Caleb & Jordan's Wedding

On March 10th, 2012, our son, Caleb, married his beloved, Jordan. We rejoice in all the Lord has done in the lives of these two precious young people, establishing a new family for His purpose and glory!

"Caleb, today you are the bridegroom, about to embark upon your high calling as the head of your own family.  You are standing right now, this very moment, on the threshold.  Your purpose in this calling is to emulate our Saviour, to represent the Lord, Jesus Christ.  This is the standard you must strive for.

Ephesians 5:25-33 reads:

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it;  that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, without blemish. 

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loveth his wife, loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church:  For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. 

Nevertheless, let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” "

"Caleb, your name embodies your character – bold one – mighty warrior of the Lord.  Your Mom and I have endeavoured to build you up in the faith, we have encouraged you to put on the whole armour of God, having your loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

I’ve prepared you as an arrow, with a head sharpened by the Word of God, a shaft straight and true by God’s Laws and Statutes, and fleshing smoothed by prayer and biblical counsel.  I now place you into the Lord’s bow and release you, trusting and praying that He will use you for His honour and glory.

Trust not in your own strength, but put your faith in the Lord.  God, in His sovereignty, has provided you with a bride, a helpmeet to assist you in your mission.  Go forth and establish the Lord’s Dominion! "

Caleb's Vows

"I, Caleb James Yuck, in the presence of Almighty God, and in the witness of the congregation of the church of Jesus Christ; do now, on this Tenth Day of March in the Year of our Lord, Two Thousand Twelve,  leave my father and mother and covenant to cleave in Holy Matrimony to you, Jordan Rae Hammond. 

In so doing, and with God’s help, I vow to give myself for you, even unto death, just as Christ loved His bride, the church, and gave Himself for her.

I vow to lead you in family worship, that you may be sanctified and cleansed with the washing of the water by the Word.

 

I vow to protect and provide for you, both in spirit and in body, with all the strength, power, resources, and ability that our great Creator bestows upon me.

I vow to love you as my own body, to dwell with you in knowledge, giving honour to you as the weaker vessel.

I vow to delight in you alone as the wife of my youth, and to remember that I have no authority over my body, but you do.

I take you, Jordan Rae Hammond, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health.

What God has joined together, let no man tear asunder.  The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. 


 So help me God.  Amen. "

Jordan's Vows

"I, Jordan Rae Hammond, in the presence of Almighty God and in the witness of the congregation of the church of Jesus Christ; do now, on this Tenth Day of March, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand Twelve, leave the headship of my father and covenant to cleave in Holy Matrimony to you, Caleb James Yuck.

In so doing, I vow, in God’s strength, to submit to you as my head in everything, even as the church is subject unto Christ.  I promise to love, reverence, obey, and honour you.  I will always strive to be pleasing to you.

I vow to work alongside you as you strive to further God’s kingdom.  If the Lord so chooses to bless us with children, I will, together with you, raise them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

I vow to dwell with you and care for you no matter what the circumstances may be, for where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people will be my people, and your God my God.

I take you, Caleb James Yuck, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.

What God has joined together, let no man tear asunder.  The Lord do to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. 


 So help me God.  Amen."

One Body, One Spirit, One Hope - Ephesians 4

We attended the funeral of a dear friend today and later spoke to her husband of over 50 years, a precious brother in the Lord.  Concerned for his well-being, we asked him about his church, about the support he could expect to receive from the brethren in the coming days, months, and years.  He was generous in his praise for the way the Body had rallied around him, confident they'd continue to do so. Our hearts were encouraged at such a report, for we care deeply about this dear man, and it was comforting to know he wouldn't be left on his own, that folk would be looking out for him, ministering to him as he deals with his great loss and learns to assume the new role the Lord has given him, that of widower.

During the course of our conversation, our brother told us that he and his beloved had attended that particular church since 2005, for the past seven years.  He then informed us that he still didn't know everyone in the church, which would be understandable if it was one of those so-called "megachurches", you know, the ones with thousands of people, but it wasn't, it was just one of your average churches, maybe a couple of hundred people, if that. 

So why is this important, why am I blogging about this?  Well, it's because of what he said next. 

Our sweet friend told us that he knows all the older folk, meaning those who travel in his circles, those his age, but doesn't know the younger folk, of which there are, apparently, a considerable number.  That statement was jarring to us.

Seven years.  Our friend has attended that church for all that time and is only acquainted with those his own age or close to it, he doesn't know the younger folk in his church and they don't know him. 

The reason he doesn't know the younger folk, and the younger folk don't know him, is because of age-segregated worship and fellowship.  The younger folk do their thing, the older folk do theirs, and never the twain shall meet - or so it would appear.  What a tremendous loss for both, and what a sad distortion of how the Body of Christ should operate. 

Our precious brother has so very much to offer the younger people in his congregation, and those younger folk have so very much to offer him, but they're being denied the mutual blessing of serving one another.  Today, for example, with the exception of our six children, three of our friend's nephews and nieces (he and his wife were never able to have children of their own), and two other young girls, most everyone else at the reception was over 50 years of age, but closer to 60 or more.  The younger members of his church weren't there to comfort their brother in Christ, to offer him the strength of their youth, nor to benefit from the godly example our friend displayed as he grieved in faith and with grace.  What a missed opportunity, one among many, for both!

During our drive home we began to consider our friend's future and realized that because of his age, and because his fellowship is primarily limited to those of like years, he faces a lonely eventuality should the Lord grant him many more years.  Due to the reality of aging, it's likely his circle of friends, his network of support, will begin to diminish because infirmity will eventually remove the ability of most or all of his friends to get out and about, and they'll eventually die, leaving our friend alone.

Not so in a "family-integrated" or properly functioning church, a church which exhorts the Body to worship together and minister to one another as a whole.  Not so in a church which frowns upon the very notion of dividing into age or special interest groups, but encourages the Body to employ the gifts of the young and old to their mutual benefit.

Psalm 68:6 speaks of God setting the lonely in families.  The church can partly be described as being a family of families, where all have an integral role to fulfill, where each may minister to others and be ministered to.  Our heartfelt prayer is that the Lord will grant a fresh vision of multi-generational faithfulness to our brothers and sisters, that church elders will recognize the futility of the current age and special interest mindset, and that the Body will learn to function as one, as the Word teaches. 

^"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."  Ephesians 4:16