Thoughts on the Righteousness of Christ~ Jonathan Putnam

Jonathan is my hero!

(picture of him studying at Panera)

He just finished his the 1st half of the Pastor's College. I am so proud of him. I have watched God give him strength, endurance, perseverance and a greater understanding of how awesome our God is. And I never heard him complain about how much he had to study. I have been amazed watching him from front row seats. I just got a hold of one of his essays that he had to turn in for his professor, Jerry Bridges. I was really impacted by it.

Thoughts on the Righteousness of Christ~ Jonathan Putnam

I was deeply impacted by the principle: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need for God’s grace” (Disciplines of Grace, 18). As I reflect on my journey as a believer, I recognize that I have lived many days in the two extremes of self-righteousness and despair: self-righteous when I thought I was doing well in the Christian life, and despair when I was reminded of my sinfulness.

For many years, my battle with one particular sin would determine my position on this spectrum. If I gave into temptation I would quickly find myself weighed down with despair believing that I was despicable to God. How could I approach him and ask for forgiveness—again? I would respond in various ways, all of which revealed that I believed my standing with God was completely dependent upon myself. Sometimes I would throw myself into the spiritual disciplines with renewed zeal believing that I must not be working hard enough. Sometimes I would become angry at God for commanding what I seemed incapable of obtaining. In anger I would either plunge myself into sin once again or numbly withdrawal from intimacy with the Lord by purposely avoiding time with him. On the other extreme, if I had successfully avoided this all-important sin for a lengthy period of time, I would become convinced that all was well between God and myself and self-righteously assume that I was now in a position to help others.

Both extremes, though different, share a common reliance on my own performance—either good or bad. Both extremes avoid depending fully on Christ’s righteousness for my standing before God rendering his righteousness experientially inconsequential. It is here that an understanding the imputed righteousness of Christ makes all the difference. If Christ is my righteousness then my standing before God is not dependent upon my performance. When I sin, his grace is strong enough to cover all of my sin. When I resist sin, it is his grace that has enabled me to do so, yet I remain a sinner who is still equally dependent upon him to cover my “socially acceptable” sins, many of which I may not even be aware of.

How do I go about applying this truth to my life? Reminding myself of this is essentially what it means to “preach the gospel to myself every day.” It is growing in the humility that rejects all my performance-- good and bad-- and chooses instead to stand upon the performance of Christ. On a “bad day” I must not discredit the grace of God by arrogantly believing my sins are too great to be forgiven. It is not glorifying to God to magnify my sin above his grace. On a “bad day” I must gaze at the holiness of God and be reminded once again how far I fall short. But instead of despairing at my revealed sin, I can run, once again, to the cross and be reminded that though my sins are far worse than I even realize, my standing with God is not based upon myself, but upon the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Every day was a “good day” for Christ and he lived for me.

Thankfulness

Thankful Thanksgiving 2009 List:

1. Getting to return to Ohio to see our friends and family! The brief moment was like a tease but gave us a glimpse into our hearts at how much we love our family, friends and church family!


2. Getting to see my sister Allison super pregnant! She was overdue with our first niece, Carleigh Grace, who finally arrived 4 days after we drove back to MD. I am so thankful that we both had the opportunity to be pregnant together!


3. We got a new car! God always seems to provide all of our needs, when we need it. We drove back to MD in a vehicle that does not have the "service engine" light on.


4. We were so thankful to come away from our break rested physically and relationally encouraged.

God saved you from being a "Feminist"

God has done much in my heart over the last few weeks. For months I have been wrestling with the role of woman. It started years ago with misunderstandings and sweeping assumptions that I was making that were not true. (I'll spare you the ugly details).

All of this came to a head in my life when I shared my life story with a friend. Her response was, "Wow, God really saved you from being a feminist." "A FEMINIST," I thought, "how dare she call me a feminist!" (disclaimer~ she wasn't calling me a feminist. But again I was making a sweeping assumption of what she meant. I see a pattern here.)

As a result of this conversation, I went home a little bit riled. Okay, really ticked off. But God has used it to bring clarity over all these issues and misunderstandings I have had been brewing about for the last few years. It was though He was asking me to lay aside all my "criticisms" and "sweeping assumptions of what wasn't said" and write down what I am passionate about and how I can use those passions for His glory. My entire perspective was changed. The light bulb went on.

God brought such clarity for me to do some specific things in this order~

1. To write down my understanding of Biblical Femininity, my passions for myself and other woman.


2. To search Scripture to see if my passions and understanding are aligned with God's Word as the ultimate authority.


3. To invite others to evaluate my passions and understanding of God's Word


4. To make corrections where I am wrong in my position


5. To ask my husband and others how I can serve our family and our church out of my passions for the glory of God.

All this to say, God has lifted a strong burden off of my chest that I need not carry, analyze and ponder anymore. The best part of all of this is that 4 days after the Feminist remark, the pastor taught on Proverbs 31. I heard firsthand from the pulpit God's desire to use woman for expanding His kingdom, through the family and community. I had a smirk on my face knowing that God really does care about me and wants to reveal Himself to me through issues like these.

So today I am off to make my list about the passions I have in serving our family and church.

Thank you Lord for bringing clarity to an area that has been so cloudy.

4 months pregnant

We are officially celebrating that I am 16 weeks pregnant. I am down to a few pair of jeans, maybe some dress pants and I gotta say, I love my workout clothes. Jonathan and I are laughing at my baby bump (well it's not really the baby). Let me explain, the bump used to hide under my pant line, it was all the extra coffee and pastries I ate last year at Starbucks. Now I can't really hide all that extra. The baby keeps getting bigger and pushes up my extra stash! It is hilarious and we both laugh.

I am feeling great!

This past week I have learned if I want to eliminate migraines and puking I need to ADD water to my diet. Jonathan was so kind to serve me one evening as I was constantly vomiting. He stopped studying to run to grocery store to buy Gatorade and chicken noodle soup. It was 11:45pm. He is the real hero of the story!

We are hoping to find out the sex of the baby closer to Thanksgiving. We'll let you know what we find out.

I attached 2 pictures for you. Please notice the night and day difference of my face and attitude. I was not getting my way and I wanted Jonathan to know it. I haven't seen that face caught on camera in a LONG time. You might hear me refer to myself as, "Pagan Megan" when I am gratifying my flesh rather than walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. We did resolve that quarrel and JP forgave me. I love that man!

My newest and youngest friend

Have I mentioned my newest and youngest friend? Her name is Adelaide and she is 5 years old. We live in the same house. She is a bundle of energy and can talk a mile a minute. Jonathan often says, "I bet you were just like Adelaide as a little girl." One day she helped me make Jonathan's favorite snack, homemade granola. I let her pour whatever amount of raisins, walnuts, craisins, and coconut into the bowl. She loved it! The granola is a big hit. Earlier in my pregnancy when I was feeling nauseous she overheard her mother ask me if i am getting enough fat into my diet. Now, months later if i mention an upset stomach Adelaide asks, "Are you eating enough fat?" I just smile. She is a sweet girl.

October 6th, 2009

Jonathan's Classes~ Wayne Grudem is coming to town!

I awoke this morning at 4am very excited- Wayne Grudem is Jonathan's teacher this week on Ethics. You see, Wayne is one of my hero's. I received the book Systematic Theology when I was 1 year old in the Lord. Through this book, my heart was expanded to love God and His word more. And my love for theology was born. I have always wanted to meet Wayne Grudem. When I was on staff with Campus Crusade I was required to take seminary classes during my summers. Two different times I signed up to sit under Dr. Grudem for Systematic Theology I. Both times I signed up, I was SO excited! However both times the plans were changed. I got relocated to serve on a summer mission trip. So I've never been in one of his classes. This is why I am SO excited for Jonathan! All week long he'll get to hear from Dr. Grudem. He is preaching Sunday's sermon and I am thrilled. I'll crack up if I get lost going to church, get sick, or miss his preaching. Ha Ha.

How we are doing?
We've finally settled in to life here in MD! We love our host family and their children. I started a parenting journal to write down all the amazing things we've been learning by watching these parents. Jonathan is plugging away with his studies. He is learning a lot and can get stressed out sometimes regarding all the reading. And yet, through this God is revealing to JP how to rest in Him and trust Him with his time and studies. I am working at Starbucks and am thankful for God's provision of a job and health care!!! Our store is really busy which can be hard and tiring but I have also seen God give me a lot of strength and endurance- especially last week being sick with the flu and stomach flu. And one thing that we have really been blessed with is some great friends! We love the PC class. There are so many really neat couples! The two other couples in our care group/fellowship group are so much fun! God really hooked us up with great fellowship. Yet on the flip side, we have been homesick. We are eager to come home, to Cleveland.

Baby Putnam~

We are officially into our 14Th week. Our baby is about the size of a peach. i have been so thankful that I have had such an easy pregnancy. I would be one of those people who wouldn't know that I am pregnant. I was not super tired, nor did I have a lot of morning sickness. God has been very gracious to me.

I am not showing to anyone but myself and my husband. We are still very thrilled and trying to decide on the name of the baby. This is harder than I anticipated. We are hoping to find out what the baby's gender is, but will keep the name a surprise until the birth.

One Word Prayer Requests:

• Health: we both have been fighting the flu for the last 8 days. Many of the PC families are sick, some with the H1N1 virus.



• Holidays: working at Starbucks makes it very difficult to get time off on holiday's. As of right now it appears that I might not make it home for Thanksgiving. We are seeking God's wisdom and favor.



• DEPENDENCE: on the Lord for our time, our marriage, my job, Jp's studies. We long to see our need for our Savior in all these area's.



• Intentional: I am really desiring to be intentional with the other PC wives to glean all I can with these woman in the remaining 8 months.

Thank you for being apart of this journey with us. We are so thankful for your kindness, generosity and support.

Signing off for the Putnam's,
Megan

MOVING DAY

Jonathan and I were taking a little getaway as we headed for our new home in MD. We had a pit stop in Pittsburg. After a great evening walking around the city, I crashed. I awoke early the next morning with JP bouncing on the bed with a gift.... a new outfit. He bought me a moving day gift! I love this man.