Here's my confession: with the whirlwind of many other high priorities demanding my attention over the past year, I have honestly been left with only a small amount of time to ponder and investigate the upcoming Presidential election. I've made efforts to do my homework, though mostly during my bathroom breaks (my grandparents-in-law have been gracious enough to let us borrow their old TIME magazines). The reality is that it's a struggle to balance the tremendous responsibility to vote with my other God-given responsibilities (husband, father, employee, church leadership, etc). I'll just say that I'm doing better than last election (I, uh, didn't vote), so progress is good, but I do rely heavily on the wisdom of my most trusted friends to form my own convictions.
In the spirit of the election, I was very encouraged by John Piper's perspectives in this interview:
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
One Reason Why I Am Not Good at Loving People
Because love is risky. In fact, you are guaranteed to eventually get hurt. I am afraid of painful relationships. But after reading the following quote from C.S. Lewis, I have been pleasantly rebuked:
Of all arguments against love none makes so strong an appeal to my nature as “Careful! This might lead you to suffering.”
To my nature, my temperament, yes. Not to my conscience. When I respond to that appeal I seem to myself to be a thousand miles away from Christ. If I am sure of anything I am sure that His teaching was never meant to confirm my congenital preference for safe investments and limited liabilities.…
There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. (From The Four Loves, as found in The Inspirational Writings of C.S. Lewis, 278-279.)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Studying the Bible - What are Hermeneutics?
For the majority of my "Christian" life, I have viewed and used the Bible as a collection of stories and nuggets, and as I would read it I would get frustrated with sections that didn't pertain directly to my life. The pastor would say, "Read the Bible every day," but it was so much easier to listen to sermons or read self-help books to get my doses of self help. The Bible was too difficult.
I still am in the infant stages of learning how to read this amazing book, which in reality is a collection of 66 books, 39 being the Old Testament and 27 being the New Testament. Together, these testaments contain 1,189 chapters of both descriptive texts (telling a story of what happened) and prescriptive texts (giving an application to how to live).
The greatest and most helpful lesson I've learned over the past year is that the Bible is not primarily about me. It is primarily about Jesus. The story begins with the Trinitarian God-- God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (read the beginning of Genesis 1 and John 1). God created man. Man rebeled and ran from God. As a result man deserved punishment and eternal separation from God. But God pursued man. Continuously. And I don't understand this near enough to give it justice, but God had a plan from the beginning- to send Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, taking the penalty of sin to atone for the sins of the world. The gospels tell the central story of the universe, Jesus dying and raising from the dead. Everything in the Bible only makes sense in light of the Gospel, and one of the overarching themes is that God is good, man is rebelious and evil, and apart from God's grace, there is no hope for man.
The Bible is an amazing book. There is no other book that comes any where near it. It is picked apart from every angle, and yet it still stands to this day as the greatest source of Truth in the world. I could go on and on, but as I said, I am merely an infant in my understanding of this great book. Here are some really helpful guidelines for studying the Bible (taken from SymphonyofScripture.com), written by Philip L. Powell in his book Parables of the Kingdom:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Principles for Bible Study
Let God be true, but every man a liar - Romans 3:4.
I still am in the infant stages of learning how to read this amazing book, which in reality is a collection of 66 books, 39 being the Old Testament and 27 being the New Testament. Together, these testaments contain 1,189 chapters of both descriptive texts (telling a story of what happened) and prescriptive texts (giving an application to how to live).
The greatest and most helpful lesson I've learned over the past year is that the Bible is not primarily about me. It is primarily about Jesus. The story begins with the Trinitarian God-- God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (read the beginning of Genesis 1 and John 1). God created man. Man rebeled and ran from God. As a result man deserved punishment and eternal separation from God. But God pursued man. Continuously. And I don't understand this near enough to give it justice, but God had a plan from the beginning- to send Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, taking the penalty of sin to atone for the sins of the world. The gospels tell the central story of the universe, Jesus dying and raising from the dead. Everything in the Bible only makes sense in light of the Gospel, and one of the overarching themes is that God is good, man is rebelious and evil, and apart from God's grace, there is no hope for man.
The Bible is an amazing book. There is no other book that comes any where near it. It is picked apart from every angle, and yet it still stands to this day as the greatest source of Truth in the world. I could go on and on, but as I said, I am merely an infant in my understanding of this great book. Here are some really helpful guidelines for studying the Bible (taken from SymphonyofScripture.com), written by Philip L. Powell in his book Parables of the Kingdom:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Principles for Bible Study
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth – 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV).
Hermeneutics is defined as “the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of Scripture or literary texts.” The application of a correct hermeneutic is essential to proper Bible study and the deducing of right conclusions from scripture. In this regard the rules are few and simple:
| 1) CONTEXT – always examine truth in context i.e. the textual setting – what precedes and what follows; 2) COMPARISON – Paul speaks of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” in the context of being taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13); 3) NO CONTRADICTION – “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”- Numbers 23:19 (NKJV). “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” - Psalm 119:89 – (NKJV). |
Providing these principles are clearly established you will not go far wrong. In my own study I have accepted God’s Word as being totally inspired (i.e. “God Breathed” cf. 2 Timothy 3:16) with the thought that inspiration shines out brightest and best through our Lord Jesus Christ. Based on these considerations both consciously and unconsciously I always ask the following three questions of any difficult text:
| a. What light does the context shine on the text? b. What do other Scriptures say on this matter? c. What did Christ say if anything on the subject? |
If you approach scripture in this frame of mind and not primarily with a predisposition to investigate what other men have said or written the Holy Spirit will lead you into ALL truth (cf. John 16:3). That is not to say that we do not consider the thoughts, ideas and teachings of others – especially those great and godly men who lived holy lives. It simply means that we are doing what we should bytrusting God above men.
The idea that God never contradicts Himself and that He is IMMUTABLE –i.e. not subject to change – is fundamental to His WORD and to the interpretation of it. I recently outraged one or two people in a Pentecostal Church when I alluded publicly to a slogan that had been adopted by a well-known Hillsong ladies’ Conference in Sydney - “Hey princess God believes in you and we do too.” No, that is NOT true. It turns the glorious gospel of Christ on its head. God’s Word tells us that God does not believe in us and that we should believe in Him. Self-faith is a false faith.
| It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes - Psalm 118:8-9. |
If that is true of princes it is most certainly true of princesses.
Let God be true, but every man a liar - Romans 3:4.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Free Audio Books!
Christianaudio.com features a new free download every month. This month's audio book (normally $14.98) is C.H. Spurgeon's All of Grace. It works!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Does Being Loved Mean Being Made Much of?
"For many people, this is not obviously an act of love. They do
not feel loved when they are told that God created them for his
glory. They feel used. This is understandable given the way love
has been almost completely distorted in our world. For most people,
to be loved is to be made much of. Almost everything in our
Western culture serves this distortion of love. We are taught in a
thousand ways that love means increasing someone’s self-esteem.
Love is helping someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving
someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees.
This is not what the Bible means by the love of God. Love is
doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our
highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction.
We were made to see and savor God—and savoring him, to
be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth
of his presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not
to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when
they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking
someone to the Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors."
-John Piper in Don't Waste Your Life
not feel loved when they are told that God created them for his
glory. They feel used. This is understandable given the way love
has been almost completely distorted in our world. For most people,
to be loved is to be made much of. Almost everything in our
Western culture serves this distortion of love. We are taught in a
thousand ways that love means increasing someone’s self-esteem.
Love is helping someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving
someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees.
This is not what the Bible means by the love of God. Love is
doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our
highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction.
We were made to see and savor God—and savoring him, to
be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth
of his presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not
to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when
they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking
someone to the Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors."
-John Piper in Don't Waste Your Life
John Piper on C.S. Lewis
Reading "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper tonight, I found this section very insightful, where Piper is explaining the deep impacts C.S. Lewis had on him in Piper's college years:
"He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he
showed me that newness is no virtue and oldness is no vice. Truth
and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist.
Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for
being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and
opened for me the wisdom of the ages. To this day I get most of
my soul-food from centuries ago. I thank God for Lewis’s compelling
demonstration of the obvious.
He demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise,
penetrating logic is not opposed to deep, soul-stirring feeling
and vivid, lively—even playful—imagination. He was a
“romantic rationalist.” He combined things that almost everybody
today assumes are mutually exclusive: rationalism and
poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free
imagination. In shattering these old stereotypes, he freed me to
think hard and to write poetry, to argue for the resurrection and
compose hymns to Christ, to smash an argument and hug a
friend, to demand a definition and use a metaphor.
Lewis gave me an intense sense of the “realness” of things.
The preciousness of this is hard to communicate. To wake up in
the morning and be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the
warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the sheer
being of things (“quiddity” as he calls it3). He helped me become
alive to life. He helped me see what is there in the world—things
that, if we didn’t have, we would pay a million dollars to have,
but having them, ignore. He made me more alive to beauty. He
put my soul on notice that there are daily wonders that will
waken worship if I open my eyes. He shook my dozing soul and
threw the cold water of reality in my face, so that life and God
and heaven and hell broke into my world with glory and horror.
He exposed the sophisticated intellectual opposition to
objective being and objective value for the naked folly that it
was. The philosophical king of my generation had no clothes on,
and the writer of children’s books from Oxford had the courage
to say so.
You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole
point of seeing through something is to see something through
it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because
the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw
through the garden too? It is no use trying to “see through”
first principles. If you see through everything, then everything
is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible
world. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.4
Oh, how much more could be said about the world as C. S.
Lewis saw it and the way he spoke. He has his flaws, some of
them serious. But I will never cease to thank God for this remarkable
man who came onto my path at the perfect moment."
"He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he
showed me that newness is no virtue and oldness is no vice. Truth
and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist.
Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for
being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and
opened for me the wisdom of the ages. To this day I get most of
my soul-food from centuries ago. I thank God for Lewis’s compelling
demonstration of the obvious.
He demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise,
penetrating logic is not opposed to deep, soul-stirring feeling
and vivid, lively—even playful—imagination. He was a
“romantic rationalist.” He combined things that almost everybody
today assumes are mutually exclusive: rationalism and
poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free
imagination. In shattering these old stereotypes, he freed me to
think hard and to write poetry, to argue for the resurrection and
compose hymns to Christ, to smash an argument and hug a
friend, to demand a definition and use a metaphor.
Lewis gave me an intense sense of the “realness” of things.
The preciousness of this is hard to communicate. To wake up in
the morning and be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the
warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the sheer
being of things (“quiddity” as he calls it3). He helped me become
alive to life. He helped me see what is there in the world—things
that, if we didn’t have, we would pay a million dollars to have,
but having them, ignore. He made me more alive to beauty. He
put my soul on notice that there are daily wonders that will
waken worship if I open my eyes. He shook my dozing soul and
threw the cold water of reality in my face, so that life and God
and heaven and hell broke into my world with glory and horror.
He exposed the sophisticated intellectual opposition to
objective being and objective value for the naked folly that it
was. The philosophical king of my generation had no clothes on,
and the writer of children’s books from Oxford had the courage
to say so.
You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole
point of seeing through something is to see something through
it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because
the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw
through the garden too? It is no use trying to “see through”
first principles. If you see through everything, then everything
is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible
world. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.4
Oh, how much more could be said about the world as C. S.
Lewis saw it and the way he spoke. He has his flaws, some of
them serious. But I will never cease to thank God for this remarkable
man who came onto my path at the perfect moment."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Raising our Youth
"Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." - 1 Timothy 4:11-16 (ESV)
As a parent, there is a lot to wrestle with in John Piper's sermon entitled, "Let No One Despise You for Your Youth." (Links below)
One area in particular that I'm convicted to bring before God is centered around how we discipline and instruct our children. Parenting is one of the hardest things I've ever been called to do. I'm realizing one of the primary reasons for this difficulty is my own sin and my own selfishness, which go into direct conflict with the my role as a father. God has much to do in me yet. But one central challenge brought about in Piper's message is in how to teach your kids about the gospel from an early age. His words are strong and challenging.
If you are a supporter of "Love and Logic" parenting models, as my wife and I have been, this will be especially challenging. The thing is, love and logic is in essence based on a legalistic framework: good behavior leads to good results, bad behavior leads to punishment. This is undoubtedly necessary in parenting, but if this is only form of discipline your parenting consists of, then your idea of a "successful" child will be one that follows rules, not one who loves and trusts in Jesus. You may indeed have a child who is wonderfully compliant. And though it will appear to be successful, it will fail in the most important respect: the child's hope and trust will be in his/her ability to follow rules, not in Jesus' sacrifice for their sins. I encourage you to listen to this message and wrestle with this and other issues involving the raising of our youth. Please comment on any thoughts you have!
Watch
Download Audio
As a parent, there is a lot to wrestle with in John Piper's sermon entitled, "Let No One Despise You for Your Youth." (Links below)
One area in particular that I'm convicted to bring before God is centered around how we discipline and instruct our children. Parenting is one of the hardest things I've ever been called to do. I'm realizing one of the primary reasons for this difficulty is my own sin and my own selfishness, which go into direct conflict with the my role as a father. God has much to do in me yet. But one central challenge brought about in Piper's message is in how to teach your kids about the gospel from an early age. His words are strong and challenging.
If you are a supporter of "Love and Logic" parenting models, as my wife and I have been, this will be especially challenging. The thing is, love and logic is in essence based on a legalistic framework: good behavior leads to good results, bad behavior leads to punishment. This is undoubtedly necessary in parenting, but if this is only form of discipline your parenting consists of, then your idea of a "successful" child will be one that follows rules, not one who loves and trusts in Jesus. You may indeed have a child who is wonderfully compliant. And though it will appear to be successful, it will fail in the most important respect: the child's hope and trust will be in his/her ability to follow rules, not in Jesus' sacrifice for their sins. I encourage you to listen to this message and wrestle with this and other issues involving the raising of our youth. Please comment on any thoughts you have!
Watch
Download Audio
Monday, October 20, 2008
12 Ways to Love Your Wayward Child
12 Ways to Love Your Wayward Child
This was written by Abraham Piper, son of writer/preacher John Piper.
This was written by Abraham Piper, son of writer/preacher John Piper.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hope and Trust
Hour after hour, checked fund after checked fund (that's what I do a lot of the day), anticipation escalated. I had run nearly every possible scenario through my head, deciding it safer to think about how I would respond when I was told I didn't get the job.
Three o'clock - no phone calls. Four o'clock - nothing. Emotions of rejection began to threaten my soul, but I still managed to pray and thank God for His goodness, that He had a plan no matter what happened, and that I could trust Him. That helped a lot.
When I received an email from my boss around 4:05 p.m. asking if I'd have time to meet, I began to calculate the odds of this being good news. The fact that my boss was not directly related to the interview process made it pretty clear, though. I would not be promoted.
My manager - his name is Evan - is a man I deeply respect and look up to. The two of us casually walked into the small conference room, closed the door, and sat down. As he sat, he began to speak with a sheepish smile saying, "Unfotunately I can't tell you that you got the job-- they decided to go with someone else."
I've never been turned down for a job since I started with this company (I had been 2 for 2), so I took a second to take in the new experience of not being "the chosen one". Ironically, I had jokingly mentioned to my wife earlier in the day how I'd always wondered what it was like to not get picked. Now was my opportunity to be tested in this.
The bad news pretty much stopped there, though. What followed was an incredible series of blessings. First, Evan debriefed my on the feedback sent by Kurt, the manager who interviewed me (and who happened to be my first manager before he was promoted). The feedback was thorough and very encouraging, filled with helpful tips and comments. Something tells me that managers don't usually do that for "the rejects" -- and I felt pretty honored.
Second, I was able to talk about my thoughts on the interview process with Evan and benefit from his own comments and encouragements.
Third, given the fact that I wasn't going anywhere, we began to shift our focus to the situation at hand with our current team, and I finally was able to articulate some of my concerns with the leadership. Evan shared what he could and we had a great dialog, which was exceedingly helpful and informative.
All and all, know that I am filled with great joy and encouragement. Thank you for your prayers and support... I feel 100 percent at peace. Well, maybe 90 percent, but just give me a good night's sleep and some time in prayer with God, and I should be right up there.
Three o'clock - no phone calls. Four o'clock - nothing. Emotions of rejection began to threaten my soul, but I still managed to pray and thank God for His goodness, that He had a plan no matter what happened, and that I could trust Him. That helped a lot.
When I received an email from my boss around 4:05 p.m. asking if I'd have time to meet, I began to calculate the odds of this being good news. The fact that my boss was not directly related to the interview process made it pretty clear, though. I would not be promoted.
My manager - his name is Evan - is a man I deeply respect and look up to. The two of us casually walked into the small conference room, closed the door, and sat down. As he sat, he began to speak with a sheepish smile saying, "Unfotunately I can't tell you that you got the job-- they decided to go with someone else."
I've never been turned down for a job since I started with this company (I had been 2 for 2), so I took a second to take in the new experience of not being "the chosen one". Ironically, I had jokingly mentioned to my wife earlier in the day how I'd always wondered what it was like to not get picked. Now was my opportunity to be tested in this.
The bad news pretty much stopped there, though. What followed was an incredible series of blessings. First, Evan debriefed my on the feedback sent by Kurt, the manager who interviewed me (and who happened to be my first manager before he was promoted). The feedback was thorough and very encouraging, filled with helpful tips and comments. Something tells me that managers don't usually do that for "the rejects" -- and I felt pretty honored.
Second, I was able to talk about my thoughts on the interview process with Evan and benefit from his own comments and encouragements.
Third, given the fact that I wasn't going anywhere, we began to shift our focus to the situation at hand with our current team, and I finally was able to articulate some of my concerns with the leadership. Evan shared what he could and we had a great dialog, which was exceedingly helpful and informative.
All and all, know that I am filled with great joy and encouragement. Thank you for your prayers and support... I feel 100 percent at peace. Well, maybe 90 percent, but just give me a good night's sleep and some time in prayer with God, and I should be right up there.
The Day of Crossroads
I interviewed for a management position two days ago where I work. Today I find out whether I am the chosen one.
It is almost eerie how I ended up in this situation, applying for a position I previously never imagined myself working in until I was at least 30 years old. But rough times bring strange and unforeseen opportunities, and it almost feels like God has been preparing me for this moment from first day I started with the company. Every technical challenge, every clashing with fellow employees, every opportunity to show mercy and grace, every experience in witnessing good leadership and bad leadership... all of these things have shaped me profoundly. It has become clear to me that I am here (at my occupation) to glorify God, to show how infinitely precious He is. My prayer is that God would work through me in such a way that people will look at my deeds and desire to praise God. I want Jesus to be made much of, to do things that could only be done through hope in Jesus Christ, not in the hopes of world.
Whatever the decision is, I will praise the Lord, who knows all things and is Holy and good. I'm simply excited to move on, be it my in current position or the new path of management. Either way, God has appointed me to be a leader, to demonstrate the redemptive power of Jesus, to fight for the redemption of the workplace, to love good and to hate evil. It doesn't matter what position I'm in, the job is always the same: to glorify God and demonstrate how precious Jesus is-- more precious than wealthy, prosperity, respect, or anything else this world has to offer.
Thank you, Lord, for life's struggles, for opportunities to realize how dependent we are on you for everything. Show the world how awesome you are.
It is almost eerie how I ended up in this situation, applying for a position I previously never imagined myself working in until I was at least 30 years old. But rough times bring strange and unforeseen opportunities, and it almost feels like God has been preparing me for this moment from first day I started with the company. Every technical challenge, every clashing with fellow employees, every opportunity to show mercy and grace, every experience in witnessing good leadership and bad leadership... all of these things have shaped me profoundly. It has become clear to me that I am here (at my occupation) to glorify God, to show how infinitely precious He is. My prayer is that God would work through me in such a way that people will look at my deeds and desire to praise God. I want Jesus to be made much of, to do things that could only be done through hope in Jesus Christ, not in the hopes of world.
Whatever the decision is, I will praise the Lord, who knows all things and is Holy and good. I'm simply excited to move on, be it my in current position or the new path of management. Either way, God has appointed me to be a leader, to demonstrate the redemptive power of Jesus, to fight for the redemption of the workplace, to love good and to hate evil. It doesn't matter what position I'm in, the job is always the same: to glorify God and demonstrate how precious Jesus is-- more precious than wealthy, prosperity, respect, or anything else this world has to offer.
Thank you, Lord, for life's struggles, for opportunities to realize how dependent we are on you for everything. Show the world how awesome you are.
Don't Desire Wealth
Don't Desire Wealth
October 8, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary
I can smell it. It’s like toast or steak or brownies. It doesn’t just draw our desire, it creates desire. Deep drops in the stock market make many people salivate. They know it will rebound. They are sitting on cash. By year’s end their pile could ride the recovery to riches.
For such people I have a word from God. The word is: Don’t desire to be rich. It will kill you. And in a world like ours many will probably perish with you. Paul’s language is more graphic than mine:
October 8, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary
I can smell it. It’s like toast or steak or brownies. It doesn’t just draw our desire, it creates desire. Deep drops in the stock market make many people salivate. They know it will rebound. They are sitting on cash. By year’s end their pile could ride the recovery to riches.
For such people I have a word from God. The word is: Don’t desire to be rich. It will kill you. And in a world like ours many will probably perish with you. Paul’s language is more graphic than mine:
There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1Timothy 6:6-10)
Friday, October 3, 2008
Lecrae's new album: Rebel
This is an album that's going right on my wishlist. It seems that one of the main themes of this album "Rebel" is to proclaim that the only real rebellion left is to rebel against our messed up culture and worldly principles-- greed, pornography, covetousness, selfish ambition, adulterous and broken marriages, laziness... wow. Here is the opening track:
Watch interview on Resurgence.com
You can buy the CD on Amazon
Watch interview on Resurgence.com
You can buy the CD on Amazon
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Singing to God
Just yesterday I extremely encouraged by a message from Bob Kauflin (author of Worship Matters and worship leader) on the topic of communicating to God through singing. This was one of many outstanding messages presented at the 2008 Desiring God National Conference. Here is the promo video by John Piper, followed by a link to the actual message.
Watch the video
Watch the video
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