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Jun 25, 2008

as a man thinketh

a man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. and as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use then as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself. -as a man thinketh, james allen
why doesn't anyone write like this anymore?

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life is catching up

as you can see, i have not posted a weekly roundup for last week and it is halfway through this week. i am going to take a hiatus for a couple of weeks while things at church are crazy and i am serving at two weeks of camp. hopefully i will be able to post other things between now and then and i will get back to the weekly roundup in a couple of weeks.

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Jun 19, 2008

perfect day

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this is...

baseball heaven
enjoying the game today with girl and some dear friends

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Jun 16, 2008

instrument of what?

i have been thinking about sin alot lately. from the fact that it so easily entangles us and can carry us far from where we need to be and also how, even as hard as it is, we can resist it and travel upstream, if you will, against it with the ever enduring power of grace. the scriptures that keep coming to mind are 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 and Romans 7:7-25.

in the Corinthians passage Paul instructs us to look at the children of Israel and not to follow in the path of their idolatry. this was essential for the Corinthians to hear in their context as well for us to hear and understand. so often 10:13 is quoted and it should be because it is an encouragement that shows us the power over sin that grace gives us but i think verse 14 is just as important. Paul says flee from idolatry, he does not say to stick around and see what happens, or in reference to 13 he does not say get out from under it but stay close to see if you can stand it. he is clear, flee.

and then the passage in Romans is a clear and confusing depiction that we have with our fleshly desires. doing what is bad and not doing what is good and wanting the converse, it is a confusing and raw yet simple and clearly real piece of prose that Paul presents us with. but with all he has to say about how the law is not sin but shows us sin and goodness, is all very confusing and hurts my brain unless i get the point of verse 25 that our mind needs the law (grace) of God but our flesh needs the law of sin. this means that we must live out in our hearts the fact that there is such a thing as grace and we can never be perfect but our flesh needs rules and needs to what it can and can't do and where it can and can't go. these two processes are married, they cannot be separated they must work in harmony for us to see that it is God's desire for us to sin less as we mature and rely on him.

so now i am confused, you are confused. these two seemingly unrelated passages appear to have gotten us nowhere and i am wishing that i would just stick to the weekly roundup and not issues like this where i can be critiqued, but i have already written too much to press delete. where does this all come together fleeing and serving the law of God with our minds and the law of sin with our flesh. i believe that Romans 6 has some answers.

on sunday i was enlightened with verses 13 and 14. here is what they say:

13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
do not present your members as instruments for unrighteousness but as instruments of righteousness. the light bulb clicked when i read this. this helps realize the tangibility of grace and how we must make the effort to live in that grace by desiring righteousness in our lives. so in the Corinthians verses and the Romans 7 verse this all comes together under the principle of striving for righteous living. fleeing and submitting to the law of God is simply longing for his righteousness. now this may sound simple to most of yo and you may have already gotten this but i needed to hear this, that grace worked out is me being righteous, saying that i do not deserve to be righteous but through Jesus, God has given me the ability to be that way. so when i am faced with temptation i am able to get out from underneath and and when i am confused about what is good for me and not good for me i know to look to the shining beacon of righteousness in my life that is Jesus through his word and then i can be and instrument of his goodness.

i love the fact that this life of following Christ is a journey. that i can know more tomorrow than i did today. that i can see Jesus differently next week than last and that in two months when i come across these passages again they may not fit together and they may have a whole different meaning for me. i want to be an instrument of righteousness, knowing that i will never be perfect in this life but knowing that there is hope that i can sin less.

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don't jazz up the Gospel

from the buzzard blog

"We do not need to jazz up or somehow enhance a weak gospel. We need to faithfully teach and preach the biblical gospel and see to it that identifiably faithful men will take the unadulterated gospel to the next generation. That is how to grow a church biblically."
-Steve Martin, p. 310, Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry

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Jun 14, 2008

mutemath plug

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Jun 13, 2008

musical bliss in my city



the avett bros + st. louis= amazing-me=sucked

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weekly roundup 6.7-6.13

this week will be a special edition with two new categories for two big happenings. first will be the southern baptist convention and the other will be the iPhone 3G. also if you love st. louis, america, and/or beer, go here. happy reading!


theos

southern north of the mason-dixon
good sounds and sights
around the world
over-payed amateurs
iPhone 3G do i need thee?shiny things and geeks

** i do not agree with everything that i post but i believe that it may be relevant to issues that we are facing today.**

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Jun 12, 2008

chew on this

"to charge someone with the spiritual oversight of a church who doesn't in practice show a commitment to hear and teach God's Word is to hamper the growth of the church, in essence allowing it to grow only to the level of the pastor. the church will slowly be conformed to the pastor's mind rather than to God's mind. and what we want, what as christians we care, are God's words. we want to hear and know in our souls what He has said."
-mark dever
9marks of a healthy church
ch.1, pg.42
i started reading this a couple months ago and lost track of it so i am starting again and as i was reading this it jumped off of the page at me. this is one of the most convicting statements i have read in a while. this affirms to me that we must, above all, proclaim the word. i pray it is convicting and encouraging for you as well.

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Jun 10, 2008

age old question

to go with an undershirt or not? let's hear your thoughts

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delight

as I sit out here and play ball with sophie on an amazing summer
afternoon, I can't help but praise God for how wonderful he is and how
such a thing as my dog can help me delight in Him. he indeed is a
wonderful creator!

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Jun 9, 2008

imago dei

connection time after the first preview service @ imagodei.cc
very cool

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could have been disatrous

this week i had issues with my beloved apple products
on monday there was a fumbled exchange between owen pye and i (he was not at fault)
this is what happened to my iphone:then sunday i was charging my macbook where i probably should not have and it fell to the floor from a distance of over 4 feet. here is what it looks like:
but we made it through and everything is functioning normal except for me. needless to say i have been a little edgy around gadgets. kim wouldn't even let me drive.

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Jun 6, 2008

weekly roundup 5.31-6.6

first of all thank you for the feedback from the first ever weekly roundup. i am beginning to realize that this is a large undertaking but i am going to press on and do it. i have decided to make it easier to sift through i am going to make sections and each section will be broad and hopefully self explanatory. if there is any more feedback, i would really love this. i am sure this will be ever changing in form so tell what you like and what you don't like. so here it is for this week:

theos

good sounds and sights
around the world
over-payed amateurs
shiny things and geeks
** i do not agree with everything that i post but i believe that it may be relevant to issues that we are facing today. **

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