort zone, closer to the edge of chaos, and then another half step so they are “at risk” of real failure.

If the liminal situation can be sustained, then real, lasting, paradigm-shifting learning will occur.

And hey, Jesus did this exceptionally well with his mob of half-baked disciples.

– Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch

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Each daily excerpt is also linked on Facebook.

Empty nest, not old one

By LisaNotes October 9, 2013 Book quotes 8 Comments

It’s been over a year now that we emptied our nest (well, except for the dog).

But having no kids in the house doesn’t mean the house is emptied of youthful characteristics, like curiosity and delight and whimsy. They are part of who we are now, regardless of the age or location of our kids.

During the month of October, I’m sharing 31 excerpts from 31 of my favorite books. Today’s excerpt is from a deeply spiritual book on all stages of mothering, from infancy to empty nest. It’s served me well for years.

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Excerpt from Mothering as a Spiritual Journey

Personal, bodily separation from our children does not mean that we become separate from those so-precious qualities of childness that have blessed and enriched our awareness.

This is where spiritual understanding can deliver the most substantial of goods to us. What we loved so dearly in and as our little children were qualities, not small bodies and immature minds.

The qualities of playfulness, spontaneity, innocence, purity, and wonder are as true of Being today as when our children were little.

They are as much in evidence now as then, because qualities are always in the eye of the beholder.

We do not need to lose the eye (I) of quality because the material picture changes.

– Ann Tremaine Linthorst

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Each daily excerpt is also linked on Facebook.