BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND 

   We turned the page in a magazine and there was this double-page ad for a student edition of the Reformation Study Bible. We're not recommending this Bible nor opposing it.

   We just enjoyed seeing what we believe wholeheartedly.

   The mind is a battleground, bombarded with the ideas and opinions of a fallen world. The ad says, "Arm yourselves with truth by reading God's Word, and think his thoughts after him. 

Identity vs. Personhood  

   The factors that shape us most are those we did not choose - beginning with our being, itself, writes Janie B, Cheaney in WORLD magazine. 

   We had nothing to do with our birth, our parents or grandparents, our race or country. We had nothing to do with our family's income level or physical, medical issues we might have had. 

   Children don't control what grown-ups think is necessary for us to learn. They in turn can't control what we actually learn. 

   The person I became is somewhat different from my sister, as she is from me (lucky her). 

   My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, woven in the depths of the earth.  - Psalm 139:15 

   "Identity fixes on one feature to the detriment of others," Cheaney writes. "Skin color describes a person, but it's not the person. Personhood escapes easy classification. What we are remains essentially mysterious, known fully to God alone." 

   She concludes, "Identity turns inward, but personhood expands outward. The saints in Hebrews 11 and the saints of today share one trait in common: Our eyes are fixed on things unseen. We seek not a handcrafted identity, but God's promise fulfilled - fully and finally in us, when we see him as He is." 

             Jimmy