Category: love

boundaries

Posted in Bible, God, love, marriage, opinion, relationshipsTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

471483304_58772e250b.jpgBoundaries are necessary. Boundaries are practical markers that keep you out or keep you in. A boundary says, “I am not going there. I am not going to step over that line.” During a time of war boundaries are put into place to keep an enemy out or clearly mark the line of defense. Where I live the subdivision has created boundaries between the property lines. This is really only helpful when I am mowing the lawn!? In most all sports there are boundaries to be kept within the rules of the game. Boundaries are necessary.

There are boundaries in other area’s of life. Especially when it comes to relationships. A couple needs to set up boundaries to protect themselves from crossing over into territory that God has not allotted for them until marriage. There are certain boundaries that are not to be crossed: sex before marriage, and immoral touching or talking… these are clear from the Bible. There are other boundaries that are not so clear, but should be decided depending on the temptations and desires of the couple for the purpose of protecting their purity and integrity until that sacred day. So many couples do not even consider boundaries. This is a recipe for disaster. Not only is it not how the relationship is meant to be, but it also spoils the joy of waiting. Boundaries are necessary.

Livingstone, I presume

Posted in africa, love, missionsTagged , , , , 1 Comment

africa-heart.jpg 

I love Africa. You know you love something when you think about it a lot and want to be there. There is something contagious about the land, the people and the culture. It takes you back to a simpler time when family matters and where wealth is unimportant.

I presume Dr. David Livingstone had this same heart for this beautiful continent.

At the end of 1840, at the age of 27, supported by the London Missionary Society, Livingstone set sail for Africa. On arrival in Cape Town on March 14th 1841, Livingstone made his way by ox-wagon to Dr Moffat’s mission station at Kuruman. While Moffat confined his work to the region around Kuruman, Livingstone felt called to venture north into the unexplored terrain of Central Africa. Isolating himself for several months in a native village many miles from Kuruman, Livingstone sought to speed up his comprehension of the language and customs of the Africans.

He became a doctor and a missionary, and devoted a great amount of his life to exploring Africa and spreading the gospel.  Livingstone was one of the first Europeans to explore the central and southern parts of Africa. He determined that the best way to tell the Africans about Jesus Christ was to move around and see as many people as he could.

He married Dr Moffat’s daughter, Mary in 1845 and she (and later their children) came along with Livingstone on his early explorations. In 1849, he led a group of Europeans across the Kalahari Desert and discovered Lake Ngami. Two years later, he again traveled through the Kalahari with his family. In 1856, he traveled on the Zambezi River, and became the first European to see God’s natural wonder—Victoria Falls. He also became the first European to cross the entire width of southern Africa.

On May 1st 1873, Livingstone was found on his knees by his bedside, having died in prayer. Following with the African beliefs, Livingstone’s heart was buried under a Mvula tree near to the spot where he died; but his body had to be returned to Britain. His body was buried in Westminster Abbey in London on 18th April 1874 which was declared a day of national mourning.  

love

Posted in love, musicTagged , Leave a comment

Today is the famed day of love. Valentines Day. I cannot help but think of the One who created and defined “love”.

I read somewhere that the words to this song were penciled on the wall of a narrow room in an asylum by a man who supposedly was demented, and they were discovered after his death. He was not demented at all. He had learned one of the most precious truths of all time, that God’s love is infinite. We can no more exhaust it than we can empty the ocean with a bucket. And we are invited to keep drawing from His inexhaustible supply. To do so will enable us to keep extending love to those around us even when our love is not returned.

F. M. Lehman, The Love of God, 1917 

  1. The love of God is greater farThan tongue or pen can ever tell;It goes beyond the highest star,And reaches to the lowest hell;The guilty pair, bowed down with care,God gave His Son to win;His erring child He reconciled,And pardoned from his sin.
    • Refrain:Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!How measureless and strong!It shall forevermore endure—The saints’ and angels’ song.
  2. When hoary time shall pass away,And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,When men who here refuse to pray,On rocks and hills and mountains call,God’s love so sure, shall still endure,All measureless and strong;Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—The saints’ and angels’ song.
  3. Could we with ink the ocean fill,And were the skies of parchment made,Were every stalk on earth a quill,And every man a scribe by trade;To write the love of God aboveWould drain the ocean dry;Nor could the scroll contain the whole,Though stretched from sky to sky.