Beauty for Ashes...

Hello dear friends! So I'm sitting here halfway through a summer full of CTOPS, and I stand in complete awe of how GOOD the Lord is, how FAITHFUL He has been, and how many DOORS He has opened. It is hard to put into words everything I have learned about myself, my team, and the Lord this summer! It has been and continues to be such a blessing to read of my brothers and sisters on every corner of the globe doing the Lord's work. From Singapore to South Africa to Germany, I am so pumped to hear the stories face to face of what the Lord has been doing this summer!
Check out this song by Shane & Shane. We sang it a bunch on our Intervarsity retreat to Rockbridge, and I have been obsessed with it this week :)

beauty for ashes
a garment of praise for my heaviness
beauty for ashes
take this heart of stone and make it Yours, Yours

i delight myself in the Richest of Fare
trading all that i've had for all that is better
a garment of praise for my heaviness
You are the greatest taste
You're the richest of fair

(Psalm 63, Isaiah 61)

I miss you all, and can't wait to see you soon!

Love, Peace, and CTOPS,
Wyatt<><

Grace...

This really hit me when I read it today--

The Reformation was a time when men went blind, staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellar-full of fifteen-hundred-year-old, two-hundred-proof grace--of bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture, one sip of which would convince anyone that God saves us single-handedly. The word of the gospel--after all those centuries of trying to lift yourself into heaven by worrying about the perfection of your bootstraps--suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home before they started….Grace has to be drunk straight: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale; neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case."

Profound thoughts for a sunday evening.

Go in Peace this week,

Wyatt<><

Profound words to let sink in on a chilly Monday from the man Brennan Manning :)

The Good News means we can stop lying to ourselves. The sweet sound of Amazing Grace saves us from the necessity of self-deception. It keeps us from denying that though Christ was victorious, the battle with lust, greed, and pride still rages within us. As a sinner who has been redeemed, I can acknowledge that I am often unloving, irritable, angry, and resentful with those closest to me. When I go to church I can leave my white hat at home and admit I have failed. God not only loves me as I am, but also knows me as I am. Because of this I don't need to apply spiritual cosmetics to make myself presentable to Him. I can accept ownership of my poverty and powerlessness and neediness.

In Him,

Wyatt<><

Clean Turbans

1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" 3Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." 5And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.
-Zechariah 3

What an incredible picture.
enough said.

Blessings,
wyatt<><

A great friend of mine writes a profound blog entry quite often that constantly inspires, encourages, and challenges me. I don't know if these entries will do any of those things, but I hope you can take something away.

I am just starting to read the book of Joshua, and yesterday I was stuck on this passage from the first chapter--
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

God repeats that line "Be strong and courageous" several times just in that first chapter.
What a sweet promise...
Go in that assurance on this dreary Tuesday!

In Him,
Wyatt<><