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The Bible is not about you.


Dr. Akin gave this to us this morning in class in a discussion of typology in the Old Testament. His point was to show that while so much of what goes on in the church today is people-centered, self-help, feelings-healing, needs-meeting fluff, the Bible is not really about us, it’s all about Jesus. When we focus on ourselves, we so often miss the point that when we really meet Jesus, we find our help, our feelings are healed and our needs are met!

Too often when we study scripture, we start with the wrong question: “What does this say to/about me?” If we start our study asking, “What does this tell me about God?” then we really get down to the deep riches of the Word. After all, if we are called to conform to the image of Christ, shouldn’t we be learning more about him and less about us?

The following resource was cited by Tim Keller in his lecture “Preaching the Gospel” from the Resurgence Conference in 2006. The audio can be found here:

http://theresurgence.com/r_r_2006_session_seven_audio_keller

Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood that now cries out, not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void, not know wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us. And just as God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love, from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob, who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses, who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave up his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the read Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the True Temple, the True Prophet, the True Priest, the True King, the True Sacrifice, the True Lamb, the True Light, the True Bread.

The Bible’s not really about you—it’s about Him.

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scrapbooking and remembrance


I scrapbook. There, I said it. I say it with the trepidation of a first time attendee at an AA meeting; “Hi, I’m Bekah and I’m a scrapbooker.” Most of the world of scrapbooking is dominated by soccer moms who are documenting the lives of their beloved children in minute detail. Go to any local scrapbook store and you will find paper commemorating every first event a child could have and every vacation location conceivable. Not exactly the world in which you would find your typical single, childless, twenty-something woman.

I have taken a liking to scrapbooking as a pictorial journal of my own life. In the last four years I have scrapbooked mission trips, summers at Camp, trips to visit friends on both coasts and events in daily life. I love taking my photos and placing them in a storybook order, all the while wondering who will look and enjoy my story. I wonder if they will “get” what it is I am trying to say without words. But the best part of scrapbooking is sitting down and looking back over that particular time in life. History and nostalgia buffs like me generally love nothing more than spending a day in yesterday, and my scrapbooks allow me to do that in living color.

I’m currently working on my scrapbook of my trip to Afghanistan. I know, I’m a year behind. I never said I scrapbooked consistently. Anyway, as I was working on it last night, I was talking with my friend Rachel and I made the comment that I thought this might be my favorite scrapbook yet. She inquired as to the reason for my attachment to this particular book, and at first I half-jokingly replied it was because I had taken awesome pictures and had then purchased really pretty paper on which to stick my awesome photos. I was only half-joking because I really do love my pictures from that trip and those who know me well know I have a slight addiction to buying pretty scrapbook paper.

But after I thought about it for a moment, I quite seriously shared with her that this book would be my favorite so far because it reminded me of the work the Lord had done in my life in those 10 days. When my plane touched down in New York on June 3, 2007, it landed with a different Bekah Mason than the one who had left a week and a half earlier.

I think this is why the Israelites were commanded to build alters of remembrance. You can look throughout Scripture and see how remembering the past alters our view of the present and the future. God told the Israelites to remember Him, to remember how He led them out of Egypt, how He had provided for them when they had nothing, how He had made covenant with their forefathers. They were told that if they remembered Him and His laws and covenants that their way would prosper and He would bless them.

There are also examples of what happens when we stop remembering the Lord and how He has provided for us and met our every need. When the Israelites stopped remembering how the Lord had provided manna and began remembering the rich foods they had forsaken in Egypt they became discontented with what the Lord had provided. When the kings did not remember the words of the Lord, they led Israel into pagan worship and abandoned the ways of their fathers.

All of this got me thinking, what do I spend my time remembering? I know that I am most content in the here and now when my time of reflection is spent thinking on the times the Lord has guided me with His sovereign and merciful hand. I am most content in Him when I look back and see how He has provided for me and how He has shown me mercy when I deserved none. I am most content when I am considering the peace and joy I experience now from trusting that His way is the best way for me, even when His leading doesn’t make sense or seem best.

I also know that times of discontent creep in when I put on my rose colored glasses and look back at times of sin in my life. Much like Israelites thinking about the food and riches they had left in Egypt, I sometimes ask of God, “You led me out of Egypt for this?” But it is in these times that, also like the Israelites, I have romanticized the past and have forgotten that while times seemed good, I was in bondage! When slavery looks good, we have taken our eyes off of the Savior.

So I will continue to scrapbook. My scrapbooks are my testimony of remembering how the Lord led me out of Egypt and into the great adventure of following Him to the ends of the earth for His glory.

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Thank you!


A big thank you to the Couples classes at Morris Hill for helping us bless the ladies who will be heading to Africa for missionary placements! Your gifts allowed us to make bags for 11 ladies who will deploy this year in many different countries, doing many different jobs. These ladies and their families will be doing jobs ranging from church planting to being dorm parents to sports evangelism using basketball as a platform to speak to people about Christ.

I pray that you will all know that you are now have a personal stake in the work of the Kingdom in Africa. Please pray for these ladies as they and their families go and serve. I also pray that this involvement in overseas missions will get you thinking about the possibility of serving as well. These families are just like you and me; one of them made the point today that the only thing that makes them different from other believers is that they heard the call to serve and they obeyed. If you have never done so, please pray and tell the Lord that even if He never calls you to serve Him in another city or country that you would be willing to do so. Sometimes we don’t even know God is calling us until we take the time to listen for that call.

Thanks again for your faithfulness in this project. It makes me proud to be able to tell people here at school that my home church is so faithful to help with things like this! Your gifts were greatly appreciated by everyone!

I have attached some pictures from the event so that you can see some faces to go with your prayers.

Love to you all,

Bekah 🙂

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“You Complete Me” and other myths of relationships


Great quote from JD Greear’s blog… I’m definitely going to check out this book…

From JD Greear’s blog…

from Angela Thomas in her excellent book, Am I Beautiful: Questions Every Woman Asks:

Here is one thing I can say with great confidence: the man that you love is just a man. He may be your soul mate. He is possibly your best friend. He may be hunky and funny and surprising and strong, but he will never – not in a million years, not if he goes to relationship therapy twice a week and keeps every promise written – be enough to fill your soul…he will never make you whole. He wasn’t made to be enough. He could not be even if he tried. He is just a man, and he can give only as a man and interact as a man and love as a man. He wasn’t designed to fill the depth of a woman’s longings, anticipate every need, and jump through every hoop. He can’t. Those deep places inside you were made for God.

The man is simply a vessel. God uses him to give you a part of the filling of His holy love. But he is not the only vessel, not is he able to fill you from his own strength, nor is he the only thing you will ever need. Are you hearing this? There will never be a man on the face of the earth who can make you whole. Being filled in the depths of your soul is only about the love of God…knowing him…hearing His voice…believing that He’s wild about you…dancing in His arms.

The man’s responsibility is to be the vessel and to be a good one. He is called to listen to God. To obey as the Holy Spirit leads. To love you in the ways God prompts his heart. If he loves you as a man who walks with God and if you realize that the vessel is just a man, there can be an amazing exchange of healthy love. Through the man you can taste a part of the love that God has for you.

Your responsibility with the man is to let him be just that. He is not your girlfriend. He is not perfect and never will be. He is not your Savior. He is not your filling, nor is he the answer to all your longings. You must let him be fallen and forgiven and in process. You must learn the difference between men who are healthy and those who are not. You must not mistake his opinions for the opinions of God. He may have never called you beautiful or smart or witty. No matter what the man says or doesn’t say, God is still wild about you.

How have you overcome the “idolatry” of romance?

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Singleness Wears Steel-Toed Boots


When I arrived in Raleigh Sunday night, it was after 20 hours of travel over 4,000 miles, an ocean, and two continents. Those who know me well understand that when I am tired I tend to revert to my toddler self: weepy temper tantrums are not rare when I am fatigued. So I was not surprised when I arrived in baggage claim and was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to plop down on the floor, throw my backpack, and cry.

What did surprise me, however, was my physical, emotional, and spiritual response to seeing that the baggage claim was full of the wives, children, mothers and fathers of some of my team members. There was an instantaneous feeling like I had literally kicked in the stomach– the physical side effect of loneliness. My first, self-pitying thought was, “Singleness not only kicks you when you’re down, it wears steel-toed boots.” Aloneness is never more glaringly obvious than when you realize that you have no one to go home to.

When I lived in Chattanooga, homecomings from mission trips were a big deal. We would arrive from Honduras to a baggage claim full of friends and family. I’ve now come “home” to Wake Forest from two mission trips, and my immediate response has been the same both times– I’ve experienced the physical emptiness of being kicked by the army boot-wearing enemy, Alone. Being that I tend to be a people person to a fault, this never sits well with me. The last two years I have truly made peace with my singleness; I enjoy being able to serve the Lord however He sees fit to use me. But contentment does not always mean steady, unfailing joy in the situation. Paul may have been content in the Lord while in jail, but I’m certain that he still would have preferred his freedom.

But while I was standing at the baggage carousel waiting for my bags, I couldn’t shake the image of my singleness treading on me in steel-toed boots. I instantly shut down and isolated myself in my thoughts, desperately crying out to the Lord to perform a miracle and ensure that I not cry in front of all of these people. And in that moment of solitude amidst the chaos, the Lord gently expanded my understanding of those work boots I felt were walking all over me.

I thought about Emily, who spent a couple of days in tears because it was the first time she had been away from her son for more than a night. I remembered how much Jason missed his son while we were in Amsterdam. I thought of Rob and Nick and Mitch and Bill and Dr. James, who had all made comments about wanting to get back to their wives and families. And then I thought about how I hadn’t really missed anyone the 15 days we were out of the country. Living in Wake Forest is a discipline in missing my family; I didn’t miss them in Amsterdam any more or less than I would any other day.  And then I thought of the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 when he addressed singleness and ministry: “But I say to the unmarried and the widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I…. Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk….But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of this world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of this world, how she may please her husband. This I say not for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord” (1 Cor. 7: 8,17,32-35).

We are encouraged to serve the Lord in whatever circumstance we are in when He calls us into His service. For me, I was and, at the moment remain, single. That is how I am to serve Him, and when I am focused on Him, His kingdom, His glory, and not myself, I find no greater joy than giving Him my undivided attention. Even in my weary state, I recognized the still small voice of the Holy Spirit convicting me to a closer relationship with Himself, calling me away from me and back to Him and His all-sufficient grace and mercy.

I still think my singleness wears steel-toed boots. But now I think of them as the footwear essential for wearing the full armor of God at this time in my life. And the only time I am going to get kicked by them is when I get in the way of the work the Lord is doing in and through me.