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Blog ArchivesCharles Wesley: And Can It Be
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?’Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.Charles Wesley, 1738
Cheap Worship
Kathy feels we need to unplug… to turn it down. I don’t disagree. (In fact, I do agree.)
We need more quiet reflection, and deeper study of God’s word. We need shared meals, more prayer, more confession (to one another). We need more proclamation of God’s amazing grace and righteous judgment (maybe not in that order).
We also need more loud music. But that music needs to be played skillfully (and in our day, mixed skillfully on skillfully designed sound systems). (Psalm 33, 47, 150)
I think she’s right about the “pop” nature of this loud music (and art) though. Throughout history the church has lead the charge in art (and, well, culture in general). Now we settle for cheap copies of art, hurried ripoffs of other artists’ work.
Why doesn’t any of the above happen? Because we are too busy. I personally am too busy. We don’t have the time to create. That is a huge loss. Something I’m currently mourning and trying to repent from. God help me.
Elena Helping Daddy
God Spoke To Me Last Night
You who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
From God to us through Peter, the Apostle.
The Church
Church - Greek ekklesia (ek-klay-see’-ah) - “A gathering of people”
- Is built by Jesus. The Gates Of Hell will not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
- Multiplies when it walks in fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31)
- Is cared for by pastors who are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28)
- Sometimes meet in houses (Romans 16:5)
- Is supposed to judge its members (1 Corinthians 5:12)
- Consists of a wide variety of people from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a wide variety of life situations and vocations, and it’s supposed to stay that way (1 Corinthians 7:17)
- Has many different members with many different skills, talents, and abilities (natural and supernatuarl) that are given to them by God. (1 Corinthians 12:28)
- These “gifts” mentioned in the last point are to be used by these members for the “building” (strengthening, growth, and improvement) of the church as a whole. (1 Corinthians 14:12)
- Causes its leaders anxiety (2 Corinthians 11:28) :-D
- Is currently, commanded, directed, and controlled by Jesus personally (Ephesians 1:22)
- Has been given a strange metaphorical picture to show it’s relationship with Jesus: Marriage. (Ephesians 5:32)
- Is Christ’s physical body on earth (Colossians 1:18)
- Is God’s household (1 Timothy 3:15)
- Is a pillar and buttress of truth (1 Timothy 3:15)
Hebrews 10:19-25
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Another Reason to Buy A Mac: iWork ‘08
Apple has an Office killer.
I can open your Word documents, make them prettier, and save them as Word documents, or export them to PDF…
I can open your Excel files, with all of your formulas, and save them as Excel files…
I can open your PowerPoint presentations, make them cooler, and save them as PowerPoint presentations…
I can do all this with iWork ‘08 which costs $79.
Technorati Tags: iWork, Apple, Office, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation
Remedy is Coming - Preview Now!
Check out the David Crowder Band’s latest e-card featuring clips from the songs on their new album. Enjoy.
Technorati Tags: David Crowder Band, Remedy
Tips for Cleaning and Sealing a Deck
- Do it in the Spring
- Buy the expensive tools for the job, not the cheap ones. They’ll break and/or not function properly, causing you to renounce your faith.
- Hand brushing is faster than using a cheap-o pump sprayer, but get a push broom to do it with rather than a 4″ hand brush
- Use a pressure washer to clean the deck, they are a lot of fun.
- Do it in the Spring
- Allow several hours for each phase, plus cleanup
- Hire someone to do it for you
- Tear your deck down and replace it with a concrete or faux-wood recycled plastic one.
This public service announcement brought to you by a hot, sweaty, messy, frustrated homeowner.
Church Drama Set to Lifehouse’s ‘Everything’
I’m not quite sure what to title this post. All I know is that people are calling this a skit but it’s not. It’s an extremely well done piece of performance art. Not sure if they had the rights to use Lifehouse’s song all coordinated or anything like that, but I’m not sure the guys would mind.
This starts off a bit cheesy, but try and stick through it. Totally worth it. Made me cry… maybe just because I like the song so much.
Coming Soon: Foo Fighters, Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
September 25th is going to be a very good day for music. Not only is the new David Crowder Band: Remedy going to be released, but Foo Fighters are dropping their latest: Echoes Silence Patience & Grace. I heard the single on the radio this morning, great stuff. Pick it up on iTunes. Also, the cover art is amazing :)
New David Crowder*Band: Remedy - coming Sept 25!!
The David Crowder Band is releasing their latest artistic wonder on September 25. Check out Remedy Is Coming for info on how to pre-order, watch clips of the making of, and listen to one of the songs on their myspace page. (ugh. I hate linking to MySpace) Virb page (thanks Dan, that is a much better idea.) I can’t wait to hear The Nuge’s tracks on “We Won’t Be Quiet”.
You can also pick up the new single for your iPod (or whatever) on iTunes.
Technorati Tags: David Crowder Band, Crowder, Remedy, CCM, Music
Why we target young
Noel Heikkinen has an excellent observation on why Riverview Church targets the young. Stonebrook doesn’t have an age range that we target, but this is where my heart is. This article sums up half the reason my heart is there as well.
I talked about the rest of the reasons here.
Catholic Town Opens in Fla.
This is extremely odd.
ABC News: City of God: Catholic Town Opens in Fla.
Monaghan has said his goal is to help as many people as possible get to Heaven. And he hopes these homeowners will have a head start.
How are you going to help people get to heaven if you only allow Catholics into this town??
Couscous and dirt
So tonight I decided to make couscous (a first for me) as a side dish with our grilled Iowa chops for supper. (Mmmm-mmmmm!) (Matt did a splendiferous job of grilling, thank you my dear.) I’ve been on somewhat of a mission to have Elena try as many new foods as possible that are not choking hazards for her, so I gave her a bit of the couscous. (By the way, if anyone has any great ideas for healthy, baby-safe foods that one might not normally think of or a favorite snack your kids enjoy, I’d love to hear about it!) Boy, oh boy, did she love it! Matt and I took turns trying to spoon it directly into her mouth (no self-feeding for this food, folks!) and it just seemed like she was thoroughly enjoying the texture.
She must have still been on a quest for new taste sensations, because about 15 minutes later, I found her with her hands in the dirt of our ficus tree and a muddy tongue. :) At least she didn’t appear to enjoy the taste as much as the couscous, so hopefully there won’t be a take two of that scene!
ABC News: ‘Heretic’ Minister: Nobody Goes to Hell
ABC News recently posted an article about Carlton Pearson renouncing historical Christianity, stating that no one goes to hell.
The article seems to applaud him for sticking to his conscience, and makes believers out to be lunatics; removing him from the pulpit “he built” for this heresy. It’s a rather sad story (the part about his crisis of faith). I noticed a telling statement in the article and am compelled to comment on it.
Through the years, as Pearson studied the ancient Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, he developed a crisis of faith.
“I couldn’t reconcile a God whose mercy endures forever, and this torture chamber that’s customized for unbelievers,” Pearson said.
This is where his error begins. The breaking point in his crisis of faith. Here’s the problem. Hell IS NOT “customized for unbelievers”!! He must have missed that in his years of study of the original Greek and Hebrew…
Hell was (actually, is going to be…) created for Satan and his demons. It happens, however, that those who reject God, will be punished for eternity there as well.
This is the hardest teaching in the Christian religion. Jesus spoke on it frequently himself. To dismiss it on a feeling that God has spoken to you is dangerous at best. And is certainly heretical.
Hell is a sad reality. I have family members that will be there, and it grieves me. Unfortunately, as much as I wish I could, I cannot reject God’s word simply because I do not like it. Rather, I will live a life in an attempt to show people God’s goodness and love and mercy, such that they will embrace him and not end up in Hell.
Blog review: Reforming the Feminine
Some of you have picked up on Matt’s appreciation lately for Mark Driscoll’s teaching from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I often end up adopting Matt’s preferences, so I, too, have been enjoying some of Driscoll’s books (Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church and The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out). His up front-and-honest teaching and communication style is very refreshing for me.
Recently, I have been reading one of the blogs on the Mars Hill website: Reforming the Feminine. I definitely can’t claim to have a wide, wide knowledge of women’s resources online, but in my opinion, these women have done an incredible job of tackling some of the tougher women’s issues. During the past month or so, there have been posts on unplanned pregnancy, sexual sin, stereotypes of Christian women, gluttony, fashion, marriage, and children. I have been greatly encouraged and challenged by these writers and wanted to make sure that all ya’ll out there have an opportunity to check out this resource.
Making Elena Smile
I’m not extremely affectionate with Nancy in public, but I am more so around the house. One sure fire way to make Elena smile is to give Nancy a hug and a kiss. This always causes her to get a big grin, and giggle slightly, and sometimes even clap.
She’s only 11 months old, but somehow, I think she “gets it”. She knows that her daddy loves her mommy and that makes her smile. Good stuff.
Deep Thoughts From Vacation #1: Cabela’s
The first major stop on our way up north is always Cabela’s in Owatonna, MN. Probably the greatest outdoor outfitter shopping experience in existence. It’s the Apple store of sporting goods. The main problem? I could spend $25k there and still not feel “outfitted”.
(note: this includes the brand new $16k fishing boat I saw there this week. sweeeeet stuff.)
Purity of heart…
Was watching a fascinating interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates where they held a QA session. Mr. Gates made an interesting comment in while answering a question.
“I was smart enough to wait to get married because [software was my passion, my life].”
Essentially, it was his singular focus, which is a big part of the reason why he was so successful.
Reminded me of this passage in scripture that is often hard to think about if one is single and really wanting to get married.
“I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”
Buy My iMac!
I’m consolidating my tech and selling some older stuff off, therefore e-baying my iMac G5. It’s a great machine, but the siren call of the Macbook Pro was too great for me to resist.
I’m selling this puppy with a lot of extras. It’d be a great school machine, and even makes a formidable design/development machine still. Happy bidding!
(update this sold for a pretty good price. Thanks to all the bidders!)
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