First Day of School for Romans 12 Academy

It's official! On this day, August 12, 2009, Romans 12 Academy has officially begun! This marks a new day in the life of our family. Julie has been preparing over the past several weeks for this day as we have decided to home school Alex(5th grade), Jonathan(3rd grade), and Caroline(1st grade). We awoke this morning to the smell of breakfast casserole! Alex said the blessing over the food and Jonathan and Caroline helped to set the table. At the table we talked about the irony of Romans 12 Academy and starting on Aug 12th! We didn't plan it that way but God worked it out. God works all things together for those who love him. As we finished breakfast and I left for the church, I prayed a prayer of blessing over the school and the start of a new school year.

As we begin down this road, our goal is to provide the very best Christian education that we can for our children. We believe that the Lord has led us in this direction and that he will see us through to completion. As in Romans 12, we believe that we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds...that is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily. Through this process, we will know what God's will is and we will seek to please him by doing what he calls us to do.

Our children may not understand this right now but as we train them they will! We know that this journey will have it's own set of challenges but that's ok...we are expecting God to work in a powerful way this year! So pray for us as we answer the call of God to lead our family in this direction.

Thoughts on...Giving God the Glory

The phrase "Glory to God" or "Give God the glory" is often used as a way to acknowledge the rightful place of God's involvement in something we have just experienced. For instance, you may hear, "The worship service was powerful"..."Give God the glory" is the response. It's a way to praise God for revealing Himself to us in such a way. But it's not the only way to give God the glory. Acknowledgement that God should get the glory for something He has done, while important, has long been used as a way to sound spiritual in front of others or as a way to impress God. While it might convince others that it is used in earnest, God will not be mocked and cannot be fooled. I wonder what God thinks of a person who proclaims all glory to God with the mouth but not with the lifestyle? It defeats the purpose of giving God the glory for some great experience being witnessed when there is lack of trust in God's glory to be revealed through obedience.
Obedience is the key ingredient to bring glory to God! Since the beginning of time, God has been glorified through the obedience of His creation, human beings. And since the beginning of time human beings have struggled to give God the glory with an obedient lifestyle. The very reason we exist is because God designed our relationship with Him to bring Him glory. If our God-assigned purpose for living on Earth is to bring Him glory then we must recognize living a life NOT glorifying to Him is a disobedient life. If we are living in disobedience to God, we cannot bring Him glory even if we say it with our mouths. Saying it with the mouth is not he same as saying with our hearts. The one that says with the mouth, "Glory to God" is the one who really did not have faith in God that He could do such a thing and was simply amazed but not changed. Are you living as one amazed by God or are you living as one changed by God? The one who says with the heart, "Glory to God" is the one who has surrendered EVERYTHING to God and is changed by the glory revealed through the power of the blood shed on the cross of Jesus Christ! The death of Christ on the cross is all that God needs in order to change your life for His glory.
Anyone who lives to glorify God through an obedient lifestyle does so because of the power of God to transform their life daily into the image of God. An obedient lifestyle means living by this principle...If I am about to do something that does NOT bring glory to God, I should NOT do it. Because anything that brings God glory is obedience, and anything that does not bring God glory is disobedience. Obedience brings us close to God, and disobedience separates us from God. For example, does drinking alcohol bring glory to God? There is nothing at all that brings glory to God when a person drinks alcohol. Therefore, drinking alcohol is disobedience to God. Disobedience to God shows that a person trusts something else rather than God to sustain their life.
The only remedy for disobedience is faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. And God has a wealth of forgiveness ready to pour out on anyone who will confess and believe in giving God the glory!Are you ready to not only give God glory with your mouth but with your heart as well?