The Dirt is Down & We're Ready to Plant!

All 27 yards topsoil has been been put on the beds, so we're ready to plant next Saturday, March 31.

All we need is for the beds to dry out. Please pray that the snow is light,  melts quickly, and for sunny & warm weather later in the week.

Lenten Meditations Week Six: Protecting our Fruitfulness

“And He built a tower in the middle of it”

Isaiah 5:2 (NASB)

This part of God’s garden prep deals with the hard fact that some folks will try to steal or destroy the results of others' fruitfulness.  God therefore took steps to protect against that. Sadly, that dynamic is still present. “Theft and vandalism are commonplace at many community gardens.” Community Garden Toolkit (University of Illinois Extension 2009), p.7; See also, Dealing with Vandalism & Theft in Your School Garden (South Dakota State University Extension 2013) (Video).

We have the same dynamic in our personal lives. Sin—in us and others—can limit or undo our fruitfulness if we don’t address it.

Fortunately, scripture tells us how to do that. One way is to stay away from situations where we can anticipate temptation and to get away from sin/temptation ASAP if we stumble upon either. Another is to stay focused on God and His word. A third is to keep busy with what God has called us to do and with good works generally.   

Here are some passages describing those approaches:

Avoiding situations where sin/temptation might be present; getting away from them when we encounter them:

Proverbs 5:1-14

Sirach 21:2

Matthew 5:29-30,18:8

2 Timothy 2:22

Focusing on God and His word:

Psalm 34:5-6, 14

Psalm 37:1-10

Psalm 91:1-2,14-15

Psalm 119:5-6

Proverbs 2:1-20

Proverbs 4:20-27

Ephesians 6:10-18

Keeping busy with what God has called you to do and good works generally:

2 Samuel 11:1-5 (by negative example)

Psalm 34:14

Psalm 37:27

Proverbs 4:25-27

Sirach 3:21-23

Colossians 3:23-24

Gardening & Bible study this Saturday

Hi Folks,

We’re going to resume getting the garden ready for the spring crop this coming Saturday, March 23 starting at 9:00 AM.  Come on over!

We’re also adding a new wrinkle—a short study on Romans 12:2:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)(Other translations available through the hyperlink)

I think we’ll see some interesting parallels between the concepts in this verse and the work we'll be doing Saturday. We’ll do the study inside the church around 10:30 AM when we take a coffee break. Come to the side door by the garden if you want to come for the study, but not the gardening session.

See you there!

Lenten Meditation Week Five: The Good Stuff Comes From God

“He … planted it with the choicest vines.”

                                    Isaiah 5:2 (NIV)

God’s next step is to plant the crop He wants. That makes sense; the chances of getting an acceptable crop are  slim if you don’t plant what you are looking for. Instead, you’ll get an  assortment of weeds.

The same is true in our lives. God must plant His goodness in us for us to bear good fruit. Left to our own we will yield what  springs from our fallen nature or blows in from the world; neither are likely to be good. There is a lot of scripture on this. Let’s check it out:

Jeremiah 17:5-8

John 15:4-6, 16

Ephesians 2:8-10

James 1:17-18

James 3:15-17

Galatians 5:16-25

Proverbs 2:6

Wisdom 8:21-9:6

Wisdom 4:3-5

Sirach 1:1-10

Note: Wisdom and Sirach are deuterocanonical books. Those books are accepted as having the full authority of scripture by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Anglican Church does not consider them to have the weight of scripture, but recognizes that they provide sound guidance for Christians. That latter view is consistent with the actions of many of the early reformers. Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the 1611 edition of the King James Bible included those books, albeit as appendices. See  Biblical Apocrypha. Further, there are many  New Testament passages that allude to or parallel passages in the deuterocanonical books. See  Deuterocanonical Books In the New Testament

Off to a Good Start

We had a great day Saturday. Great folks, great weather, and we moved a great deal of dirt ... about 12 or 13 cubic yards. About half our beds have been replenished and the compost pile got turned.

Thanks to everyone--and most of all to God!

Lenten Meditation Week Four: We Must Get Rid of "Stones" to be Fruitful.

“He … removed its stones”

         Isaiah 5:2 (NASB)

Stones and fruitfulness don’t mix.  If nothing else, stones take up growing space. But more than that, they limit a bed’s ability to retain water, don’t provide nutrition, and actually hinder plants’ ability to get nutrition from soil by making it harder for them to put down roots.  Removing stones can be very hard work, especially if they are below the surface, but it has to be done if a garden is to be fruitful. That’s why God does it as part of the garden prep described here.

The same thing is true in our individual lives. We have “stones” in our lives—hardened habits and perceptions—that contribute nothing to our fruitfulness. Indeed, most hinder it by interfering with our ability to draw on what we need to be as fruitful as God wants us to be.  And they are hard to get rid of, especially if they are deeply imbedded.

The good news is that God knows that. His Word tells us about those "stones," contains promises that he’ll help us get rid of them, and gives us some good direction on how He’ll do that if we’ll respond. Let’s dig into it and see what it says to us:

Jeremiah 5:3-6

Jeremiah 23:29

Ezekiel 11:17-20

Ezekiel 36:24-30

Luke 8:6, 13

2 Corinthians 10:3-5