General Assembly

This is the scene that Murray and I woke up to this past week.  Ah, even just looking at the picture makes my blood pressure go down again and immediately relax.  Murray and I spent the week at Virginia Beach (without the kids) for General Assembly for the PCA.  Besides being very relaxing (for me, Murray was in meetings all day and night) it was extremely encouraging.  I spent the days with other pastor's wives who have meant so much in my life and have been and still are mentors to me.  Then we all came together each evening for worship.  There is no way I can begin to describe being in a room with worshipping with 3000 others who are in full time/pastoral ministry.  We all know that you do not have to be in full time ministry to serve the Lord with your life.  But, I was overwhelmed sitting in worship at the privilege that our family has.  It is our prayer that as we raise our children they will see that this calling for our family is a privilege.  But even as I type this, I am thinking about a passage that was preached on the first night in Luke 10.  After Jesus sent out the 72, they returned amazed that in Jesus' name they could cast out demons.  Can't you just imagine yourself in that situation.  These are not the apostles, these are just the ordinary people (like us) who Jesus has sent out to "do" ministry.  And they find that when they faithfully preach the word and spread the good news about Jesus, they are able to do miraculous things in His name.  They are not trying to take the glory for themselves, they are amazed at what God has done through them.  But Jesus corrects them, he says in verse 20, you should not be amazed at the things that you can do, but rejoice that your name is written in heaven!  That is our motivation for living for the Lord and spreading his word, that he has chosen us to live with Him in heaven.  You do not have to be in full time pastoral ministry to have that privilege!  Anyone who knows the Lord as their personal Savior has the privilege of knowing that their name was written in heaven by the Creator of the Universe.  What a privilege we all have.  What a privilege that the maker of the universe would use us to bring people to himself.  He uses ordinary people like us, who are amazed at the work that he has done in our own lives, to perform extraordinary miracles of bringing people from death to life!  What an amazing God we serve.