We sang a new song in church yesterday, and the more I listen to it the more I like it. It's called "Desert Song" and it was released by the Hillsong Music group. The verses of the song speak about our dependence on God in the midst of our circumstances. The first three verses relate to difficult circumstances...times in our lives when we are going through trials, fires, battles etc...Then the chorus simply responds to who God is. It says:
I will bring praise, I will bring praise no weapon formed against me shall remain I will rejoice, I will declare God is my victory and He is here...
I love this response. As Christians this should be our response to life...no matter what, I will bring praise because I know that my God has already won the victory and seen fit to allow me to be part of that victory. Through Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross, I have been adopted as a co-heir to eternity! The last verse of the song is a reminder that when life is good and going well, God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing to others. It's a great reminder. Something that we need to be reminded of often.
Why did I mention the election in the title of this post? Simply for this reason...Your candidate might be able to claim the victory tomorrow or they might lose, but the only one who can guarantee your absolute victory is God. If you are in Christ, the victory has been won. By all means go out and vote. Make your voice heard. Represent your King well by voting for men and women who stand for biblical values. But, at the end of the day, if worse comes to worse and you wonder where our country is headed, remember this...God was here before the United States, is here now in the United States, and will be here after the United States are gone (unless Jesus comes back first). Our trust is not in the government ruled by man but in the one who rules the universe. God is my VICTORY and He is here...now go vote tomorrow.
I listen to allot of music. My job kind-of requires it. Much of the time at work I am listening for music that I think would work within the setting of a congregational worship service. So in my head, music naturally falls into categories...
I recently heard a song that fell into my I love this and it speaks to my heart, but I don't think it would work in a church setting...category. The song is called "Shine Your Light On Me." It is off of the new Andrew Peterson Album called "Light for the Lost Boy." The reason I love this song so much, is that it paints an awesome picture of the church. Not a building, but the people. It starts off telling the story of a young man who wanders into a church "nursing a broken heart" and having walked through the woods after his car broke down. As he listens to the people around him and hears "the story" once again the chorus shines out "Shine Your Light On Me." The song goes on to view several snapshots of this mans life when people have shined the light on him. Isn't that what we are called as Christians to be for each other and the world? People who shine the light of God. Sometimes other Christians are the ones who need to feel/see the light of God in their lives. We need to be reminded of who God is and what He has done in our lives because sometimes we simply forget. The world of worries, distractions, work, school, play, kids, spouses, paychecks, and life push the thoughts of God right out of our heads. We need each other to be the light of God in our lives. When I listen to this song it reminds me of times when I've needed people to shine the light on me, and reminds me that I want to shine God's light for others. I'm plugging in the song here for you to enjoy. I hope it speaks to your heart...
P.S. I love the mental picture of calling us "the servants of the secret fire." I want to be a person who burns brightly with a light that is visible to the world around me Christians and non-Christians alike.
Are you familiar with the old hymn "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go?" I've heard a few different recordings of it in my life, but I'd never sung it in a congregational setting. Lyrically it is a song that speaks to me. In recognizing God's love that never lets us go, and then responding by giving ourselves back to God, I feel like it is a song of hope that recognizes God's centrality to our hope. I also love the imagery of giving our weak and weary selves to God and allowing Him to make something more.
Anyway, I was recently reintroduced to this song through a book I read and I decided that I wanted to sing it for my congregation. For whatever reason, the music in the hymnal wasn't my favorite so I decided to try my hand at re-arranging things a bit. So here for your listening pleasure (or maybe not) is my rendition of "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go". I hope the lyrics touch your heart as they have mine.
I just an article in the most recent issue of Worship Leader Magazine about multicultural worship. Within the article (written by Vaughn Thompson Jr.) are these words... "The world is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Cultural lines are becoming blurred and less definitive as globalization and the booming technology age makes the world smaller and flatter than ever before."
What do you think this means? As we gain more opportunities to interact with more and more people, are we truly connecting more? Or are we simply setting ourselves up for more chances to set sail for new horizons and finding ourselves falling off the edge of the world. As much as I love the internet and social media, I wonder sometimes if we are losing the art of communication. How much longer will it be before we lose the ability to have compassionate debate and considerate sharing of ideas. Maybe it's not just the internet age that has contributed to this loss, but we seem to be losing ground faster everyday.
What do you think? Is this shrinking of the world leading to more opportunities to learn and share, or more building of walls to fend of the ideas coming at us from all sides.
So...it has been exactly 1 month since I have blogged anything. Summertime has been a crazy hectic time. Great ministry has taken place. Great songs have been sung. Life has flown by while at times I have felt like I was standing still. While I have considered blogging on several occasions, it seems like there is always something to distract me from sitting down long enough to put words to this digital page. So you might be wondering what broke me out of my blogging stupor...it was a new CD.
I pre-ordered Andrew Peterson's new album "Light for the Lost Boy." I mainly pre-ordered it because I was on his page buying something else and to be honest I tend to enjoy his music. I received my package with the new CD a day earlier than it was supposed to release and opened it excitedly (I mean all you digital only folks couldn't hear it until today.) Upon putting this disc into the player I think i literally stopped everything I was doing for several tracks. I won't go so far as to say that every track is amazing, but some of them simply should not be missed. The opening track "Come Back Soon" speaks poignantly about the longing each of us has in our hearts for Christ's return. The track "Shine Your Light on Me" made me literally catch my breath. These two are the highlights for me, but there isn't a bad track on the CD. And in actuality, there are most awesome songs here. This is musical and lyrical poetry like I've seldom enjoyed. I would encourage everyone who reads this (all 15-20 of you) to go check it out. We serve an awesome God, and Peterson knows how to poetically express many thoughts on about that awesome God. It is honestly a beautiful expression of worship and awe. I hope you enjoy.
I'll try to get back to being regular with my blog posts now...so hasta la vista.
I received a free
copy of “Spirit Fighter” by Jerel Law from the booksneeze book reviewer program
in exchange for an objective review. I wasn’t sure what to think about this
book when I read the description. Anytime someone writes a fictional story based
on an obscure and seldom understood passage of scripture, I tend to be skeptical.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Make no mistake…I’m still
not sure that I’m ok with basing a story off of a passage of scripture that scholars
don’t truly understand themselves. Thus the fact that Jonah and his family have
powers because they are descended from fallen angels is a bit far-fetched. That
being said, the actual story being told here is very enjoyable.
Jonah and his
sister are thrust into an age old struggle when Jonah begins to exhibit super
strength. As his power begins to develop, his parents explain that his mother is
a child of an angel and human, meaning she is half angel. This means that Jonah
and his siblings are a quarter angel. When Jonah’s mother is kidnapped by a
demon, Jonah and his sister are called upon by God to go and rescue her. While
it seemed strange to imagine that God would send a couple of angels to your
house to tell you about your mother’s kidnapping and to give you a wristwatch from
God to direct you to your next coordinates. However if you can suspend your inclination
to put the book down just because it seems a bit far-fetched, the story picks
up very nicely. The pacing is good, the characters are decently fleshed out and
believable, and the action is well-written.
So, all things
considered, this is a pretty good story for kids and young adults. The biggest
drawback is that the scriptural references sometimes seem out of place in a
fantasy story.
Behemoth was a very enjoyable book. As
a fan of the Jurassic Park books, I was excited to pick up a book written by a
Christian dealing with dinosaurs. While Behemoth was not nearly as action
packed as Jurassic Park, the action that is here is fun and believable. The
creationist belief system is very strongly represented throughout the book.
While I agree with this belief system, it did feel a bit heavy handed at times.
Some of the dialogue felt like a creationist vs. evolutionist debate forum more
than an actual conversation. There is a lot of dialogue that feels academic as
well. I got used to it, and it didn’t bother me nor did it distract from the
story greatly. Once I got used to how the dialogue flowed it felt fairly
natural.
In conclusion, if you are looking for a rip-roaring
adventure story in the vein of Jurassic Park, you might get bored at times. If
you are looking for a well told story with a Christian creationist base point, some
fun action, and dinosaur adventure, then I would highly recommend this book. I
would even buy and read a sequel if one is written.
I was provided a digital copy of the book “Behemoth” by Jonathan
C. Leicht by booksneeze.com. In return for the copy, I was asked to provided an
honest review of the book.
