Posts by Aimee Byrd

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Book Review:

Jan 15, 2012
7 Toxic Ideas Polluting Your Mind , Anthony Selvaggio (P & R, 2011) Have you seen the foot-pads people are buying these days to detox their bodies? Maybe you have some of that special tea that is supposed to help you along in some good pollutant release. Or perhaps you’ve noticed all the pills...

All of Me

Jan 12, 2012
My faithful, sharpening commenter, Tim, has written another great article for me to guest post. I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did! Ultra-ultra-ultra-sound! My wife and I seem to have a ministry of sorts with young families. Actually, it’s her ministry and I’m the helpmeet. She’ll hear...

Reading Reflection:

Jan 8, 2012
Chaos and Grace , Mark Galli (Baker Books, 2011) Christians use the word faith as abundantly as there are grains of sand, but its thrust may be just as hard for us to grasp as a handful of that bountiful beach. We say we are saved by grace through faith, but is our salvation based on our faith?...

Passionate Kisses

Jan 5, 2012
I have three awesome kids. Being their mom has been such a pleasure and an enormous avenue God has used for my sanctification. And here’s the but: Sometimes it is exhausting. As much as I adore those little boogers, when I’m caught in the war zone of “mom” shrapnel, I long for a peaceful moment to...

Reading Reflection:

Jan 3, 2012
Practical Theology for Women , Wendy Alsup (Crossway, 2008) This is a good little introductory book written for women who need to learn more about God. It is also very motivational. I love Alsup’s apologetic for writing the book: Perhaps you ask, why write a theology book specifically geared toward...

Seasoned Beauty

Jan 1, 2012
My New Year’s Resolution is more like a picture. I want to think of this picture every day. It’s a beautiful, mental picture I have of a tree. The Oleander. Yeah, that’s right, the Oleander. Haven’t you heard of it? Well me neither until recently. Apparently, this tree can only be found in the...

Book Recommendation

Dec 29, 2011
The Book of Mary , Edited by Anthony Zurlo (CruciformPress, 2011) Okay. So, CruciformPress just did something pretty radical. They have an eBook that you can download from their website for just 99 cents through January 3rd. First book I ever read without paper. But I really wanted to read it...

What Goes Into the Beer?

Dec 27, 2011
Dorothy Sayers’ essay, Why Work? , is still churning in my mind. I’ve really been thinking about integrity in our labor. As I alluded in my last Reading Reflection, it is particularly bothersome in the so-called Christian industry. When is it actually helpful, or even truthful, to slap a “Christian...

Reading Reflection:

Dec 26, 2011
Letters to a Diminished Church , Dorothy Sayers (Thomas Nelson,2004) What a great book. The subtitle, Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Dogma , would not be very popular for today’s Christian culture; but I would love to see this book make a comeback. For example, what do our...

Wrong Expectations

Dec 22, 2011
I listen to the local talk radio station every morning while driving my kids to school—that is, I try to listen while the kids are machine-gunning a cacophony of chatter my way. Actually, it is my hometown’s local station, which I am close enough to receive. One of the news blurbs the other morning...

Reading Reflection:

Dec 20, 2011
Note to Self , Joe Thorn (Crossway, 2011) Have you ever thought about preaching to yourself? That’s what this book is about. Think about it; we are telling ourselves all kinds of things throughout the day. Not long ago, I wrote an article that is complimentary to the subtitle of this book, The...

Sometimes it's Okay to be a Liability

Dec 19, 2011
What is it that distinguishes a friend from an acquaintance? Is it the amount of time that you spend with them? I would have to say there are some people that I spend quite a bit of time with who really should be looked at as more of an acquaintance than a friend. Actually, that has been something...

Reading Reflection:

Dec 15, 2011
Counsel from the Cross , Elyse M. Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson (Crossway, 2009) I am reading an awesome book right now! I couldn’t decide which tabbed page I’ve marked to be used as a Reading Reflection. One of my flagged sections is actually going to be a part of my next article, which is...

Anticipation

Dec 13, 2011
One of the greatest rewards of blogging is the wonderful minds to meet disguised in the comments section. Tim is one of those who sharpens my material with his own thoughtful reflections. So when I saw that he made a guest post for another blogger , I rightfully nagged him to do one for me. He...

Sharper Friends

Dec 10, 2011
My Sunday School teacher said something that has been turning in my mind all week. We have been studying prayer, and this week was about some of the benefits that we receive from adoption into God’s family. The first verse we looked up is Hebrews 12:6: For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and...

What a Crazy Month!

Dec 9, 2011
Hey Guys, This has been a crazy month of illnesses for my family. My daughter's pneumonia took a turn for the worse and my husband needed an emergency appendectomy this week. Hopefully, I can bring him home from the hospital today, and my daughter is responding very well to four-hour nebulizer...

Reading Reflection:

Dec 7, 2011
Hoping for Something Better , Nancy Guthrie (Saltriver, 2007) I just started reading this book by Guthrie. It is designed to be used as a woman’s Bible study on the book of Hebrews (A 10-week study. There is no way I could cover Hebrews in 10 weeks, so this is something I need to read to believe...

Thinking it Out

Dec 5, 2011
So the other morning in our home it was just my oldest daughter, Solanna, and me while everyone else was at school and work. I’ve basically had a month with either me or my kids battling a kick-butt upper respiratory virus. Ugh. So, after helping everyone else get ready and shuttled off, I returned...

Reading Reflection on Beauty:

Dec 2, 2011
There is a blog article over on The Gospel Coalition website titled Do Looks Matter ? It opens with a conversation some teens were having in the youth ministry about whether or not it matters how good looking their future wife is as long as they have all the spiritual qualities they are looking for...

Tell Me Again!

Nov 30, 2011
There seems to be a human built-in trait that thrives on repetition. We can track it all the way back to infancy, when a baby that can’t even speak knows how to make that anticipatory face for you to hide behind your hands for the thousandth time so they can crack up laughing at another “peek-a-boo...

Reading Reflection

Nov 29, 2011
Knowing God , J.I. Packer (IVP, 1973) Well it is official. The Christmas season is here. The stores can now legitimately play Christmas music. They can all compete to create that sense of magic that we all feel during this holiday season. But candy canes, colorful lights, and blow-up yard ornaments...

I'm So Glad I'm a Part

Nov 26, 2011
I’m still in thankful mode. As a matter of fact, my family is in Deep Creek, MD right now to celebrate the holiday together. My mom rented a big, beautiful home to fit my brother and his family, my sister and her family, as well as me and my own. There are nine little cousins all running around...

Reading Reflection:

Nov 23, 2011
Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin, 2006) We do not know the exact date of the celebration we now call the First Thanksgiving, but it was probably in late September or early October, soon after their crop of corn, squash, beans, barley, and peas had been harvested. It was also a time during...

Three-to-the-Six!

Nov 21, 2011
This year I share my birthday with Thanksgiving. I will be 36. That’s crazy. I was happy to enter my thirties, feeling as if my twenties represented a decade of building, and I assumed my thirties would be a great decade of responsible enjoyment and growth. That it has, although I didn’t realize...

Reading Reflection:

Nov 20, 2011
The True Believer , Jonathan Edwards, Edited by Dr. Don Kistler (Soli Deo Gloria, 2001) This book is a collection of sermons by Jonathan Edwards. The sermon I am quoting from is titled, Christians a Chosen Generation, preached on verse 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal...

The Things Concerning Himself

Nov 17, 2011
I remember back in college my roommate, Michelle, brought home the movie The Usual Suspects . We spent the afternoon enthralled in this 1995 film. The movie begins with a ship massacre and explosion, where Roger “Verbal” Kint, played by Kevin Spacey, is one of only two survivors. The other survivor...

Reading Reflection

Nov 15, 2011
I read a blog today that had a great point. The title: Don’t Preach Santa to Yourself , written by Gloria Furman. With the stores getting all their Christmas on already, Gloria realizes how we sometimes treat our spiritual lives like our relationship with Santa Claus. Sometimes we fall into the...

A Wonderful Knowledge

Nov 14, 2011
What a week! I haven’t been sick in years, and of course I have to get some mystery illness. I was convinced I had the flu, and that I was getting better. Turns out, no matter how hard you try, you can’t will yourself to get better (I know, there’s a huge spiritual analogy there). After having this...

Reading Reflection:

Nov 11, 2011
Him We Proclaim , Dennis Johnson (P&R, 2007) So this massive volume has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year now, intimidating me. Well, it’s not that massive, but well over 400 pages of scholarly material. In God’s providence I have had a pretty good (meaning bad) case of the flu all...

The Awkward Years

Nov 9, 2011
My oldest daughter, Solanna, is in the seventh grade. Do you remember the seventh grade? Middle school in general is just a strange period. Especially in our age, where the whole decade of your twenties is considered as glorified adolescence, what is the role of a middle-schooler? These poor kids...

Book Recommendation:

Nov 8, 2011
Getting Back Into the Race , Joel R. Beeke (CruciformPress, 2011) There just aren’t many books out addressing the issue of the backsliding Christian. I imagine one reason is the marketability—I mean, how many backsliders are really going to go buy a book about their condition? And I don’t think...

Public Journaling

Nov 5, 2011
Sometimes when you start something, you’re not really sure where it’s going to take you. I was thinking about this the other day while I was praying (on my front porch again—good spot lately). I often pray about my writing on this blog, that I would not continue if it just became a perfunctory task...

Reading Reflection:

Nov 3, 2011
Glory Road , Edited by Anthony Carter (Crossway, 2009) The subtitle to this book is, The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity . This is a topic that I have been interested in lately, so I bumped it up a couple of notches in my “books to read” pile. Something about the cover...

Confident in This Very Thing

Nov 1, 2011
I’m not a good small-talker. Or I should say, when I am, I return home feeling empty and unsatisfied. It’s kind of like going to one of those impressive, gourmet restaurants for dinner. Everything looks fancy and important, the bill is certainly heavy, but when you get home you find yourself...

Reading Reflection:

Oct 31, 2011
The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis (Harper One, reprint 1980) There is an interesting essay in this collection called The Inner Ring. It seems Lewis is addressing some college graduates about the world they are about to enter. He describes this unwritten phenomenon of a longing we all have to be a...

A New Set of Eyes

Oct 29, 2011
I mentioned in my article, The Empty House , that my mom lives very close to Burkittsvile, MD. Even though you can pass through that tiny town in the time it takes to blink an eye, Burkittsville is full of fun stuff—especially for entertaining bored teenagers. One place we would head up to for a...

Front Porches and Bible Study

Oct 26, 2011
Yesterday I decided to do my praying on my front porch in the sun. I had just returned home from the Tuesday morning ladies Bible study. Currently, we are going through 1 st Kings. As I was praying, I was sort of also meditating on the lesson, thanking God for the older ladies in there who are so...

Reading Reflection:

Oct 25, 2011
Thoughts and Their Fruit , Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 9 (Baker, reprint 1999) This sermon is on Jeremiah 6:19, “The fruit of their thoughts.” Spurgeon has a way of taking the smallest piece of Scripture and driving the nail in good. Here he shows how the smallest sinful thoughts are the eggs of sin...

Hypocrites of Grace

Oct 22, 2011
We just love to talk about grace. We sing about it, marvel as receivers of it, say it before meals…we think we have a good, healthy handle on what grace means. But I don’t really think we do most of the time. I think we have a taste of what grace means. Surely, we know that we are saved by grace,...

Reading Reflection:

Oct 20, 2011
Tim Blackmon, (Sept/Oct, 2011). The Dangerous Act of Hospitality. Modern Reformation Magazine , Vol. 20, #5 , 41-42 What a great issue Modern Reformation put out this month! In this article, Blackmon gives a passionate case for why Christians especially should be hospitable. Unfortunately, with...

Book Recommendation:

Oct 17, 2011
Awaiting a Savior, Aaron Armstrong (CruciformPress, 2011) This is Cruciform’s book for October, and definitely one of my favorites from them so far. The subtitle, The Gospel, the New Creation and the End of Poverty, is a bit of a hot topic in the whole study of Christ and culture right now. I...

The Empty House

Oct 14, 2011
The fall reminds me of my dear friend Sarah. We grew up together. Sarah has that fiery red hair that blazes like the leaves in October. But we both shared birthdays in November and fall was our season. I was the cautious kid—afraid of everything. Sarah was adventurous. She wrote a poem about it...

Reading Reflection:

Oct 12, 2011
Martin Luther’s Tabletalk , translated and edited by William Hazlitt, Esq. (Christian Heritage, reprinted 2003) This is a great book (with a neat story behind it) that outlines Luther’s convictions freely given through conversation in the intimate relationships with his friends and disciples. As...

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Oct 10, 2011
In my last article , I talked about the authentic Christian. In the end, I agreed with D. A. Carson that the “ ’authentic Christian’ is the one who is most shaped in thought, word and deed by Christianity’s foundational documents, by Christianity’s Lord, by Christianity’s creeds.” Of course, I...

Horton Hears a Who

Oct 8, 2011
Instead of a Reading Reflection, I thought I would give a short conference reflection. The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals put on a conference in Bethesda, MD titled, What is the Church? Michael Horton, Greg Gilbert, and Robert Norris were the speakers. This subject seems simple, but what...

Authentic Christians:

Oct 6, 2011
I am blessed with many Christian friends affiliated with various Christian denominations. Back when I owned my coffee shop, several friends I met through there asked me to start a women’s bible study. We were an eclectic group, including Baptists (Southern and Independent), Pentecostals,...

Reading Reflection:

Oct 4, 2011
Innocent Blood , John Ensor (CruciformPress, 2011) This is the September release for CruciformPress. It is a very motivating and eye-awakening book on the horror of abortion. For instance, this statistic makes me want to puke: According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned...

Professional Truthers

Oct 1, 2011
My 9-year-old daughter, Zaidee, and two of her classmates decided to do a Social Studies Fair project on America after 9-11. You know what that means: mommy’s going to be doing a lot of “helping.” With that in mind, I wanted to narrow our topic to something more interesting than how it’s changed...

Reading Reflection:

Sep 29, 2011
I read a blog post this week that stimulated some reflection. Now I’m thinking that I should do more Reading Reflections on blog posts, isn’t that why we write them? While I hope my reflections on the books I read inspire you to read some of them as well, it is both free and expedient to throw you...

Because I Said So!

Sep 27, 2011
Now there’s a comeback that I hated to hear as a child. I remember making a mental note when I was like 8 years old that I would never give, “because I said so,” as an explanation. I wanted to really know why my parents were making the decisions they were making. I mean come on, I was 8,...