It seems clear from the Word of God that believers should be satisfied with food, clothing and housing; that they should be industrious in providing these current needs for their families; and that everything in excess should go into the work of God. They should not try to provide for their own future security, but should trust the Lord for this. The great aim of their life should be to serve the Lord Jesus Christ; everything else should be subordinate to this.

The challenging conclusion from Where is Your Treasure? by William MacDonald (an appendix to True Discipleship).

Here’s my Thanksgiving reflection for the year.

Several times this last year I have realized just how abundantly God has blessed us, all of us, as a nation, and specifically in this little neck of the woods known as Ames. We can tend to think of ourselves as just eeking by, barely making it in the economic rat race, but I KNOW that this is not the case for anyone that I can think of right now.

We all have plenty (more than plenty) to eat, have an amazing amount of clothing, have an incredibly high standard of shelter (even those of you living in “crappy run down” apartments.) In fact ALL of us enjoy a very affluent life in general.

For some reason God has increasingly opened my eyes to this reality of late, and it has driven me to a different kind of worship than I’ve experienced in a long time. Grace is an amazing thing. Why would God choose to be so good to me? He has met my EVERY need, emotional, psychological, relational, and spiritual. (BTW, for those of you who are saying “lucky…” right now, he offers the same to you if you’d just accept it).

That isn’t to say life isn’t hard sometimes, and that I never struggle with anything, but it IS to say that every time I seem lost, all I need to do is look to God, my refuge, strength, and shield, and the answer is apparent (even when I don’t understand it).

This “awakening” of sorts has driven me to desire to be immensely more generous than I have been in the past. So, this thanksgiving season my thankfulness is driving me to give more of everything God has given me, specifically financially, because that’s why he gave it to me.

How can you give more of yourself?

Well you know it had to come at some point :)

U2 proves once again that they are the greatest band in the world. Although, I’d have to say that after all the hype and excitement, I was initially disappointed. This happens every time I get excited about something though :) After several listens, the album has grown on me (that or I “get it” now).

Here’s a real quick cursory song-by-song: [...]

Tim Hughes – When Silence Falls

Favorite Tracks: “Beautiful One”, “Whole World in His Hands”

This album surprised me. Well produced, great to listen to. It would be hard to replicate some of these elements live without a lot of technology, thus I initially had a hard time hearing songs that would be usable in a group setting, but after a few listens, I settled on “Beautiful One” and “Whole World in His Hands” as possibilities.

Eoghan Heaslip – Grace in the Wilderness

Favorite Tracks: “Let Your Name be Glorified”, “Holy Is The Lord”, “Doxology”

I think Nathan Meyer’s excitement about Eoghan puts him up a few more notches than he would naturally be in my book (that is a good thing). This album seems to me to be very Coldplay-ish (not sure the extent to which that his accurate as I am not a Coldplay afficianado). My three favorites above are ones I see to be usable in a group worship setting (note: “Holy is the Lord” is NOT the Tomlin song…) . I really like his rendition of Doxology.

Hillsong United Live – More Than Life

Favorite Tracks: “One Way”, “Jesus’ Blood”

Honestly, I am getting tired of these guys. One Way was kinda a recycle of “Best Friend” and other popular songs they’ve written… They do a pretty good cover of Delirious’s “Jesus’ Blood”. Gotta admit, they have an inspiring amount of energy, and a lot of skill at what they do. This album comes with a companion DVD that talks about their vision with music ministry, which is mildly interesting if you are into music ministry :).

WoohooO! (okay, maybe rescues is a bit strong).

Bush pulls secret service agent from scuffle

UPDATE: thanks to Pat, I found this neat little snippet on opinionjournal.com:

[The agent] walked in behind Bush, who looked enormously pleased with himself. He was wearing the expression that some critics call a smirk, and his eyebrows shot up as if to wink at bystanders. The Post quotes Marcelo Romero, a Chilean reporter: “All of us journalists agree that President Bush looked like a cowboy. It was total breach of protocol. I’ve seen a lot of John Wayne movies, and President Bush was definitely acting like a cowboy.” Apparently some journalists think that’s a bad thing.