What would Christmas be like without Jesus?

I asked this question to our students last night. Would we do anything very differently? I think many people would still give presents at the St. Nick's Day/Festival. I read a statement the other day that I think is very telling, especially in evangelical churches. Many people think that Jesus is important for what he did in the past. Most of these are also hopeful for that day of His return in the future. Where the disconnect comes is how we value or don't value the gospel and all that Jesus is to and for us right now. Students have made statements with their mouths and with their lives that they don't need the Scriptures, or the church as long as they have Jesus. I am very concerned for all whose way of thinking is dominated by a Jesus and me mentality. I want to enjoy worshipping our God and Savior and want to encourage and help others do that as well. What broken people we are in need of our Savior every moment. May I press on to know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings and all that He is so my joy may be full in Him. May your Christmas be filled with Christ. This is not an anti-gift giving blog. I am hoping that my family will experience Christmas a little differently as we consider the great condescension of our Holy One. Grace and peace

OUR HAPPY BOYS!!

So after a very long month with 3 stomach bugs, 4 new teeth, getting used to KY air (2nd worst allergy place to live), and 8 days of rest and relaxation in MS for Thanksgiving; I think the happy, energetic, and always full of life Gurney boys are back!!!!

VERY SOON!!!

So here I am at Matt's office (with the internet) and reading up on everyone's blogs. I love hearing from everyone and seeing all the pictures!! I have to say that it does make me very homesick to have a SEBTS reunion!! I know it would take some planning and creativity, but we just have to make it happen. What about sometime in the spring/summer months. I know schedules are crazy and maybe it's too much, but what do you guys think?

From Jen's Heart

Just some thoughts about what the Lord's been teaching me and showing me about Himself. I just can't get enough of His Word. Praise Him that I'm finally seeing it as my very life and breath!! I have a new hunger for seeing scripture as a whole and not so much as chapters and sections. Realizing and understanding the specific flow and order and how it builds on each verse is huge!! I know this isn't that mind boggling, but it's been refreshing for me lately. I was excitedly floored (like my adj.??) last night when I saw the connections of scripture while reading through Hebrews. Heb. 4: 13 - 16...you'll have to read it, but here's the basic idea...we are laid bare before our Savior which can seem shameful, but we have a high Priest that has been tempted in every way we are and therefore, we approach His throne of Grace with confidence in our time of need!!! As we see ourselves laid bare we realize our great need, but there's no reason to shrink back...approach Him with confidence!!!
Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and loves the holiday season for all that it means......we have reason to celebrate....we've been given LIFE!!!!

Going Home

I did go home last week to visit my mom who just had her second hip replacement surgery. It was a good visit that I hoped encouraged and helped her. I hope that for my kids that no matter how old they get or how old I get, it would always be a joy to come home. What a picture of the gospel we can give to our children and to the world by our families as we make homes that are most often described as joyous. Not just at Christmas or other holidays, but in the everyday stuff that is life. As our friends and neighbors see us receive our children as blessings not as nuisances we show them the very heart of God towards His children. Despite the difficulties and discipline (or more rightly, including both of those) there is an ongoing offering of ourselves for the sake of our children to care for, protect and celebrate with them. I love to know that God feels and acts in similar ways, though much, much greater in scope and depth, towards me and all His children. When we first had Noah and I was walking through the hospital I was elated over the new possibility that I could sing to him and over him and that one day he could recognize and love me, and maybe even join in the song. In that instant, God's Spirit illuminated this truth to a greater degree than ever before that He had lavished such love on us that we are now His kids. And it is as beloved children that we seek to be imitators of God. So I am encouraged this day that our homes, our children, our spouses, our very breath is all a gift from God and this minstry to our families is by His mercy. I posted some newer pictures of the boys and Jen. Noah was a little sick yesterday but seems to be over the whole thing. Tucker is cutting at least 2 teeth, maybe 3 right now. We are just cranking along with life and seeking to do all of life for the glory of God.

The Gift of Worship

If our lives could be so sweet in passionate pursuit of our great God.

Who is it that I really want to be?

So I was talking to some students the other night, and the topic of hot dogs came up. I think it originated from me talking about my delicious Hebrew National beauties that were waiting to be consumed by me-they answer to a higher authority after all. Well, we got to talking about Oscar Mayer and singing the songs. I realized that the well known tune and lyric-"I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, that is what I truly wish to be,..." is maybe the most ridiculous line ever. I mean, I love hot dogs, but why would you want to be processed meat squeezed into a wierd form, slathered in who knows what and then devoured by hungry, nondiscriminate people. Doesn't sound like much to shoot for. I don't want to be chewed up and digested for the brief entertainment or enjoyment or at the very low end, satiation of random people. That being said, the rest of the jingle is very telling. It says that if I was an Oscar Mayer wiener, people would be in love with me. It just made me think of how unhappy we can be with ourselves. This is pretty amazing, that you would prefer being a hot dog and feel confident that you would get more love if you were not what you are now. I know that there are still times in my heart where I wish I had more money, better abs, nicer cars and all sorts of other upgrades. I still pray fairly often that God would just help me to be who He has made me to be and to be excited about that. I guess as long as I don't sink to hot dog aspiration, I will be alright. On a completely unrelated note, Jen and I have taken many pictures and will put them up soon, maybe even tomorrow. We are going to North Carolina tomorrow until Monday for me to attend a conference on the emerging church at Southeastern. It will be great to get away and to see friends since we don't have any here yet.

Reality really

I wonder if the detachment that I often myself living with, contributes to my misunderstandings and frustrations. I think if I was more organically connected with students and the hurts of this world, I wouldn't be so surprised by so many things. I see a major learning curve for Jen and I here. Really getting to know kids and serve them well is high on our list. But I also see that God has moved us to a place where we have no hope apart from Him moving. The truth is that that is where we live all day everyday. And not just in certain areas-in all things. But when things seem to be going alright there is a certain lack of dependence on God for grace for each moment. For my marriage. For my kids. For the students we serve. For my new pastor and the rest of the staff. There are so many needs and challenges that I think it can begin to shut me down a bit. But by the mercies of God, He has shown me that my heart is still to be His and in ever increasing fashion. I was made to enjoy God. I was made to find my greatest happiness and pleasure in Him. I wasn't made to manage my sin and hope I would turn out better. I was made to follow Jesus with all that I am because I genuinely love Him. If this experience and ministry draws my family to a more real place in our hearts where we all have greater affections for Him, that truly is the mysterious mercy of God in my reality.

We love you Jesus!

Sometimes my soul is full of more sorrow than joy. Even though I have been brought into divine intimacy with my sovreign king, I still experience great hurt and disappointment. What is beautiful is that God supplies such sweet balms to and for my soul. In the midst of discovering such ungodliness and soul sickness in the people that God has called us to minister to, Jesus reminds me that He gave us this ministry by His mercy. I have been hurt and scared by the immensity of need that this church and community have to be all that God commands and desires. I have also seen in the face of this difficulty a desire to fix or soothe myself with a myriad of distractions. What God has shown me in the last several weeks has been the emptiness of sin in a fresh way and He has torn away another layer of scales that I might see more fully His glory. Beholding him is transforming me. I am so thankful that my salvation is really God's salvation. He is the author and perfector of it. He is the creator and sustainer of this gracious relationship that we have. I have nothing. Never have. Never will. He has everything and in Christ God has supplied and is supplying all I need for life and godliness. What a joy to know when everything else changes, God is a rock, a fortress that cannot be shaken. We so want to see peoples' eyes twinkle when they hear of Jesus and His grace towards us. We long for the happiness of God to permeate our lives and everyone that we come into contact with. And knowing that we can rest in God who alone has secured us for Himself, we are free to pursue and enjoy Him even in the face of great opposition and pain. To whom who is the beginning and the end, may there be great glory. For us who are His may there be great joy.
Grace and peace

Life is Full

As I sit here listening to the Glory of if All, I cannot help but savor the wonder of God's grace to me in my family. They are shaping me, encouraging me, making me laugh and cry, and showing me so much about what it means to be a child of God. Tucker is almost 5 months-in 5 days-and he went to his 4 month well-baby doctor's visit today. He is doing great. He weighs 16 lbs. 7 ozs. and is 27.5 inches long. He looks like he will be tall and skinny. We will just wait and see. It is awesome to see his personality coming out. He absolutely loves people and smiling at complete strangers. Noah still needs to get to know you first but then he loves you with all his heart. So amazing to see already how differently God has wired these two boys. Noah is done potty training although there is still an occasional accident. Jen is gearing up to start work at the twice a week preschool here at Central Baptist. This will provide a little extra income for our family but also an outlet for her and the kids. She is finishing up Beth Moore's Bible Study on Daniel that the women at our church have been doing. It has been a huge encouragement and challenge for her. We are both still trying to figure out what life is really going to look like here in Winchester. Students started school on Monday and we are just now starting to have a lot of our students come back. We are having fun having students come over and play cards and games. But we have spent some good time talking theology and laughing too, so that's cool. So that is pretty much the update on us here. My next post may be a little more reflective as God is teaching me many things that I am attempting to assimilate. We'll see.
Grace and peace

The glory of it all...

Well, this post will be just an update on our lives. No major theological reflections but always in the background, supporting all of our lives and in an overarching umbrella is the goodness and faithfullness of our King. Today is the potty training blitz for Noah. Jen and Noah are doing an intensive potty training day that involves a peeing doll, m & m's, juice boxes and lots of patience and underwear. Tucker is almost 4 months and just getting bigger by the day. We thought he was going to be small. I can't wait to hear how big he is at his next check-up. He is smiley and loves to interact. Noah is just loving being a boy. He loves tractors and motorcycles and trucks and balls and tackling daddy and dirt and all of it. His dad also loves these things and loves that Noah has come to love them without any pushing. Jen is running 3-4 times a week and working towards her first triathlon. She is going to a Beth Moore Bible study on Daniel that she really enjoys. She is an incredible wife and mommy that is pursuing God more and more each day. Matt is evaluating Sunday School teachers, getting to know students, dealing with tremendous hurts in their lives, getting ready for the biggest outreach/event that our church does all year. Last year there were over 2000 unchurched people who came to it. There seem to be a lot of things like that. Exciting but challenging after only being here for 1 month. We are all adjusting to being in a new community, missing friends but making new ones. We are hurting and excited. We are satisfied and desperate for more. We are hopefully going to post updates and photos here on a regular basis so you can all know what is going on with us. Please post and let us know you were here.
Grace and peace,
The Gurneys

I am seduced by the speed of it all

I was driving again the other day-tis a nasty habit that should really be expunged-when I realized that I had not noticed whether the last few lights were of a particular color designation. This is not the first time this has happened nor will it presumably be my last, but I was curious this time as to what the real cause of my misplaced attention was. Could it be that I have adult ADHD? Could I have some debilitating mental illness? Did I eat a 2nd bowl of Cocoa Krispies that morning? What I came to realize was that I am easily seduced by speed. I am drawn to fast things. Fast people. Fast service. Fast fastness. Watching fast things allows me to get lost in their generated blur. I no longer have to focus on what is plaguing me at that moment. It is a sweet seduction and one that gives life to greater resonance in me with the rest of humanity. It would seem upon my humle estimation that most of life is a drive to live within this blurred effect. There are many means all achieving a similar end. Detachment. Rather than deal with the often painful issues that surround or even fill our lives, we attach ourselves so completely to something that we detach from everything else. There is no death, genocide, homelessness, grounding, job loss or any variety of horrors. There is only the warm sunbeam and the whirr of life speeding by. I wonder how we of this generation can attain to the mental acuity to be very aware in each moment. To know that life and breath in this very moment is a gift. To know deep within us in a way that affects everything we do that this life is not the end. To know and experience beauty and grace in both things created and service rendered. Ultimated to know that we are made by and for an all glorious God who loves us so tenderly as we are and yet so passionately to change us.

Grace and peace