Here’s another updation to you all. It was a long and nervous 2 days, but IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! Not just because I placed in the top 20, top 7, and top 3 (with grueling tie-breaking rounds between us), but because I got to be a trumpet blast (even if I had to whisper) of the preciousness of God’s Word. I am so provoked by all these kids who have treasured the Word of God not only in their minds but in their hearts. This Bible Bee is not about our diligence and how awesome we are, it is about the worth of Jesus and His Words, that they really are better than life (for most of us this meant: better than friends, games, evenings, afternoons, mornings, and even junk food that would hinder us from knowing the Word).

I am especially provoked by the other 2 of “the three”, Daniel Staddon and Ellen Lawrence. That was the funnest tie breaker of my life. They are crazy awesome and so humble! What kind of competitors root for you to win, even though knowing that your loss is their gain?! Thank you all for supporting me. I am abundantly blessed and have absolutely no reason of remorse for even getting 2nd. In the end we are all headed for a wedding feast (Rev. 19) and we will rejoice that we won the greatest competition, the competition that begins today, when after you walk out of J.W. Marriott, whether win or lose, and you press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3). It is the prize of being pleasing to Jesus, of being seen by Him when no one else sees you. It won’t matter if you’re really smart or get F’s, if you’re young or old, male or female, if you embrace today that narrow way of love, of keeping and teaching (live it and speak it) His commandments, you will be GREAT (Mt. 5:19). I tell you what, our hearts are desperate to be seen, to be noticed, to be great. And yet mystery of mysteries, the greatest glory is found in serving your brother/sister/mother/father (Mt. 22:36-40, Gal. 5:13-14). Then God is going to CROWN YOU (2 Tim. 4:7-8, Rev. 2:10)! God is going to HONOR YOU (1 Pet. 1:7)! Your resurrected body will shine because of the love you displayed in the secret place (Mt. 6:1-18, Dan. 12:3). Know that, as I said in the final round, “Jesus is interceding for us right now” (Rom. 8:34), He is praying that in this race of faith (1 Tim. 6:11-12, Heb. 12:1-2, Phil. 3:11-16, 1 Cor. 9:24-27), your faith would not fail (Luke 22:34-31)! So, as Paul did not cease to pray, may we also pray (even if it be in constant 15 second prayers) that we would be “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience (endurance) with joy” -Col. 1:11 Whether you are a full-time mother, a pastor, a student, a kid, a full-time businessman, do not be deceived! If you faithfully sow to the Spirit (by talking with Him, yielding to, and obeying Him as He teaches you to love and serve), you will reap eternal life and greatness in the age to come (Mt. 20:26-28). Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not loose heart (Gal. 6:7-10)!

Dear Friends,

Good News!  The Final Challenge of the 2009 National Bible Bee Contest will be available for you to view via a live webcast on the National Bible Bee website – www.biblebee.org  Be sure to mark your calendars and invite your family, friends and neighbors to watch as our children proclaim the Word of God in our Nation’s capital!

The webcast can be viewed live on Friday, November 6, 2009, from 1:30pm – 5:15pm. (EST).  (That’s 12:30pm – 4:15pm in Kansas City)

Please continue to pray for God’s protection and blessing on this inaugural event!

Proclaiming God’s Word and Exalting our Savior!

–Bible Bee Headquarters

Hello all!

I am writing this now because I need to raise around $2,000 for a trip with my Dad to Washington D.C. this upcoming November to compete in the final round of the National Bible Bee! It costs so much because we are staying at the prestigious J.W. Marriott and it’s a lot. Over the past 5 months I have been working hard and steady on memorizing and reviewing the Bible passages for this competition and now I am in need of your support. So many of you have already shown it in encouragement and prayer, but now I need it in finances too. As always, this is optional and I only want you to do this if your heart moves you. You can just enter any amount after you click on the button below. Thank you so much!

This is a letter Pastor (not Dr. or Rev.) John Piper wrote to the parents of a baby born with no eyes…

The last few lines make my heart come alive in tears of hope,

It seems to me that this life is a proving ground for the kingdom to come. Some are asked to devote forty or fifty years to caring for a handicapped child instead of breezing through life without pain. Others are asked to be blind all their lives…

But only in this life – ONLY in this life. I want to be the kind person who makes that “ONLY” what it really is – very short. Prelude to the infinity of joy, joy, joy. But not yet. Not entirely.

How will we ever cope with the burdens of this life if we believe this is all there is, or even the main act in this drama of reality? O Lord, give us your view of things.

May God fill you with anticipated joy.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

If it is true, that this life is just God’s test grounds of looking for love and humility so that He can entrust those faithful ones to much in the age to come… (Mt. 20:26-28; 24:45-47) I want to see life this way! Oh, I want to see that this is about learning how to love now, not about how to play the games of empire and get big in this age. Oh, this is about making Jesus big and reflecting His character of self-giving, other-oriented love. This is about bleeding and blazoning the gospel among all the nations so that when He comes, He has an equally yoked Bride, a Bride who has left all to follow Him (Ps. 45:10-11). We are so centered on THIS DAY. We need the power of hope (Rom. 15:13) to align and anchor our hearts for THAT DAY, for the coming Kingdom of Messiah. It is the great reversal (especially for mothers) and the only motivator for humility and submission and faithfulness in this age when it seems no one is looking or noticing. It is the day when God will vindicate. It is the day when He will openly judge wickedness and reward righteousness. It is the day when He will rewrite all the history books! Alexander won’t be so “great”! And it will be those who have kept and taught the commandments of Christ who will called “great” (Mt. 5:19)! They will “shine brightly like the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). Don’t grow weary, your life is hidden and it WILL be revealed in glory (Col. 3:3-4). “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Gal. 6:9) “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” (Rev. 22:12) “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:13)

Hello all!

I am writing this now because I need to raise around $2,000 for a trip with my Dad to Washington D.C. this upcoming November to compete in the final round of the National Bible Bee! It costs so much because we are staying at the prestigious J.W. Marriott and it’s a lot. Over the past 5 months I have been working hard and steady on memorizing and reviewing the Bible passages for this competition and now I am in need of your support. So many of you have already shown it in encouragement and prayer, but now I need it in finances too. As always, this is optional and I only want you to do this if your heart moves you. You can just enter any amount on the button below. Thank you so much!

As you’ll see on their website, I will be going to DC this November to compete in the Final Round of the National Bible Bee!!! I honestly didn’t know if I would make it in the top 100. Praise God! I’m so excited. I have to memorize a bunch more passages (about 30 more chapters worth) and review more, so I probably won’t blog until after November, but who knows… I may wake up with another movie or idea running through my mind that must be written down… (how the Cool Runnings post happened ). Bless you guys!

-Truman

(Also, be sure to check out my latest groove in the “free goodies” page on the top bar… )

This is a radically controversial topic because it is the question of government. In what circumstance, if any, is rebellion to authority (insubordination) legitimate? I can think of only one right now: “When obeying authority would cause you to disobey one of God’s commands”, then in that instance, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29, 4:19).

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Rom. 13:1)

I woke up the other morning with the movie “Cool Runnings” running (he he) through my head. I didn’t even know why until some things started to connect in my mind. In the movie there is a young man named, Junior, who longs to be an Olympian on this Jamaican bobsledding team, but who is being pressured by his father to take a prestigious job and get on with the real world. The interesting thing is that the movie hinges upon Junior’s decisions for disobeying his father and going behind his back to pursue his dreams, climaxing in a sharp disagreement, “No Father, you don’t know what’s best for me.” Junior lies to his Dad about selling his car to provide the money necessary for the bobsledding team to travel to Canada and then once there, he refuses to return home immediately at his father’s demand, choosing rather to support his team with the necessary 4 men needed for them to compete in Canada. By the end of the movie, you see his father rejoicing that Junior got to be an Olympian and represent his nation in the Olympics (implicitly stating that Junior was right and the Father was wrong).

I am beginning to notice this dark strand woven into the hidden fabric of many popular movies and stories. It is the idea that rebelling against authority and doing your own thing because you know what’s best will truly result in the greater good. You see this blatant humanism (really, satanism -John 8:42-47) in so many kids’ movies which makes me almost angry (I would recommend raising your kids on Adventures in Odyssey instead of Disney, check out this post to hear more from a wise mother…). It says, 1. You can do anything if you just believe in yourself (So prevalent! Instead of biblically submitting to God and His way and His timing) 2. The authority figure will eventually come to acknowledge that you really are right when you prevail in your pursuit (whether golf in “Greatest Game Ever Played” or bobsledding in “Cool Runnings” -the father here being the authority figure in both of these). This is found in so many classic movies (Particularly Disney, I was told, as in “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin”, though I have been spared from ever seeing either).

It is my opinion that these story lines are nothing less than demonic echoes of the same deception that prevailed upon the story line of mankind in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3.    “…and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

At the end of the day, if Junior would’ve obeyed his father and took the job, do you think God could’ve still provided something better than just being an Olympian in a bobsled race that really doesn’t matter that much? God cares way more about making you great in the billions of years after this 70 year internship. If you’re living for a medal then you will disobey authority to get it, but if you’re living for God and trusting his provision and eternal reward, you will trust Him to the hilt.

Some closing thoughts:

The testimony of God’s word is that submission (humility) to authority is the pathway to ruler-ship and greatness and honor (Mt. 20:26-27, Prov. 18:12, Prov. 22:4). Antithetically, our culture tells us that rebellion and revolution is the pathway. Yet the Word shouts to us that if we choose rebellion, it will cost us leadership and greatness in the kingdom (Mt. 5:19, and the story of Saul in 1 Sam. 15:22-23). So, I challenge you to think real hard about the decisions you may want to make that go against the authority God has placed in your life. The true test of obeying authority is faith and trust that God really knows what’s best for you (you must GIVE Him the ultimate knowledge of what is good and evil for you) and He is able to secure your well-being and satisfy every longing of your aching heart for pleasure and beauty and acknowledgment (greatness) and intimacy; and that even though the present circumstances (of not getting what you want so badly) seem contrary to your expectations and desires raging within, God has promised to satisfy them (to give what is good -Ps. 34:9-10, 37:4, 84:11) and His promises must be your life! O the purifying power of living by faith in future grace; fix your hope on that day and that kingdom (1 Pet. 1:13)! THEN wisdom will be justified. “Leave room for the wrath of God” (Rom. 12:19). “Commit your way to the Lord” (Ps. 37:5, Ps. 31:5, 15).

(I am actually going to talk about myself… hope it’s not too boring… he he)

Well, the Bible Bee local contest just finished! Suffice to say, I believe I did well. We will see. I think I have a good chance of qualifying in the top 100 15-18 year olds to compete in Washington D.C. We shall see very soon (probably in a couple of days, but definitely by Friday the 18th)!!! Thank you all for supporting me in this, I have felt so encouraged by everyone. I am thankful I got to be a witness of excellence and diligence at the contest. It was kind of funny. By the time I got there with Samuel Hood, Ellen Hackett, and Chauntelle Hall, the whole place already knew who I was because of how I helped them sort out discrepancies within the passages for the NASB version of the quiz cards. The judges and coordinators were all impressed by me and were even blessed at how I had a smile when quoting the Word (Jer. 15:16). One judge even said she “got on fire again” when I was speaking. She even wants me to come and share my heart with the choir she directs at the Presbyterian church! I love the church! I love home-schoolers. I love every kid who came to compete in that place. They had such a passion for the Word and we all got to hang out and talk about it. Today was fun.

History is my favorite subject because I love stories (hence my infatuation with the audio dramas of Adventures in Odyssey and Radio Theatre’s Narnia) and as Pawson says, “History is His Story”. We are born into a story and do everything under the overarching drama of it. Seeing that story gives our life great meaning, not because we are focused on ourselves and the details of our own personal callings, but because we are a part of something so transcending ourselves that to be caught up in the glory of it results in a joy far surpassing that which self-introspection and self-love provides. We love to exult in story and we will forever be caught up in exulting in the story of Christ, it is The Story that surpasses all stories.

Ephesians 2:7, “so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” Meaning: God, the Father of story-tellers, will sit down with us and will personally tell us the story of redemption forever; Jesus will take us on a walk with Him in Bethlehem and will show us where He was born, Mary will give testimony of her Son, David will show us how he took down Goliath, Adam will explain to us what the garden was like and talk about the tree of life. But more than that, in that day, we won’t be distant from the story, we will live it. We will walk in the same sacred garden of delight, we will eat from the same tree of life, we will touch the belly of the woman who bore God, our faith we be made sight as we will put our finger into Jesus’ hand and shout just as Thomas did, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:26-31), we will personally see the victory of God over that Serpent of old, and we will see all nations bowing their knee to the Son of David as He defeats the Antichrist as he boastfully taunts the armies of the living God just like Goliath, and Christ will take His seat on the very same throne of David… I believe we will all have a place to share of telling that great story, whether through music, songs, poetry, art, design, etc. Forever we will do this. It will all be praise and exultation and forever we will be astounded with sheer awe and delight that we get to be apart of something far much greater than ourselves. We will discover anew that ALL THINGS are ours, we are the richest people who have ever lived, and the currency bestowed on us is Love Himself, “OH THE RICHES of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus!” We know in part now (1 Cor. 13:12)… It has not yet appeared as yet what we will be (1 John 3:2). We are a story waiting to be told.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-12 NASB)