I Build Roads

The Gospel

2011-06-11T10:30:00.002-04:00

Tempted and Tried

2011-04-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

Fantastic book trailer. Unreal.

Tempted and Tried - Book Trailer from Crossway on Vimeo.

Steadfast

2010-12-04T11:46:00.004-05:00

Above all other elements of God's character, i'm in awe of his steadfastness. A simple search of the word came up with 224 hits in the ESV, most of which are proclaiming God's steadfast love.

However, many are imperatives for the Christian:

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [1 Cor. 15:58]

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. [2 Thess 3:5]

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. [1 Tim 6:11]

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. [Titus 2:2]

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. [James 1:12]

And it makes a lot of sense to me why God would make it a priority to exhort his people to steadfastness. Simply put, we are fickle followers...me especially.

Over the past few years the Lord has been teaching me that though it is good to have high goals, the crown of life is not promised to the visionary, but to the man who remains steadfast. It seems like the Lord has consistently given me seasons of worship where he will instill in me desires and aims to do great things, but when those seasons change, the aims and goals get lost and forgotten. Like Lewis said, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." Though we cry out with Peter "I will die for you", like him, when trials come, we find that we are far from steadfast.

Yet, we must not be satisfied with our unstable hearts. We must take up arms as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We must fight to be men who have a single eye fixed on the Lord alone. We must fight our flesh and the whisper in our ear that says "You have failed and will never amount to anything" and respond loudly "Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8"

Let me be clear here, I don't want you to hear this like a drill sergeant ordering you to lace up your boots and get 'er done. By no means. I'm convinced that the steadfastness that the Lord commands comes only from the Lord himself. I think this steadfastness is achieved on ones knees before it is ever acted out on ones feet.

So I pray...Lord make us steadfast like You are. Then we will shine like stars and will truly be a city on a hill for all to see.

Doing or Believing?

2010-12-04T11:35:00.002-05:00

So many of us cavalierly gloss over what he has done and zero in on what we’re to do, and that shift, though it might seem slight, makes all the difference in the world. Our obedience has its origin in God’s prior action, and forgetting that truth results in self-righteousness, pride, and despair.

See the rest of this article here.

Holiness

2010-11-23T11:53:00.003-05:00

"I have a growing concern that younger evangelicals do not take seriously the Bible’s call to personal holiness. We are too at peace with worldliness in our homes, too at ease with sin in our lives, too content with spiritual immaturity in our churches."

See Kevin DeYoung's thoughts here:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/11/23/the-hole-in-our-holiness/

Lead your family Men

2010-11-18T11:52:00.004-05:00

The video speaks for itself...

It's been a while...

2010-11-07T13:07:00.002-05:00

Well, I may be blogging to myself now after a 4 month blogging sabbatical, but i'm going to write anyways.

To be honest, I stopped blogging because I really didn't have much to say. The past year or so has been a steady downhill slope where I've been stumbling and sliding towards the valley of lukewarmness. I've had to continually make excuses for my failure to honor the Lord over and over, and for a long time, it was getting worse and worse.

Yet thanks be to God and Jesus Christ for being patient and gentle with fickle followers such as me. Isaiah 42:3 "a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice."

The past month has been one of repentance and it's been a battle. In the words of Lecrae, Satan is a beast. This is why the word warns believers that they shall face many trials and tribulations to enter into the kingdom. However we have a champion that has disarmed the enemy and will one day silence his mouth. This brings me hope and encourages me to take up arms and fight the good fight.

Though it took far too long, I'm now determined to be done with excuses. I resolve to pursue the Lord, pursue my wife, encourage my brothers, and serve the church. The lamb of God is worthy. All praise to Christ!

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Under Grace

2010-08-07T13:39:00.003-04:00

Piper here does an excellent job in simply explaining how a Christian should relate to the Law's of the OT/NT:

Are Christians under the 10 commandments?

No. The Bible says we're not under the law.

I love Romans 7:4-6. By way of analogy, it says that you are married to the law. And you better stay married because if you leave this husband and go marry another you are going to be called an adulterer. But if your husband dies, then you can go and remarry.

And then Paul draws the analogy out—a little complex the way he does it—saying that you died to the law. You aren't married anymore, you can have another husband, namely Christ. He's raised from the dead.

So, our approach towards ethics is different. We don't ask the question, "Am I under the law?" We are under grace. The law is already fulfilled perfectly by Jesus. We are in Jesus and as far justification goes, God sees it as completed for you, one-hundred percent. He says, "You've trusted my Son. You've been grafted in him. You are in Christ Jesus and he fulfilled the law perfectly. He covered all your sins." God sees you in and through Christ, therefore, as far as final judgment goes God is 100% for you. That is settled and nothing is going to change it.

Now, shall we sin that grace may abound? Paul says, "Dead men don't sin." If you've died to sin, how can you still live in it? The new birth is the writing of the law on our heart so that we are not under it, it is under us. It is just coming out.

The way we strive towards being obedient, holy and loving people is not by getting up in the morning and pulling the list out of our pocket. No! We get on our knees and we open ourselves to the whole counsel of God in the Bible. We saturate and shape ourselves by everything he has done, he is doing and he will do. We stake our lives in the gospel and then instead of serving the law, we serve one another in love.

Love is the fruit of faith in Jesus—faith working through love. And if you ask, "What does love look like?" First John says, "It keeps the commandments." That brings us back to the question, which commandments? I would say, the ones that are loving.

Love God and do as you please is not bad advice, if you're bent on holiness. If you're bent on love the ten commandments are really important. You should hang them on your wall and you should measure your life by them, but in a very different way than when you were under them, because they have been kept for you.

You are now married to the risen Christ. You are not married to the law and the oldness of the letter, but to the newness of the Spirit. Our whole approach towards transformation, love and life is different than list keeping.

See the article and video here:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2587_christians_and_the_10_commandments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DGBlog+(DG+Blog)

Too Late to Apologize... Britain

2010-07-14T12:21:00.000-04:00

Time

2010-06-30T12:35:00.005-04:00

Watch this: it's well worth your time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg&feature=player_embedded

Firefighters are for Weak People

2010-06-14T12:16:00.001-04:00

Recently a firefighter in our church was told by one of his colleagues that belief in Jesus was for weak people. I found that ironic coming from a firefighter.
I have a fire hydrant in our side yard. I have never looked at the fire hydrant and felt any shame. I drive by a firehouse every day. I never think, “If this community didn’t have weak people than we would never need firehouses.” Every month when I pay my property taxes, which go towards financing fire departments, I never get angry at myself, thinking, “if I could just handle fire myself I wouldn’t have to write this check.”

Imagine a person whose house is on fire. The fire is raging out of control and the fire truck pulls up, sirens blaring. The person runs out of his house in a rage and says, “How dare you come to my house and think that I can’t handle this fire myself! Firefighters are for weak people, not for me.”

What would you think of someone like that? Insane.

We know that fire departments are for “weak” people because a power exists that we simply can’t deal with on our own: fire. Actually, we admire firefighters because they are people who have committed themselves to take on the power of fire at personal expense.

Christians are weak in the same sense that a community is “weak” for having fire departments. They are people who acknowledge that a power exists that they can’t confront and live — the holiness of God. This, however, is not cause for shame, because there was one man who dealt with that power at personal expense, on a cross. And, as every firefighter can admit, when someone is rescued from the flames, they’re not thinking about their weakness; they’re overjoyed that someone would risk it all to save them.

http://theresurgence.com/firefighters_are_for_weak_people

Twenty-Somethings

2010-06-12T09:34:00.002-04:00

In this article, Anthony Bradley discusses the role of twenty-something men in the church and how they can commonly be misled.

Quote: "When a younger brother says to me that “he feels called to ministry,” I usually understand that to mean that he craves and needs validation and would like to use the church to make him feel good about himself. Or even worse, as Leon Podles explains in his book The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity, many young men feel called to the church because uninitiated men find the church to be “a safe place, a refuge from the challenges of life and therefore attracts men who are fearful of making a break with the secure world of childhood dominated by women.”"

My kind of article...check it:
http://online.worldmag.com/2010/06/02/mishandling-twentysomethings/

Humbling Orthodoxy � Miscellanies.

2010-06-05T16:34:00.000-04:00

Humbling Orthodoxy � Miscellanies.: "The doctrine of God’s divine election of unworthy sinners is a humbling truth. Or to use Spurgeon’s words, “a sense of election causes a low opinion of self.” That is the bullet point under which the following quote from Spurgeon comes to us, as recorded in a sermon delivered on July 1, 1888:

Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few blacker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth."

The Wisdom of God

2010-06-02T18:10:00.002-04:00

I've been reading "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer on and off as of late, and just a couple minutes ago stumbled upon this gem:

"It is vitally important that we hold the truth of God's infinite wisdom as a tenet of our reed; but this is not enough. We must by the exercise of faith and by prayer bring it into the practical world of our day-by-day experience.

To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.

There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. Here is His promise: "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will i do unto them, and not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16
(pg. 97)

If only we would trust that God in his wisdom sovereignly is working ALL things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to His purpose. How different would our day-to-day life look?

Good News, Doubled?

2010-06-02T11:44:00.002-04:00

Jesus died on the cross to atone for the guilt of our sin before a holy God. This is amazingly good news. But the cross of Christ also liberates us from our enslavement to sin’s power. Peter captures this when he writes, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

On one hand we rejoice in our legal justification before God. On the other hand we rejoice that we have been liberated from the tyranny of sin, liberated to obey, liberated to pursue godliness, liberated to holiness. This is good news. Or is it?

In a 1994 sermon, John Piper asked:

Does this feel like good news to you? Or does it feel like the good news of the cross is being given with one hand and taken away with the other. Does it feel like good news that the message of the cross on the one hand is a lifting of guilt and on the other hand is a laying on of burden? …

There are many people today who feel the first work of the cross as liberating good news and who feel the second as burdensome bad news. For them, the grace of the cross is one thing: liberation from guilt and shame. And when they hear that the grace of the cross is not just liberation from the guilt of sin, but is also liberation from the power of sin, it doesn’t feel as good. …

Yet, he writes,

the design of the cross to liberate from the enslaving power of sin as well as the guilt of sin does not diminish the good news; it doubles it.

HT: Miscellanies

True Freedom

2010-06-01T12:11:00.002-04:00

"he divided" (Talking about the Father dividing the inheritance in the parable of the Prodigal Son) —

"God, when His service no longer appears a perfect freedom, and man promises himself something far better elsewhere, allows him to make the trial; and he shall discover, if need be by saddest proof, that to depart from Him is not to throw off the yoke, but to exchange a light yoke for a heavy one, and one gracious Master for a thousand imperious tyrants and lords" [Trench]

Soccer is for Girls

2010-05-24T11:12:00.002-04:00

Though i'm currently playing in a rec soccer league and am thoroughly enjoying it, i'd thought i'd post this video:

The Resurrection

2010-04-04T08:22:00.000-04:00

When Jesus was dead and buried, with a big stone rolled against the tomb, the Pharisees came to Pilate and asked for permission to seal the stone and guard the tomb. Pilate said, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can" (Matthew 27:65). So they did. They gave it their best shot—in vain.

It was hopeless then, it is hopeless today, and it will always be hopeless. Try as they may, people can't keep Jesus down. They can't keep him buried. They may use physical force or academic scorn or media blackout or political harassment or religious caricature. For a season they will think the tomb is finally sealed. But it never works. He breaks out.

— John Piper

He breaks out

Good Friday Hymn

2010-04-02T11:40:00.001-04:00

Good Friday hymn from DG

Post it Notes

2010-03-31T11:50:00.000-04:00

End Times Explanations

2010-03-26T11:56:00.002-04:00

Check out these three videos which give you a quick summary of the three main views on the end times: amillenialism, premillenialism, and postmillenialism.

http://headhearthand.posterous.com/tag/endtimesqampa

Front Flip

2010-03-22T13:36:00.001-04:00

Theology Matters

2010-03-22T11:48:00.001-04:00

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

Why Jesus Couldn’t Save Himself – Justin Taylor

2010-03-16T11:57:00.000-04:00

Why Jesus Couldn’t Save Himself – Justin Taylor

Obamacare

2010-03-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

Why the health care bill SUCKKKKKKKKS.

AlbertMohler.com

On Loving Your Coffee and Your Neighbor – Kevin DeYoung

2010-03-12T07:41:00.001-05:00

This article was mostly about Starbucks claiming to provide a cup of coffee that will bring about community in your life and save the world (which apparently it doesn't...who knew!?). If that interests you, check the link.

However, I liked something DeYoung said at the very end of the article:

Enjoy your Starbucks coffee, but don’t imagine you are the “global Good Samaritan” for doing so. You may have noticed from books like Stuff White People Like and Hipster Christianity that there is something of a backlash afoot against pretentious coolness. Please here me (and see point 3): there’s nothing bad, and probably lots good, about listening to emo bands, drinking fair trade coffee, and reading Wendell Barry at Panera Bread. Just don’t wear it all as a badge of spiritual honor.

Those who like McDonalds more than Starbucks and Bell’s Pizza more than Magdalena’s Tea House need to be extra careful that in an effort to defend the “uncool” they don’t end up demonizing the “cool.” Some people like the things that “hipsters” like. No problem. They need Jesus too. We all need Jesus. The battle is between God and the devil, between good and evil, between sin and righteousness, not between bourgeois and bohemian.

Forget hip and unhip. Don’t try to be cool. Don’t revel in being uncool. Just be who you are and love your neighbor as yourself.

I'd probably lean more to glorying in the "uncool" and judging the "cool", but it's all the same. Let's "be who we are" and boast in the cross.

On Loving Your Coffee and Your Neighbor – Kevin DeYoung

The More You Multitask, the Worse You Get at It : What’s Best Next

2010-03-09T07:59:00.002-05:00

One of the many reasons why multi-tasking is stupid:

The More You Multitask, the Worse You Get at It : What’s Best Next

What If Everybody in Canada Flushed At Once? | Pat's Papers

2010-03-09T07:55:00.001-05:00

A graph depicting statistically that Canadians love hockey:
What If Everybody in Canada Flushed At Once?

Coolest Music Video Ever

2010-03-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

OK Go "This Too Shall Pass"

Note: go to youtube and you can watch it in 1080p HD

8 Things That Might Compel You to Reject Jesus | TheResurgence

2010-03-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt, Mark Driscoll has pastoral wisdom out the ying yang. His words (below) about things that might compel you to reject Jesus are plump full with dangers to beware of.

Read it. Then go back and read it again:

8 Things That Might Compel You to Reject Jesus | TheResurgence

The Gospel and the Poor – Justin Taylor

2010-02-27T07:44:00.000-05:00

Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love, pp. 38-39:

Like nothing else could ever do, the gospel instills in me a heart for the downcast, the poverty-stricken, and those in need of physical mercies, especially when such persons are of the household of faith.

When I see persons who are materially poor, I instantly feel a kinship with them, for they are physically what I was spiritually when my heart was closed to Christ.

Perhaps some of them are in their condition because of sin, but so was I.

Perhaps they are unkind when I try to help them; but I, too, have been spiteful to God when He has sought to help me.

Perhaps they are thankless and even abuse the kindness I show them, but how many times have I been thankless and used what God has given me to serve selfish ends?

Perhaps a poverty-stricken person will be blessed and changed as a result of some kindness I show them. If so, God be praised for His grace through me. But if the person walks away unchanged by my kindness, then I still rejoice over the opportunity to love as God loves. Perhaps the person will repent in time; but for now, my heart is chastened and made wiser by the tangible depiction of what I myself have done to God on numerous occasions.

The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me. Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me. When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well.

The Gospel and the Poor – Justin Taylor

John Daker

2010-02-25T13:29:00.002-05:00

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/02/25/hello-my-name-is-john-daker/

Go to the site. Watch the videos. Then laugh really hard.

The cartoon one is amazing.

Imperfect Men & Perfect Bible

2010-02-22T11:55:00.001-05:00

“The Bible Was Only Written by Men...and Men Make Mistakes.”

Greg Koukl's answer:

First, it doesn’t follow that because the Bible’s written by men, that it therefore must be in error. Human error is possible, not necessary. If human error were always necessary in anything man said, this challenge would be self-refuting (“suicide tactic”). If all human claims were necessarily in error, then the claim that the Bible was written by men and men make mistakes would also be in error because it’s a claim made by men who err, defeating itself. It is possible for human beings to produce something without errors. It’s done all the time. What is 2+2? What is the formula for nuclear fission?

Second, this is circular reasoning. If there’s good evidence the Bible can be trusted, then the issue of man’s involvement is moot. A simple question illustrates this: “Are you suggesting with this objection that if God does exist, He’s not capable of writing what He wants through imperfect men?” This is hard to affirm. If the answer is “No,” then the objection vanishes. If the answer is yes, then ask, “Did you ever own a dog? Could you get your dog to sit? If you can get a dumb dog to sit, what makes you think an all-powerful God can’t get a man to write just what He wants him to?” If you first establish that the Biblical record can be trusted, then the second problem—human involvement is irrelevant. If God inspires it then it doesn’t matter if men or monkeys did the writing; they’ll still write exactly what God intends.

Another way of stating it: God can’t err; the Bible is God’s Word; therefore, the Bible can’t err, even if men are involved.

HT: Stand to Reason

Laying Eggs

2010-02-17T08:10:00.001-05:00

C.S. Lewis:

There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of “Heaven” ridiculous by saying they do not want “to spend eternity playing harps.” The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible.

Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life which most strongly suggests ecstasy and infinity.

Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share His splendour and power and joy.

Gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of Heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it.

People who take the symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs.

Mere Christianity, book 3, chapter 10 (on “Hope”)

True Wisdom

2010-02-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

“‘Righteousness’ is a social term signifying that people do right by each other as defined by God’s covenants with Israel. In a nutshell ‘righteousness’ means ‘to disadvantage oneself as necessary in order to advantage others,’ and ‘wickedness’ means ‘to disadvantage others in order to advantage oneself.’ A student who takes a reserved book out of the library to get an A, leaving the rest of the class to get a lower grade, is wicked (i.e., a fool). By contrast a student who resists the temptation to check out a rare book from the library so that his or her classmates have the opportunity to read and write an ‘A’ paper, even if it means he gets a lower grade, is righteous (i.e., wise). Righteousness, the disadvantaging of oneself to advantage others, is counterintuitive. Jesus Christ is the supreme example of wisdom according to this definition.”

Bruce K. Waltke, “Fundamentals for Preaching the Book of Proverbs, Part 3,” Bibliotheca Sacra 165 (2008): 261-262.

How big is Will?

2010-01-28T15:35:00.001-05:00

Toddler Controls the Crowd - watch more funny videos

The Shack Reviewed by Keller

2010-01-28T11:51:00.004-05:00

Man, I love Tim Keller's writing. His article titled "All of life is Repentance" rocked my world.

On a less world rocking note (yet still typical Keller goodness), Timmy K recently read and reviewed the best selling novel "The Shack". It has sold 7.2 million copies in 2 years and makes some bold claims about God and suffering.

I haven't read it, and truthfully, I don't plan on it. But, Keller definitely read it, and see what he thinks:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/01/27/the-shack-impressions/

Sin is a Mountain

2010-01-28T07:48:00.000-05:00

“Without justification it is impossible to have real peace. Conscience forbids it. Sin is a mountain between a man and God, and must be taken away. The sense of guilt lies heavy on the heart, and must be removed. Unpardoned sin will murder peace. The true Christian knows all this well. His peace arises from a consciousness of his sins being forgiven, and his guilt being put away. His house is not built on sandy ground. His well is not a broken cistern, which can hold no water. He has peace with God, because he is justified.”

~ J.C. Ryle

google wave

2010-01-22T14:28:00.001-05:00

Wave will take over gmail someday, although its only in its preview stage right now.

HOWEVER, I applied and was accepted to preview it. they gave me 25 invites. I have 9 left. if you want it, let me know.

They don't bother me papi

2010-01-22T08:48:00.001-05:00

It WILL make you cry

2010-01-21T15:54:00.001-05:00

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Eliot was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body. However, that could not stop the living God from proclaiming Himself through this boy who never uttered a word.

In the midst of heartbreaking tragedy, the Mooney family found the presence of God strengthening, comforting, and guiding them. Their story reminds us to seek God and endure our struggles rather than blame Him for our hardships.

Our videos are created as sermon illustrations and should be purchased for use in small groups, churches, assemblies, etc. Downloads and DVDs are available at www.ignitermedia.com.

Why don't you like...say something...okay?

2010-01-20T13:16:00.001-05:00

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Typography Animation project for class

Poem by Taylor Mali (www.TaylorMali.com)

Pray More

2010-01-19T07:25:00.002-05:00

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Let these truths encourage you to pray:
We can do nothing apart from Christ
The weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal but are mighty THROUGH GOD
Our strength is through Christ
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective
We take heart because CHRIST has overcome the world, not us.
We are more than conquerors THROUGH Christ
Salvation is of the Lord, not man.
We have not because we ask not...

Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Haiti Earthquake

2010-01-14T11:29:00.003-05:00

If you haven't heard, there was an earthquake in Haiti the other day and it's projected that over 500,000 people are dead.

They need your money badly. Abraham Piper gives you 11 different organizations that you can donate to. DO IT!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/82VQOekOhPo/

Decisions Decisions

2010-01-14T09:48:00.001-05:00

What can indecisive, hyper-spiritualized Christians learn from Game Theory?

Some folks seem to think that rational people must be super smart, never making a mistake, looking over each and every possible thing that could happen to them, working out the exact costs and benefits of every conceivable course of action. That is nonsense. Nobody is that smart or diligent, nor should they be. Actually, checking our every possible course of action, working out everything that could possibly arise, is almost never rational, at least not as the term is used in my world. It is never rational to continue searching for more information, for example, when the cost of finding out more is greater than the expected benefits of knowing more. Rational people know when to stop searching–when enough is enough. (I try to impart this message to my students. When they tell me they want to make their term papers as good as possible, I please with them not to. A paper that is worked on until is as good as possible will never be finished.) (Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, The Predictioneer’s Game, 16)

If you feel like you need to exhaust every possible option before you get married, you’ll never get married (or you’ll make someone very unhappy when you do). If you want every sermon or cleaning chore to be the best if can possibly be, you’ll be a menace to yourself and others. If you have to know everything about everything before making a decision, you’ll go crazy (perhaps literally).

We are not gods. Therefore, our knowledge can never be exhaustive. Sometimes, the most rational thing to do is to stop searching and just do something.

Hmm, there’s gotta be a book in there somewhere.

HT: DeYoung

Internet Security

2010-01-14T08:18:00.002-05:00

I'm not an expert on internet security and identity theft, but I do know some stuff.

Basically, if you are connecting to a wireless connection that isn't password protected (WEP of WPA) then someone could connect to your computer and see anything you type in and/or any website you go to. This means that every time you jump over to Starbucks or Caribou to drink a latte and surf the web, you are riskin' someone stealing any username/password that you type in and checking out any emails you write. Even if the passwords are encrypted (the ***** come up instead of the characters) a decent hacker can get that info using programs that are available online.

What you can do:

Don't use Internet Explorer. Download a different browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
Don't buy stuff online at these places. Some websites may not be protected. Avoid transactions where you will type in your credit card information.
In Gmail, you can go to settings (in the upper right) and choose the option "Use https always". This makes not only the login https protected, but also all the emails you send and receive. It's supposed to slow things down some, but I haven't even noticed.

Anyways, do some research if you don't believe me. It's a big deal apparently.

Offended People

2010-01-13T11:26:00.004-05:00

Offended?

Kevin DeYoung discusses the tendency among all people-liberal, conservative, christian, atheist-to be offended. Brit Hume, who on national television recently encouraged Tiger Woods to turn to Christianity for a forgiveness that no other religion (he expressly mentioned Buddhism) could provide, has started an eruption of offended people on both sides of the spectrum.

Yet, like a lamb led to the slaughter, Christ suffered wrong. Read the post, it's good.

What Shall We Say?

2010-01-12T16:29:00.002-05:00

In his note on Romans 9:14 in The Reformation Study Bible, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson writes:

Paul recognizes that his previous statement, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,' cannot be allowed to pass without further comment. Could the distinguishing sovereign purpose of God throw into jeopardy His attribute of perfect righteousness? The idea is clearly unthinkable — 'By no means!' (Rom. 6:2, 5; 7:7). Paul explains why by citing two biblical texts (Ex. 33:19; 9:16) in vv. 15, 17, from which he concludes that God is righteous in showing mercy to some while He hardens the hearts of others. When God shows mercy it is not a person receiving a reward earned by one's own efforts, but God's sovereign free grace extended to persons who are morally incapable of any acceptable effort (Rom. 1:18-3:20). God owes mercy to none, so there is no injustice when mercy is not shown. Mercy is a divine prerogative; it rests on God's good pleasure. When God 'hardens' Pharaoh's heart (Rom. 9:18), He does not create fresh evil in it, but gives Pharaoh over to his already evil desires as an act of judgment, resulting eventually in God's display of 'power' (Rom. 9:22) in the destruction of Pharaoh's army (Ex. 14:17, 18, 23-28).

HT: Ligonier

Bobby K

2010-01-07T13:00:00.003-05:00

Bob Kauflin-Worship Director for Sovereign Grace Ministries-just turned 55 and offered 9 reflections, one of which I thoroughly enjoyed:

6. Worship leaders can be cool. Biblical worship can’t be.
By nature, “cool” describes something that the world esteems as hip, desirable, elitist, and perhaps elusive. Biblical worship is very un-hip, hated by the world’s value system, and a gracious gift from God to those he has redeemed. It involves magnifying the glory of Christ and minimizing our own glory. It means acknowledging our sinfulness before a holy God, expressing gratefulness for the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ for our sins, and responding in humble obedience to his commands. All very uncool activities. So, no need to worry that I’m twice as old as a lot of the people I lead corporate worship with.

ALSO, Bob Kauflin just so happens to be the artist behind the greatest worship CD I own. CHECK IT

Avatar was a Copy!

2010-01-06T10:26:00.001-05:00

Hilarious comparison between James Cameron's gazillion dollar movie and the story of Pocahontas (sp?).

http://twitpic.com/wt1lk

Sand Drawing

2010-01-05T12:20:00.002-05:00

WOW is all I have to say.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie

2010-01-05T11:29:00.004-05:00

It appears that this movie is going to do Mr.Lewis an injustice by cutting out all the potentially Christian scenes. Reminds me of how lame they made Peter in Prince Caspian with him constantly complaining and whining and the weird love story between Caspian and Susan. Disappointing...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/31/narnia-drifts-from-its-vision/

Curing Spiritual Depression

2010-01-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, p. 35:

Would you like to be rid of this spiritual depression?

The first thing you have to do is to say farewell now once and forever to your past.

Realize that it has been covered and blotted out in Christ.

Never look back at your sins again.

Say: ‘It is finished, it is covered by the Blood of Christ’.

That is your first step.

Take that and finish with yourself and all this talk about goodness, and look to the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is only then that true happiness and joy are possible for you.

What you need is not to make resolutions to live a better life, to start fasting and sweating and praying.

No! You just begin to say:

I rest my faith on Him alone
Who died for my transgressions to atone.

(HT: David Mathis)

Self Forgetfulness

2009-12-23T15:50:00.001-05:00

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For when we lose our lives, we find them.

I need to return to this truth. do you?

What is Christmas? (London edition)

2009-12-22T07:53:00.003-05:00

A very well done video on what people think about Christmas:

That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

We all know about the real Christmas. Don't we? Mary and Joseph. Away in a manger. Donkey. 3 wise men and the shepherds. Of course you do. You probably even played a shepherd or a wise man when you were 5.

Now you're older and it's all Noel Edmunds, booze, bills and unwanted visits to relatives.

This film brings Christmas back to it's roots. The real Christmas. Where the manger mings, the baby cries and where a star really shone. The Christmas that is for everyone, everywhere.

Avatar

2009-12-21T16:16:00.004-05:00

Avatar...it's a new movie that cost more than any other movie ever created about large smurfs and-apparently-according to this NYTimes review, it's about pantheism.

Check it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/opinion/21douthat1.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

Tim Hawkins Hilarity

2009-12-16T07:30:00.003-05:00

This made me chuckle several times:

Trapped in a War

2009-12-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

On December 26, 1944, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese army was sent to the Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to resist the American advance, and he was ordered to fight on indefinitely. Onoda never got word when the war ended some months later. For thirty more years he went on fighting World War II. He lived in hiding, came out at night to steal food from the villages, shot at people now and then. About ten years into it he found a newspaper article about himself, but he thought it was a trick to get him to surrender. The Philippine government dropped leaflets into the jungle, asking him to come out. They brought loudspeakers in and shouted, “Onoda, the war is over.” One day his own brother stood at the microphone and begged him to give up, but he didn’t believe it. He fought on until 1974, when the Japanese government sent in his old commanding officer, Major Taniguchi, who ordered Onoda to surrender. He finally gave up.

That man’s mind was trapped in 1945, he shut out the good news of peace and lost 30 years of his life hiding in the jungles, loyal to a lost cause. We can be like him today, with our thoughts and feelings trapped in a war that ended long ago.

The night Jesus was born, the angels stepped up to the microphone and shouted, “Peace on earth” (Luke 2:14). For 2000 years God has been dropping leaflets of the good news into the jungles of our minds. Through his cross Christ won the victory over everything against us. It’s time to give up our lost causes, come out of hiding and live again in a new, post-war world of grace, ruled by Christ.

HT: Ortlund

Mathmatically Debunking Overpopulation

2009-12-15T07:57:00.005-05:00

This puts a lot into persepective on:

The amount of people in the world VS the amount of land
The amount of fresh water in the world VS the amount needed per person
The amount of food VS the amount of food needed per person

Check it: here

Santa Christ?

2009-12-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/santa-christ/

Anger's Root

2009-12-10T07:49:00.003-05:00

A quick question that has humbled me as of late:

Is your anger due to the fact that someone has wronged or dishonored or undermined or overlooked or insulted YOU,

OR

because they dishonored, undermined, overlooked, or insulted JESUS?

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

The Book of Job's about Prosperity?

2009-12-08T07:46:00.001-05:00

What word comes to mind when you think of the life of Job? Trial. Affliction. Suffering. Endurance. Patience. But what about prosperity? The beginning and the conclusion of the book highlight Job’s prosperity. Note the chiastic structure that develops from the book’s introduction and conclusion:

A – Job’s prosperous life (1:1)
B – Job’s prosperous family (1:2)
C – Job’s prosperous wealth (1:3)
D – Job’s priestly mediation for his family (1:4–5)
D’ – Job’s priestly mediation for his friends (42:7–9)
C’ – Job’s abundantly prosperous wealth (42:10–12)
B’ – Job’s abundantly prosperous family (42:13–15)
A’ – Job’s abundantly prosperous life (42:16–17)

And notice the final verse of the book, this sort of epitaph etched on Job’s grave: “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life” (42:17 NLT). Or as James says, “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11 NIV). Trials, affliction, suffering, endurance, and patience are all key themes in the book of Job. But we miss something when we fail to see “what the Lord finally brought about.” Which is the OT’s way of saying that God uses trials for our good. To those who love God, affliction is the pathway to blessing (but of course this is no promise of financial wealth).

STOLEN from: Miscellanies

Repent for the Kingdom of God

2009-12-04T11:15:00.001-05:00

We need to repent. Here's a snippet of what RC Sproul thinks:

How quick are you to repent? If you're anything like me, you've just this moment added several more things to repent of. First, pride. I suspect that you, if you are like me, think yourself a pretty decent repenter. You likely wish that others would learn from your wonderful example, and do likewise. Indeed, now that I mention it, you can think of several people that owe you an apology, and aren't you the one for being so gracious about it up until now?

Second, lying. I suspect that you, if you are like me, have in thinking all of the above, lied to yourself in an egregious way. You are deluded, your delusions springing forth from your deceitful heart like so many dandelions on a spring day. Third, pride again. Here your pride is less about you and more about Jesus. That is, our failure to understand what failures we are is in turn a reflection on the work of Christ. We diminish His work on our behalf when we diminish the scope of our own sin. Fourth, unrepentance. That is, because you are a bigger sinner, like me, than you are willing to face, you have not repented for your sins like you ought. You have repented lightly for dark sins.

What should you do? You could get mad at me for pointing this all out. Or, you could repent.

Check the rest out HERE.

I Signed the Declaration

2009-11-23T13:55:00.003-05:00

Summary: A group of Catholics and Christians got together and wrote a document that pledges to aggressively defend against the assault of our present culture and government on

the sanctity of human life
the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

I signed the document HERE. I was number 44,700 somethin.

Here's why my main man Al Mohler signed it.

No one can come to the Father but by me

2009-11-11T09:18:00.004-05:00

When planning for community group, I read through one of Spurgeon's sermons on John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father but by me."

Spurgeon says:

Do we not each of us in ourselves at times an aptness to come to God in some other way than through Jesus Christ? "Now you have preached well," says Satan; "you have been successful in such-and-such a labor. Ah!" says the devil, "how liberal you have been in such-and-such a cause. Now go to God in prayer." And we go, and we pray with such assurance; we think we are sure to be heard. But perhaps without our knowing it, there is lurking at the bottom of our excellent fluency in prayer an evil thought that surely God will hear us, for we have been so diligent, and liberal. And on the other hand, when we have been committing sin, when conscience chides us, then we go to the throne, and we are half afraid, because we say God will not hear us. Is not that still pride? Why, were we ever better than we are now? Were we not always, and are we not now, as bad as ever we can be? In ourselves is there anything that can commend us to God? Is not the very fact that when in our good state we come boldly, and when in our low state we come timidly, proof that there is lurking in us a secret suspicion that we are to come to God by something that is in us? Oh! if we could but learn this truth and stand to it, that our acceptance with God depends upon nothing that we do or can do, nothing that we can think, or feel, or be, but depends wholly and entirely and solely upon what Jesus is, and what he has done, and what he has suffered, let us once get that thought—and it is in the text—we shall then be able, by the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, to come to God at all times with boldness, knowing that we were so coming through Christ, and therefore we might always come boldly to the throne of grace.

Though none come to the Father but through Christ, all that come in Jesus' name, not one will he cast out.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Why We Don't Pray

2009-11-06T12:01:00.002-05:00

Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side. We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help.

Too often when we struggle with prayer we focus on the wrong things. We focus on praying better instead of focusing on knowing better the one to whom we pray. We focus on our need for discipline rather than our need for God. Almost all of us want to pray more frequently, and yet our lives seem too disordered. But in God’s mind our messy, chaotic lives are an impetus to prayer instead of an obstacle to prayer.

You don’t need to work and work at discipline nearly as much as you need faith. You don’t need an ordered life to enable prayer, you need a messy life to drive you to prayer. You don’t need to have everything in order before you can pray. You need to know you’re disordered so you will pray. You don’t need your life to be fixed up. You need a broken heart. You need to think to yourself: “Tomorrow is another day that I need God. I need to know him. I need forgiveness. I need help. I need protection. I need deliverance. I need patience. I need courage. Therefore, I need prayer.”

If you know you are needy and believe that God helps the needy, you will pray. Conversely, if we seldom pray, the problem goes much deeper than a lack of organization and follow through. The heart that never talks to God is the heart that trusts in itself and not in the power of God. Prayerlessness is unbelief.

Prayerfulness, on the other hand is an evidence of humility and faith, which is why God loves it when we pray.

HT: DeYoung

Holy Idols?

2009-11-04T15:23:00.001-05:00

“…In trying to explain the universality of religion, Sigmund Freud asked why it is that people are so incurably religious. He claimed that we have invented God to deal with things in nature that we find frightening. He explained that by inventing God we personalize or sacralize nature. We feel deeply threatened by hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, pestilence, and armies, but we do not have the same terror concerning our personal relationships. If someone is hostile toward us, there are many ways we can try to defuse that anger. We can try to appease the angry person with words or gifts or flattery. We learn how to get around human anger, but how do we negotiate with a hurricane? How do we mollify an earthquake? How do we persuade cancer not to visit our house?

Freud thought that we do it by personalizing nature, and we do that by inventing a god to put over the hurricane, the earthquake, and the disease, and then we talk to that god to try to appease him.

Obviously, Freud was not on the Sea of Galilee when the storm arose and threatened to capsize the boat in which Jesus and his disciples were sitting. The disciples were afraid. Jesus was asleep, and so they went to him and shook him awake, and they said, ‘”Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:38–39).

There was not a zephyr in the air. You would think the disciples’ gratitude would have led them to say, “Thank you, Jesus, for removing the cause of our fear.” Instead, they became very much afraid. Their fears were intensified, and they said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (v. 41). They were dealing with something transcendent.

What we see in the disciples is xenophobia, fear of the stranger. The holiness of Christ was made manifest in that boat, and suddenly the disciples’ fear escalated. This is where Freud missed the point. If people are going to invent religion to protect them from the fear of nature, why would they invent a god who is more terrifying than nature itself? Why would they invent a holy god? Fallen creatures, when they make idols, do not make holy idols. We prefer the unholy, the profane, the secular—a god we can control.”

—R. C. Sproul, Romans: The Righteous Shall Live By Faith, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary (Crossway, 2009) p. 45. Paragraph breaks mine {gasp}.

HT: Miscellanies

Desiring God Audio FOR FREAKIN FREE

2009-11-02T14:47:00.002-05:00

Yes, pinch yourself, cause you may be dreaming.

John Piper's classic book "Desiring God" is available as an audio book download FOR FREE thanks to Christianaudio.com.

Here's the link, follow the directions on the page and enjoy. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Christian Hedonists Unite!

woah, sorry about that. And act somewhat quick, the offer is only available in November.

oh, the link: http://christianaudio.com/free_download.php

The Marriage Index

2009-11-02T14:42:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Albert Mohler, my eyes were opened to the almost UNBELIEVABLE fact that only 28.4% of African American babies are born to married parents. That means almost 3 out of every 4 black babies are born to either an unmarried couple or to a single mother...

See these numbers and others concerning marriage from 1970 to Now:

http://www.americanvalues.org/pdfs/IAV_Marriage_Charts.pdf

Do You Pray?

2009-10-28T08:55:00.001-04:00

Why this is an important question: here.

Massive Book Review Extravaganza

2009-10-28T08:12:00.010-04:00

Work is slow right now, which means I have the unique opportunity to host the first annual Massive Book Review Extravaganza. Here goes nothing:

I'd describe this book as simple, relatively cheesy, and powerful. I may have just beens going through an interesting season with the Lord when I read this book, but it did minister to me greatly.

Rating: 7/10

One of the greatest books i've ever read...kinda. I only say "kinda" because I listened to it via audiobook on the many commutes between WV and Columbus. If you've never read or heard Piper before, this book will be a great intro into his heart and the theology that shapes his ministry and life.

Rating: 10/10

If you've read Keller before, you know he's a skilled writer, especially on the topic of apologetics. This book provides some money responses to objections to Christianity that I've heard from both educated and uneducated people at work. Bottom line, the world is believing that all paths to God are good, people are inherently righteous, and that there is no moral right and wrong. If you feel your answers to this are inadequate, check out the book.

Rating: 7/10

Written by a Navy Seal returned from Iraq, "Lone Survivor" takes the reader from Seal training (which is most of the book) to Iraq where a team of Seals are ambushed in a mission gone bad. Only the author survived. The book was longer than it needed to be, very average in the writing, and has several areas of pro-America propaganda. However, it's a true story, and it's crazy.

Rating: 5/10

Amazing account of WWII. With the Old Breed is written by a marine who left college to join the battle overseas and is one of the few who made it through both the campaigns of Peleliu and Okinawa alive. The horrors of this war are almost unbelievable. It is excellently written and very engaging. I STRONGLY suggest you read this.

Rating: 10/10

The author, a columnist for Christianity Today, traveled around the US to document the recent rise in Reformed doctrine. He stops at Mars Hill (Driscol), Southern Seminary (Mohler), and DG (Piper), soooooooooooo, I'm kinda biased in my review here. I liked the book, but I don't know if you'd enjoy it unless you love Reformed doctrine.

Rating: 6/10

Gettin Married

2009-10-26T16:42:00.004-04:00

Although something like 98% of people get married someday and therefore almost everyone could say that they are going to get married, it's even MORE likely in my case...

yeah...I liked it so I put a ring on it.

that was for you chels....and jody.

How it Should End

2009-10-26T10:03:00.002-04:00

If you have seen the movies Terminator and Back to the Future, this should be entertaining for you.

Bullseye

2009-10-26T09:51:00.003-04:00

John Stott, writing 27 years ago (I Believe in Preaching, p. 69):

It is difficult to imagine the world in the year A.D. 2000, by which time versatile micro-processors are likely to be as common as simple calculators are today.

We should certainly welcome the fact that the silicon chip will transcend human brain-power, as the machine has transcended human muscle-power.

Much less welcome will be the probable reduction of human contact as the new electronic network renders personal relationships ever less necessary.

In such a dehumanized society the fellowship of the local church will become increasingly important, whose members meet one another, and talk and listen to one another in person rather than on screen. In this human context of mutual love the speaking and hearing of the Word of God is also likely to become more necessary for the preservation of our humanness, not less.

HT: http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/

Lewis Again

2009-10-23T15:18:00.000-04:00

“The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the centre—wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that is a mistake. (The story in the Book of Genesis rather suggests that some corruption in our sexual nature followed the fall and was its result, not its cause.) What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (HarperOne, 1980), pp. 49–50.

HT: Miscellanies

Two Videos

2009-10-21T07:13:00.003-04:00

Let me go on the record to say that these two videos should not be added in the same post due to the fact that one is really moving, and the other is really ridiculous. But....i'm doing it anyways.

Serious one:

Perspectives from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

Ridiculous one:

My Prayer

2009-10-09T12:14:00.002-04:00

Prayer for Mercy- Isaiah 63-64

15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful [5] habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
16 For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people held possession for a little while; [6]
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 [1] as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? [2]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in [3] the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful [4] house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

2009-10-05T12:55:00.002-04:00

I've been taught continually that laziness results in sin. For me, TV and video games are the usual culprits that lead me into sluggardly (I made up that word) behavior. I resonated with this passage:

Proverbs 24:30-34

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

There's work to be done!

Punishment or Discipline?

2009-10-05T12:11:00.003-04:00

I can't tell you how many times I've thought that some crappy event in my life was a judgement from God for some sin I committed that morning or that week, and that God was ticked at me/hiding from me. Then follows the prayers of desperation such as, "forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, please forgive me."

Yet, are we not his children? Aren't we given Christ's righteousness? Isn't the law overthrown, nailed to the cross? Aren't we in Christ and isn't the Father "well pleased" with his only begotten son?

Check out this article on God's punishment vs God's discipline. It's helped me sort through some thoughts on the topic. http://www.cafeapocalypsis.com/?p=608

Rob Bell: Not my Favorite

2009-10-02T09:21:00.002-04:00

Rob Bell is not my favorite pastor of all time. He didn't even make my top 10. In fact, just as a person, I have to pray not to think evil thoughts and want to punch something.

Sooooooo, you could say that i'm slightly biased concerning the guy. However, see for yourself. The Boston Globe did an article on how Bell is an "Evangelical Rock Star". Check it: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2009/09/rob_bell.html

Make sure you read the comments and mourn with me. I haven't met too many people who believe this junk and avoid Jesus on the cross, dying to cleanse us from our sins.

The Announcer Prophet

2009-10-02T08:57:00.001-04:00

To the Cross!

2009-09-30T15:44:00.001-04:00

Incoming Spurgeon greatness:

http://spurgeon.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/john-bunyans-blunder/

Michael Jordan vs. David Robinson

2009-09-23T16:50:00.003-04:00

I just read a relatively lengthy article contrasting the two NBA Hall of Fame induction speeches given by basketball legends, Michael Jordan and David Robinson. The article is excellent, but it doesn't compare whatsoever to David Robinson's speech. The 8 minute video is WELL worth your time as he represents Christ by proclaiming truth and displaying gratitude and thankfulness. Check it:

Article: http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/9/16_Be_Like_David..._Not_Like_Mike..html

Video: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/hall_of_fame/2009/09/11/nba_20090911_hof_robinson_speech.nba/

Health Care Reform

2009-09-04T13:42:00.004-04:00

If you're like me and spend a minimum of 2 hours in your car daily and listen to NPR, you are probably tired of hearing about Obama pushing for Health Care Reform. I hate it because I don't know jack about it and you have to be a scholar or have some kinda specialized degree to understand the shiz.

Well, thanks to Between Two Worlds, I was directed to a VERY informative (and ridiculously long) article on the problems with American Health Care and Health Insurance. I strongly urge you to read the whole article (i'm 1/2 way through) so you can see how much of a problem our current Health Care System is. It opened up my eyes to what kind of a mess we're in.

Here's a little snippet:
How often have you heard a politician say that millions of Americans “have no health care,” when he or she meant they have no health insurance? How has a method of financing health care become synonymous with care itself?

The reason for financing at least some of our health care with an insurance system is obvious. We all worry that a serious illness or an accident might one day require urgent, extensive care, imposing an extreme financial burden on us. In this sense, health-care insurance is just like all other forms of insurance—life, property, liability—where the many who face a risk share the cost incurred by the few who actually suffer a loss.

But health insurance is different from every other type of insurance. Health insurance is the primary payment mechanism not just for expenses that are unexpected and large, but for nearly all health-care expenses. We’ve become so used to health insurance that we don’t realize how absurd that is. We can’t imagine paying for gas with our auto-insurance policy, or for our electric bills with our homeowners insurance, but we all assume that our regular checkups and dental cleanings will be covered at least partially by insurance. Most pregnancies are planned, and deliveries are predictable many months in advance, yet they’re financed the same way we finance fixing a car after a wreck—through an insurance claim.

The whole article can be read HERE.

Is the Catholic Church a church?

2009-09-03T16:35:00.005-04:00

R.C. Sproul speaks with clarity on an obviously very emotional issue. I freakin' love his writing. Check it.

HT: Ligonier

Death's Death

2009-09-03T10:35:00.003-04:00

“We cannot but hate death,
even when we have ceased to fear it,
and know that for us its sting has been extracted.
We hate it,
and thrust it from us;
loathing its advances,
and waging daily war with it—
seeking by every appliance of skill to overcome it and ward off its stroke.

We hate it because of its
shadow,
and its coldness,
and its silence.
We hate it as the great robber
of our loves and joys,
who gives nothing but takes everything.
It cuts so many ties;
it rends so many hearts;
it silences so many voices;
it thins so many firesides;
it comes with its dark veil,
its screen of ice,
between friend and friend,
between soul and soul,
between parent and child,
between husband and wife,
between sister and brother.

Of human sympathies it has none;
it concerns not itself about our joys or sorrows;
it spares no dear one,
and restores no lost one;
it is pitiless and dumb;
it is as powerful as it is inexorable,
striking down the weak,
and wrestling with the strong
till they succumb and fall. …

Its history is one of evil,
not of good;
of wrong,
and sadness,
and terror;
of breaking down,
not of building up;
of scattering,
not of gathering;
of darkness,
not of light;
of disease,
and pain,
and tossings to and fro,
not of health and brightness. …

Death has been the sword of law for ages;
but when it has done its work on earth,
God takes this sword,
red with the blood of millions,
snaps it in pieces before the universe,
and casts its fragments into the flame. …

We preach Jesus and the resurrection;
Jesus the resurrection and the life;
Jesus our life.
We bring glad tidings concerning this risen One,
and that finished work of which resurrection is the seal;
glad tidings concerning God’s free love in connection with this risen One.
The knowledge of this risen One is
forgiveness,
and life,
and glory.

Oh then, what is there in our dying world like this to impart consolation and gladness?
We shall not die,
but live.
Eternity is a life,
and not a death;
a life with Christ,
and a life in Christ.
For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne
shall lead us to the living fountains of waters,
and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.”

—Horatius Bonar, Light and Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes (Dust & Ashes, 2002), 5:229—236.

HT: Miscellanies

Ignatius

2009-08-27T12:33:00.003-04:00

Absolutely hilarious video about a youth pastor. The whole "flame" section is freakin amazing.

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

New Job Location

2009-08-24T16:27:00.005-04:00

Well, the Lord has blessed me greatly in multiple ways:

I still have a job despite layoffs within Kokosing
I just got placed on a job in Nelsonville (see picture below for more details)
I'm going to get to work on the Bridge portion of the project, which is what I wanted to get involved in

This means that i'll be living in Columbus and actually will be able to partake in activities such as:

Seeing my girlfriend on the weekdays
Hanging out w/ buddies
Joining a community group w/ Veritas and serving the church more regularly
Possibly living w/ brothers in a house as opposed to living with grandmas in a one bedroom apartment...and by live with grandmas, I mean have them as neighbors...and just for the record, I really love the grandmas

Okay, I think the numbered lists are done for now. Or are they?

No
No
and no

Alright, that was just silly.

Anyways, it appears that i'll be moving out of Hurricane and over to Nelsonville very soon, as in this week or next. That could change I guess, but I'm going to push for more sooner than later.

Guys at my work often say a little phrase when something good happens to somebody, "You must be livin' right." Praise the Lord that that saying is a crock of crap. I'm thankful that although i'm regularly "not livin' right", he blesses me in grace.

(Click on the picture to see my excellent art work, I slaved over this for hours)

Oh and for those out there who care to know, this job is the 3rd phase of a project that is putting a bypass around the city of Nelsonville. Kokosing is just now completing phase 1 and Beaver Construction is going to be starting up phase 2 at about the same time we get rockin'. The job consists of substantial dirt work (4.5 million cubic yards of excavation/embankment), 8 bridges, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 miles of full depth concrete pavement. It bid for $45,200,000 and some change. I'll likely be on this project for 1.5 to 2 years, although who knows what could happen.

Praise God!

Kevin McCarthy is my friend

2009-08-19T16:43:00.004-04:00

Yep, Veritas Community Church, where I attend, got a shout out on the Resurgence, Mars Hill's blog.

However, even more ridiculous, Kevin McCarthy helped write the study guide that was posted to download. Yeah, he's one of my best friends.

I know him. We hug sometimes. Man-hug that is...

Check it.

Luke 11:5-8

2009-08-18T09:33:00.000-04:00

"See the man at midnight. Imitate that man. Act it all alone at midnight. Hear his loud cry, and cry it after him. He needed three loaves. What is your need? Name it. Name it out loud. Let your own ears hear it. . . . The shameful things you have to ask for. The disgraceful, the incredible things you have to admit and confess. The life you have lived. The way you have spent your days and nights. And what all that has brought you to. It kills you to have to say such things even with your door shut. Yes, but better say all these things in closets than have them all proclaimed from the housetops of the day of judgment. Knock, man! Knock for the love of God! Knock as they knock to get into heaven after the door is shut! Knock, as they knock to get out of hell!"

Alexander Whyte, "The Man Who Knocked At Midnight," in Lord, Teach Us To Pray, pages 174-176.

HT: Ortland

Snakes Jumping

2009-08-18T07:49:00.002-04:00

This is one that you can watch over and over and over and laugh more and more and more.

My job and the definition of ministry success

2009-08-10T14:40:00.002-04:00

Truth be told, the amount of work that I have to do on my job right now is decreasing rapidly. That being said, my boredom at work is on the rise. So, i'll probably be posting crap on here more frequently and might even update the "books i'm currently reading" section cause it's way out of date.

On a completely unrelated note, I read this quote about how to define ministry success and it tasted my pancakes (trust me, that phrase is spreading rapidly across the nations...especially my homeland of Lithuania. You should use it).

The measure of how ministry is progressing in your church or fellowship, and the way to evaluate whether you are making progress, is not attendance on Sunday, signed up members, people in small groups, or the size of our budget (as important and valuable as all these things are!). The real test is how successfully you are making disciples who make other disciples. Are we seeing people converted from being dead in their transgressions to being alive in Christ? And once converted, are we seeing them followed-up and established as mature disciples of Jesus? And as they become established, are we training them in knowledge, godliness and skills so that they will in turn make disciples of others?
This is the Great Commission—the making of disciples who obey all that Christ has taught, including the command to make disciples. And this is the touchstone of our faithfulness to Christ's mission in the world, and the sign of a healthy church: whether or not it is making genuine disciple-making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Cash for Clunkers

2009-08-07T08:10:00.002-04:00

A interesting view of the cash for clunkers business. HERE

Those who pocketed $4,500 were probably going to turn in their old clunker anyway, perhaps to a charity that uses these cars and trucks to support their work by reselling it, maybe to somebody who might use a gas-guzzling pick-up truck to start a landscaping business.

Just Do Something

2009-08-05T16:41:00.002-04:00

I recently listened to a sermon by a guy named Kevin Deyoung titled "Just Do Something". The sermon was speaking directly to someone who struggles with making decisions due to a fear of choosing something that isn't God's will. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would encourage you to check it out here.

Kevin is a pastor of a church in East Lansing, Michigan, and has gotten a lot of praise for books hes written. I'm definitely going to podcast this cat, but i'm struggling to get it to work.

hope you enjoy,
Mark in Hurrican(e)

Phil Collins Fan Club Member

2009-07-30T16:33:00.003-04:00

This song freakin' rocks. I warn you though, the beat will get stuck in your head for days and days.

Boys of Summer, the EAGLES

2009-07-24T12:55:00.001-04:00

I'm really into this song today...don't ask me why:

Kids These Days...

2009-07-22T12:09:00.002-04:00

Albert Mohler writes about the damage that has resulted from the lack of contact todays generation of kids has with nature. He concludes his article:

"This is our Father's world, and we would do well to receive this world and enjoy it, while giving praise and glory to God for the beauty and bounty it contains. We understand that nature is not an end to itself, and we affirm that the creation exists as the theater of God's glory for the drama of redemption. All this should help Christians to remember that we honor God most faithfully when we receive His good gifts most gratefully."

See the full article here.

The Episcopal Church

2009-07-17T07:40:00.003-04:00

The Episcopal Church voted this week to elect and consecrate openly gay bishops. On top of this, the presiding bishop over the church is claiming that personal individual faith in the Lord Jesus is heresy.

Read Albert Mohler's thoughts HERE.

Stimulus

2009-07-13T12:18:00.001-04:00

Just for the record, I don't hate Obama or anything like that, but these videos are pretty freakin' interesting.

Calvin's 500th

2009-07-10T12:28:00.004-04:00

If you didn't know, it's John Calvin's (aka. the theologian) 500th birthday. If you want a good bio (apparently, i'm yet to read it) check out DG where you can buy one for only $2 + s/h. The offer is for today and today only.

Check out Kevin DeYoung's comments on Calvin. Here's an excerpt:

No one will care about your GPA and SAT scores in ten years. If you win a state championship, you’ll be forgotten the next year you don’t. Your beauty will get wrinkles and trim figure plump. Write a great book and it will gather dust in a library some day. Have a big famous church, it won’t last forever. Be an important person in your field, you still be unknown to over 6 billion people in the world. Build an amazing house, it will crumble some day, if it doesn’t go into foreclosure first. All of our achievements and successes are destined to be like dead grass and faded flowers.

But...the word of our God stands forever. The word about Babylon in Isaiah 40 stood firm. and so will his word in our generation. All God’s declarations about himself and his people are true. All his promises will come to pass. Our only confidence is in the word of God. John Calvin was a man, an imperfect, sinful man, but a man that God used enormously because he put his confidence in the word of God.

HT: DeYoung