Jeff Noble's Blog, page 43
February 24, 2015
Video: Snow day again…
It began snowing last week in Blacksburg. We love snow; don’t get me wrong. We had been bummed (notice past tense) that we hadn’t gotten any significant snow. Now there’s been more than a foot of snow on the ground – including the 6″ we got this past Saturday. There’s so many good things about snow.. but the one bad thing? The kids haven’t been to school since last Monday. We were at a swim team banquet for BHS last night when one of the students yelled in the middle of it, “No school tomorrow!” The kids cheered; the parents groaned in disbelief.
This video by Nashville realtor Adam Helton says it all:
HT: Delin Soileau
By the way, “HT” means hat tip – in other words, it’s a nod to the person who showed me the video. 
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February 23, 2015
Observations from Colossians
I’ve been studying Colossians in much the same way I studied Mark last year. I’ll keep this post running with reflections as I did Mark. I’m using several commentaries to help light my path through Paul’s inspired letter. Here are the sources:
Colossians & Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ by Kent Hughes (This has been republished with the addition of Philippians and retitled Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon: The Fellowship of the Gospel and The Supremacy of Christ )
Philippians, Colossians, Philemon by Richard Melick (New American Commentary Series)
The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians by F.F. Bruce (New International Commentary Series)
Colossians, Philemon by Peter O’Brien (Word Biblical Commentary Series)
Colossians, Philemon by David Garland (NIV Application Commentary Series)
February 23, 2015
In light of 1:22-23 which encourages the Christian that the Father initiated our reconciliation through Jesus’ death, Hughes says:
Fellow-believers, in light of our reconciliation we ought to do everything in our power to be practically blameless and holy in this life. We must become what we are in the Lord. We must submit ourselves ever more completely to the “God who works in you” (Philippians 2.13) Practical holiness should be our life’s business. (italics, bold mine)
The beautiful reality is that because of what the Father initiated through Jesus, Christians are, at this very moment, ” holy and blameless and above reproach before Him” (v22). But we most often don’t feel that way. Hughes words are instructive… let us be what we are. Let us grow in practical holiness, becoming what God has already made us.
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February 22, 2015
February 21, 2015
February 19, 2015
Relief…
The doctor called just moments ago. Carolyn called me soon after. The results from her biopsy last week? Cancer free. No trace. She giggled as she shared the news, and in the giggle, I heard relief.
We were supposed to hear by the end of last week about the biopsy, so the delay was weighing on her. I didn’t know how much until I heard the giggle.
It’s been a long journey, too long to recount her, but you’re more than welcome to trace it though the series links below. If you’re aware of even a smidgen of it, we assume that you have also joined us in prayer and concern. We can’t thank you enough.
However, the real source of our relief is God. Here on February 19, 2015, we sit cancer-free and also free from medical debt due to His provision through family and friends. We are – in this very moment – for it’s been mere minutes since the phone call – simply stunned again by the gracious sufficiency of our Savior. And on the cusp of our celebration and praise, we truly want you – our family and friends – or the accidental reader and first-time blog visiter – to know of the stupendous, overwhelming, cancer-conquering love of Jesus Christ. We want you to know Him.
And even as the heart confetti flies, we also know that some of you haven’t received good news. In fact, your loved one or friend may have had just the opposite experience.
In some ways, we’ve been there too. Our journey has been full of rotten phone calls and bad test results.
I can’t say it better than John Piper did in his little book Don’t Waste Your Cancer:
God.. [has] power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory, and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste our cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone in this life. And there are many other ways to waste our cancer… We waste our cancer if we think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ… Satan designs to destroy our love for Christ. God designs to deepen our love for Christ. Cancer does not win if we die. It wins if we fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean us off the breast of the world and feast us on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help us say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) and to know that therefore, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
So, please celebrate with us, if you can. Yet let’s be mindful that we don’t celebrate good health as the end-all. Rather, we celebrate a good God who is the be-all. It is Christ we choose to cherish – not health. We could do that with good or with bad news. So can you.
For whatever reason, in His sovereign provision for us, Carolyn will sleep deep tonight with a load off her heart and shoulders. It’s a relief.
Also in Our Cancer Saga
Carolyn was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1991. Since then, it's been a wild, crazy cancer saga.
A Sheep’s Tale
Our Story, a week in October
Health update and uncertainty
Biopsy results…
Today’s stop: surgeon consultation
Doctor update
“As you help us by your prayers”
Where we are
Health latest…
Experiencing intercession
Two birthdays of good news
The chemo word
Surgery today
A little closure…
Chemo hero
Our Story: Miracles
Another opportunity to trust
Round 6 update
A La Carte: Health Update, December Nights kickoff, Saving Change and The First Snow
Final surgery – Round 6: gratitude in busyness
Health update 2014
Denied.
A little down: health update
Miracles in the mailbox
Immeasurably more..
Moving toward knowledge: surgery
Relief…
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February 18, 2015
February 17, 2015
February 16, 2015
Picture: Snowpocalypse 2015
It begins.
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