The Wood's Secret Garden

What I have learned about cameras and so much more!   The shutter count on a camera is like the miles on a car.   Depending on the camera, the average life of a shutter can vary from anything as low as 20,000 shutter actuations right up to 350,000.   Having a shutter replaced on a camera can run anywhere from $300 to $600 dollars with most of the cost in labor. On average, my camera, the Canon EOS Rebel T5, has a shutter life expectancy of 25,000 actuations.   The amazing thing to me is that on a good day I could take over 2,000 pictures.   So, that little camera, miraculously far exceeded its life expectancy by approximately 400,000 miles and for that I am so very grateful.   Shutter count is critical when deciding to buy a used camera, no matter what kind of camera you use. The camera I have been using for the past three years is a Canon EOS Rebel T5.   The current cost for replacement is $449 which was not even remotely possib...

Sometimes God makes his presence and power known in our lives in ways that are undeniable!  This is one of those times.  The story begins in North Carolina before Michael and I were married. Placed near Michael's computer in North Carolina was a copy of a short poem that had been written by Bob La Tour, one of the Pastors from Beacon Baptist church--the church that Michael attended before he and I ever met.  When I flew to North Carolina in May 2010 to marry Michael, one of the wedding gifts we received was from Pastor La Tour.  It was a beautifully framed copy of that very poem.  We cherished that gift and hung it in our apartment upon arriving in California after our road-trip honeymoon from North Carolina. Over the past six years, Michael has provided individuals in the facilities where he ministers with copies of the "Impact"--Pastor La Tour's weekly one-page devotionals.  Although they have never met Pastor La Tour in person, many of them feel as th...

I have actually never met Elle from South Boston, face-to-face. In 2012, she had me hand paint a pair of boots for her and through that we became friends and have kept in touch from time-to-time over the past three years. Some years, we may have only touched base a couple times. The other night I was thinking about Elle (for no particular reason.  She just popped into my head).  Since I was thinking about her, I sent her a quick email letting her know that I was thinking about her, and crawled into bed for the night. Littl e did I know, that all the way in South Boston, Elle had been painting her fence, inspired by the pictures she had seen of our move to this little mobile home.   When she read my email, the next day, she was blown away at the timing.  She sent me a few pictures of what she had been doing the very day that I was thinking about her.  There was Elle, holding a picture she printed off the internet of my fence, as her inspiration.   It...

Each year for our wedding anniversary (which is in May) we purchase a living plant to plant in our garden.  Last year we purchased a "Bleeding Heart" and planted it in our new yard at the Mobile Home Park.  Here is how it looked last year:   It was really beautiful while it was in full bloom; but, once it lost all its leaves it was a twisted mangle of dry wood that I almost thought we should chop down. While watching everything else grow, bloom and flourish in our little garden spots, the "Bleeding Heart" was showing no signs of life.  Just last night, we were discussing whether or not we had room to plant an anniversary plant this May and I mentioned that if the "Bleeding Heart" is dead, we might dig it out and replace it with something else for our Anniversary this year.  Just last night, I truly believed that it had no life in it. Early this morning I went out back to check the basil and the tomatoes to see how they were coming along and as...

This has nothing to do with the "Secret Garden", but, this is really, really, good and I wanted to retain a copy on this blog.! You're Fooling Yourself There's loads of knowledge to be found, but wisdom is a rare commodity. Why? Because wisdom is one of sin's first casualties. It's hard to admit, but true none the less: sin reduces all of us to fools. And the fact is that no one is more victimized by your foolishness than you are. You see the empirical evidence of the foolishness of sin on almost every page of Scripture. For example, you see foolishness in full operation in the tragic story of David and Bathsheba. This is why David says, "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place" (Psalm 51:6 NIV). You read the story of David's sin, and you say to yourself, "What was he thinking? Did he really believe that he'd get away with this? Did he completely forget who he was? Did he think that God was goi...

It was Saturday morning, October 9, 2010 when we arrived in the parking lot of the Covenant Reformed Church in Sacramento. We were there to hear Joel Beeke speak on the topic of the (forgotten) doctrine of assurance. Dianna knew of Dr. Beeke from the books he had written and published and had also exchanged a few emails back in 2001 regarding the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and potential church planting in California. As we parked the car, a small older black lady was strolling by on a morning walk with her little dog. Michael (as is his customary way) walked over greeting her with a "Good Morning and how are you doing. My name is Michael. I would like to share with you a short poem that I have written?" as he handed her the small accordion folded paper with the title, "His Wrath Satisfied" printed on the top of the 2 1/2 by 3 1/4 inch square. As a side note: The Lord used a sermon by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 3:25-26 as an inspiration for the words of ...

The design of God in all his works of creation, providence, and grace—is to advance and secure the glory of his own name ; and, therefore, though he makes use of secondary causes as the instruments of his operations, yet their efficacy depends upon his superintending influence. It is his hand that sustains the great chain of causes and effects, and his agency pervades and animates the worlds of nature and of grace. The agency of his Holy Spirit is as necessary to fructify the Word, and make it the seed of conversion, as the influences of heaven are to fructify the earth and promote vegetation! A zealous Paul may plant the Word, and an eloquent Apollos may water it; one may attempt to convert sinners to Christianity, and the other to build them up in faith—but they are both nothing, as to the success of their labors—unless God gives the increase! That is, unless he affords the influence of his grace to render their attempts successful in begetting and nourishing living religion in the...

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6 There is a vast difference between a conviction of the doctrines of grace in the head, and an adoring the grace of those doctrines in the heart. A speculative knowledge of gospel truth, that goes no further than a mere outward notion of it, may be found in a natural man. This knowledge of truth is a cold, unaffecting, and unattracting knowledge, that leaves the will and affections just where it found them. A natural man, indeed, may have some natural pleasure in getting some new notions of truth, but he experiences no soul-attraction to the things known. A spiritual discernment of gospel truths is very different from a bare speculative knowledge of them; in that the glory of truth shines into the mind, which produces a sweet and strict adherence thereto, by all the inward powers of the soul. The...

The truth is that nothing in this earth can finally satisfy us. Much can make us content for a time but nothing can fill us to the brim. The reason is that our final joy lies “beyond the walls of this world,” as J.R.R Tolkien put it. Ultimate beauty comes not from a lover or a landscape or a home, but only through them. These earthly things are solid goods, and we naturally relish them. But they are not our final good. They point to what is higher up and further back…Even if we fall deeply in love and marry another human being, we discover that our spiritual and sexual oneness isn’t final. It’s wonderful, but not final. It might even be as good as human oneness can be, but something in us keeps saying “not this” or “still beyond”…What Augustine knew is that human beings want God…God has made us for himself. Our sense of God runs in us like a stream, even though, because of sin, we divert it toward other objects. We human beings want God even when we think that what we really want is a ...

Luke 24:45 Knowledge of spiritual things is well distinguished into intellectual and practical: the first has its seat in the mind, the latter in the heart. This latter, divines call a knowledge peculiar to saints; and, in the apostle's dialect, it is "The eminency, or excellency of the knowledge of Christ." And indeed, there is but little excellency in all those petty notions which furnish the lips with discourse, unless by a sweet and powerful influence they draw the conscience and will to the obedience of Christ. Light in the mind is necessarily antecedent to the sweet and heavenly motions and elevations of the affections: For the farther any man stands from the light of truth, the farther he must needs be from the heat of comfort. Heavenly quickening are begotten in the heart, while the sun of righteousness spreads the beams of truth into the understanding, and the soul sits under those its wings; yet all the light of the gospel spreading and diffusing itself into the...

"... on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale , and they did not believe them. B...

"...Christ's expiatory death is no more an object for our imitation than is the creation of the world. For in His death He took man's place and rendered to divine justice a satisfaction which man himself was utterly unable to render. That Christianity is not primarily a social movement, but a redemptive religion, setting forth a way of escape from sin, is as plain as it is possible for words to make it. " As Jesus hung on the cross He was, in His human nature, the true sin-offering for His people, and as such, it was necessary that He suffer alone. God can have no association whatever with sin, since in His sight it is infinitely heinous. And, as in the Old Testament ritual for the sin-offering, this was symbolized by the burning of the flesh of the bullock outside of the camp (even the offering itself being treated as offensive and polluted since in the mind of the offerer it stood representative of and was in some way associated with his sin), so Jesus, as He bore...

http://songsandhymns.org/player/?hymn=ah-holy-jesus-how-hast-thou-offended The Lyrics to read as you listen: Ah, Holy Jesus Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended, That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended? By foes derided, by Thine own rejected, O most afflicted. Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee? Alas my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee. ’Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee. I crucified Thee. For me, kind Jesus, was Thy incarnation, Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life’s oblation; Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion, For my salvation. Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered; The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered; For our atonement, while he nothing heedeth, God intercedeth. Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee, I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee. Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving, Not my deserving.

I would encourage everyone; but, especially all pastors and teachers, to read the chapter by D.A. Carson from The Trials of Theology . It is available online as a "pdf" file. The following are a few excerpts. You will find a link to the pdf at the end of this post. "...within biblical studies there are few who study the Bible; rather, one writes a learned tome on one facet of pentateuchal criticism, on the theology of Haggai, on cognate Seminitc idioms; one facet of the synoptic problem, on the use of the Old testament in Hebrews, on the significance of pistis Christous , "the faith of Christ', in current debates on the new perspective on Paul. As the old adage puts it, we learn more and more about less. and less." "Scanning this brief list of domains that generate trails for those engaged in biblical studies--whether 'trials' in the sense of difficulties, or 'trials' in the sense of temptations--I am struck by how interrelated the...

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." — John 19:28 . It was most fitting that every word of our Lord upon the cross should be gathered up and preserved. As not a bone of him shall be broken, so not a word shall be lost. The Holy Spirit took special care that each of the sacred utterances should be fittingly recorded. There were, as you know, seven of those last words, and seven is the number of perfection and fulness; the number which blends the three of the infinite God with the four of complete creation. Our Lord in his death-cries, as in all else, was perfection itself. There is a fulness of meaning in each utterance which no man shall be able fully to bring forth, and when combined they make up a vast deep of thought, which no human line can fathom. Here, as everywhere else, we are constrained to say of our Lord, "Never man spake like this man." Amid all the anguish of his spiri...

One plague of our age is the widespread dislike to what men are pleased to call dogmatic theology. In the place of it, the idol of the day is a kind of jellyfish Christianity – a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or sinew, – without any distinct teaching about the atonement or the work of the Spirit, or justification, or the way of peace with God – a vague, foggy, misty Christianity, of which the only watchwords seem to be, ‘You must be…liberal and kind. You must condemn no man’s doctrinal views. You must consider everybody is right and nobody is wrong’. And this creedless kind of religion, we are told, is to give us peace of conscience! And not to be satisfied with it in a sorrowful, dying world, is a proof that you are very narrow-minded! Satisfied, indeed! Such a religion might possibly do for unfallen angels! But to tell sinful, dying men and women, with the blood of our father Adam in our veins, to be satisfied with it, is an insult to common sense and a mockery of our distres...

A True Story--One that clearly illustrates how God's providence works in our lives. You will be encouraged: Earlier this week I arrived in Crystal City to meet friends for dinner. I turned up early so that I might snatch a few minutes to finish the last three pages of a book I was reading and benefiting from immensely - John Flavel’s The Mystery of Providence. I sat down at an empty table outside on the terrace and began to open the book. No sooner had I begun to turn the pages than a man riding a bike stopped right in front of me. Interrupting my reading he asked rather forcefully, ‘What is that book?’ I grasped my belongings thinking that this was some kind of ruse to distract me so that he might steal my stuff. I could tell that he had been drinking, but my suspicions quickly dissipated when he proceeded to sit down next to me and again ask in his somewhat brazen manner, ‘What is that book about?’ I began to explain. The book was written by a nonconformist preacher of the seven...

Oh, that our hearts would understand that the progress of true religion depends not on human might or power—but on the Lord's Spirit! Oh, that many of them would learn to lean less on ministers, and to pray more for the Holy Spirit! Oh, that all would learn to expect less from schools, and tracts, and ecclesiastical machinery; and, while using all means diligently, would seek more earnestly for the outpouring of the Spirit! There is hope in the Gospel for any man, so long as he lives. There is infinite willingness in Christ to pardon sin. There is infinite power in the Holy Spirit to change hearts. There are many diseases of the body which are incurable. The cleverest doctors cannot heal them. But, thank God! there are no incurable diseases of soul. All manner and quantity of sins can be washed away by Christ! The hardest and most wicked of hearts can be changed. Reader, I say again, while there is life—there is hope. The oldest, the vilest, the worst of sinners may be saved. Only ...

We are currently reading through Exodus and are reminded, at every turn, how no matter what God does for His people; they continue to whine and complain. Many will think to themselves, "O' I am nothing like those Israelites. If I had been there, I would not be among the whiners." Perhaps there are a few where this may be true of them. However, for the majority of mankind, nothing is ever good enough. In fact, most seem to think that they deserve to be happy; they deserve to live without hardship, toil and suffering. Why is this? Are we conditioned to believe this by our parents, friends, culture, media, and the like? That is certainly a part of it. For example; when someone gets promoted; when someone announces an upcoming wedding; when someone shares how they came into a financial gain; the too common expression, even out of the mouths of professing Christians, is, "I am so happy for you--you deserve it". The truth is--we "deserve" nothing. ...