About Marcia Lebhar, AuthorThe wife of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese's bishop, Neil Lebhar, Marcia has been actively involved in lay ministry since her college years. Neil and Marcia met and came to faith through the secondary school ministry of FOCUS. As a FOCUS leader, an associate staff member for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a Bible teacher in both churches and secondary schools, a ministry director and frequent speaker... but first as a discipler of the saints under her own roof, Marcia’s passion has always been to share the treasure of the Scriptures. Her column, Discipleship Journal, can be found in five different blogs: Face to Face, Threads, Fine Fire - Passing the Faith to the Next Generation, Wilderness Series, and Bare Branch, which is also available on Amazon in ebook and paperback versions.
In 1981, the Lebhars traveled to Israel on a study tour associated with CMJ (Church’s Ministry among Jewish people), based at Christ Church in Jerusalem. They have since led countless study trips to Israel and both say that few things have had a more profound impact on their own lives as disciples or a greater impact on their church. Marcia served as the Executive Director of CMJ USA during a period of rapid expansion.
Married for 50 years, the Lebhars have four children and twelve grandchildren. They consider the friendship and mutual ministry they share as a family to be their life's greatest treasure.
My experience of knowing God is one of repeatedly, suddenly, seeing. Through the lens of his word in the Scriptures or through the compassionate intervention of the Holy Spirit, some conundrum is resolved, some burden relieved or disaster averted. There are, of course, the "crash and burn" examples when seeing seems to come too late. But seeing is always better than blindness. And we are often blind without knowing it.
Jesus promised recovery of sight to the blind. Sometimes spiritual insight comes as an answer to the sort of crying out the Scriptures urge the saints to do. Just as often, sudden sight seems to come unbidden, giving fresh perspective to the facts on the ground.
What follows is a collection of essays written for the Anglican Diocese of the Gulf Atlantic. As is happens most of them are about looking at life through the Lord's lens.
A year of grieving loss is about to close for our family. We sat beside two dying loved ones a year ago this summer. First was my husband's mother, and then my sister. Both times we wondered what each woman knew, or remembered, of spiritual realities. Every death serves as a reminder of our own mortality. As we watched and waited, twice, I thought of the teasing request I...
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