Jumping through Fires Review

I’m not sure what I expected when I “picked up” a copy of David Nasser’s new book, “Jumping through Fires: The Gripping Story of One Man’s Escape from Revolution to Redemption.”  I heard David Nasser speak last year at the National Worship Leader’s Conference.  If you know me well, you know that I often say that most people learn their theology from what they sing in church, not what they hear in church.  What you remember is not usually specific examples from the sermon, but rather the songs that you sing in your car, home and often in your head.  There are however a handful of times that I’ve heard a message by a speaker so riveting that I remember it starkly.  One example is when Pastor Mark talked about what divorce really is.  He talked about two becoming one flesh.  Then to demonstrate what happens when you tear that flesh apart, he ripped a teddy bear in half.  The one message that has been on my mind for the last half of a year or so is David Nasser’s message.  If you go back through my blog a bit, you will find the link to the video of that message.  It is powerful, but I highly recommend that you watch it a couple of times.

So, it was with that frame of mind that I sat down to read this book.  Jumping through Fires is a well written, engaging book.  I would say that it is an easy read, and I got through it in a couple of hours.  Nasser’s style is storytelling at its best.  He tells the story in a linear style, and then goes back and fills in the tangents that would have sidetracked most authors throughout.  The result is that you become so engaged in the story he’s telling that when he goes back afterwords and fills in holes, you appreciate more the stories he just told.

Reading about Nasser’s life is really reading about Jesus’ working through a tapestry of events that unfolded over the course of 20 or so years.  You really see how God moved through events, often events that are bleak, to eventually bring a young man to saving faith, and then send him out to touch the lives of people all over the globe.

The story starts when David Nasser is 9 years old, and his family is caught up in a religious revolution that changed their world.  Nasser talks about moving to America, going from shy Iranian kid, to school druggie, and then Christ taking hold of his life and story, and using it to spread the gospel.  One story that moves me is the story of his first visit to youth group, and how God used a team of worshipers with servant hearts to soften the hard heart of Nasser’s Muslim father.

I did find myself wanting more from this book.  Perhaps because the book is a strict autobiography, and at no point does Nasser go off on a tangent and start preaching at his readers.  He simply lets the events speak for themselves and lets the reader draw their own conclusions about God’s power in lives.  It does give me a bit of perspective on the talks I have seen him give, and likely on any future books I will read by him.

I would encourage you to go out and grab a copy of this book and enjoy!

A Mighty Fortress

This week's devotional is up on the devotional side of the website.  This week I talk about Christy Nockels' song, "A Mighty Fortress."

 
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/-4H-iWayY5M&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1

A Mighty Fortress

As I look through Christy Nockels’ song, “A Mighty Fortress,” I am fairly certain that we could go through the song line by line and find the corresponding Bible verses.  So, in the interests of time, let’s grab some of the major themes.

Let’s start with a concept that isn’t mentioned in the song directly.  This is the image of the separation of the wheat from the chaff that we see throughout the Bible.  I would encourage you to look up chaff and see the illustrations.  The chaff is the seed husks and stalk that get separated out from the wheat.  It is worthless for anything but being burned.  We see throughout the Bible that God separates the chaff from the wheat in our hearts and burns it up.  He separates that which is useless to our purpose of glorifying Him and burns it up.  What a promise!

This is the image that the Nockels paint for us first.  The image of God as a consuming fire.  They get this term from Deuteronomy 4:24, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”  and Hebrews 12:28-29, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

Some people get the wrong idea from the term jealous God.  When God is jealous, he wants the best for us.  He knows that if we would only turn and keep our eyes on Him, we would be satisfied.  Our deepest need is to worship.  As a people, we all respond to that need by worshiping something.  That may be money, or power, or ourselves, or other unsatisfying things.  The Father knows that if we would turn and worship Him, we would be satisfied from the well that never ends.

Next to the idea of God as a Judge.  Do we not want justice?  When we are wronged, do we not want the offender judged fairly?  God is the only righteous Judge.  He alone sees to the core of our being and judges us.  That is why Christ was necessary, because when God looks at us to judge us, He must be fair, and getting judged fairly on our own is bad news for everyone.  When we identify with Christ though, when He looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin and brokenness, He sees Christ’s perfect atoning work on the cross!  What a wondrous love!  What about the murderer who accepts Christ though?  How can God not judge that man or woman for his/her crime?  I would say, have you not committed sins as great either in your heart or in deed.  Have you coveted?  Have you committed adultery by looking where you shouldn’t look?  Have you murdered someone with your words and actions or inactions?  I think if we start looking at ourselves, we start realizing just how great Christ’s sacrifice really was.  It all boils down to the greatest command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.”  We all fall short, and the only One that ever has completed this command was the One who has existed in perfect harmony with the Father as a part of the Godhead for all eternity.

The other part of the song that Christy talks about is the other half of Hebrews 12:28-29.  Here it talks about the Kingdom being unshakable.   We’ve seen that imagery before of course.  When I read the title of this song, my mind goes to Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress” which is based on Psalm 46.  It is the same thought.  We would rather build our Faith on a solid foundation.  The solid Rock that is our Savior Jesus Christ.  In His name we cannot be shaken.  Though storms may buffet, we can never be shaken in Him.  This is a truth to cling to.  This is a promise that He is faithful to keep.  So much more faithful than we ever have been or will be.

So, let’s make this our prayer, to set our eyes on Him and our hearts on Him.  Let us take refuge in the fortress that can never be defeated.  Let us not fear even when the earth gives way and the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea.  Even though its waters roar and foam, though its mountains tremble at its swelling.  Let us be still and know that He is God.  He will be exalted among the nations; He will be exalted in all of the earth!  The Lord of hosts is with us.  The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Amen

A Daily Walk

Despite this site’s focus on my daily walk with the Lord, today I just wanted to briefly mention that today I started my daily walk with the treadmill.  Despite a more consistent meal structure since we’ve brought Isaac home, my weight has ballooned quite a bit in the last 4 weeks or so, to the tune of 15 pounds or so.

Once upon a time, I had a jogging/walking regimen that was daily, and during that time, I lost 30 or 40 pounds.  Of course, I was also a marching band director with all of the accompanying physical activity.  I just find myself either sitting in my chair at work, or sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery, and not necessarily doing a lot more than that.

So, I’m starting with a daily hour of walking.  My intent is to at some point add back in the jogging too, but for right now, it’s on the treadmill for an episode of some form of Sci-fi!  I actually did some research on what the benefits of simply adding an hour of vigorous walking a day are, and was surprised to find that there are many added benefits to walking an hour a day.

So, let me throw down the gauntlet!  Let’s walk an hour a day!  If it’s not winter, go outside and prayer walk.  Let 2010 be the year you started getting healthier!

Where was the Church last week?

Something I’ve been encouraged by this week is the seeming outpouring of people crying out for the people of Haiti.  People are seeing devastation and they are giving to relieve the suffering of hurting people.  Ministries are on the ground, trying to show people the love of Christ.  The Church has (at least for now) shown up for Haiti.

Where was the Church last week.  Why weren’t we crying out to God last week for the people suffering in the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  Why weren’t we desparate to see the 1.5 million orphans in Haiti taken care of and homes provided?  Do you know how many orphaned children 1.5 million is?  Kansas City, Missouri has a population of only 500,000.  1.5 million is the population of the 4^th largest city in the US, Philadelphia.  And now, post earthquake, estimates say possibly 2 million orphans.  So, when Christ tells us in Matthew 25 to take care of orphans, we’d better sit up and pay attention to what’s going on in Haiti.

So, Church, let’s look around and not wait for the next disaster to have our hearts broken for the people that are in desperate need.  Let’s step out, and show the world Christ’s love.

What Grace is Mine

I’ve been thinking a lot on God’s Grace this week.  I talked about it some in this week’s devotional, but I’m struck so by the depth of His mercies.  This coming Sunday, as a closing song, we’re singing the Getty hymn (if you know me, you know I love the Getty hymns), What Grace is Mine.  I know it’s the cheating way out of writing a blog post, but it is rather late!  What wondrous words follow here:

Verse 1 

What grace is mine

That He who dwells in endless light

Called through the night to find my distant soul

And from His scars poured mercy

That would plead for me

That I might live and in His name be known

Chorus

So I will go wherever He is calling me

I lose my life to find my life in Him

I give my all to gain the hope that never dies

I bow my heart take up my cross and follow Him

Verse 2 

What grace is mine to know

His breath alive in me

Beneath His wings my weary soul may soar

All fear can flee

For death's dark night is overcome

My Saviour lives and reigns forevermore

Chorus

So I will go wherever He is calling me

I lose my life to find my life in Him

I give my all to gain the hope that never dies

I bow my heart take up my cross and follow Him

 

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/AwaZFpGrdSo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1
 

The Bride of Christ

By far the most impacting speaker I’ve heard this year was David Nasser at the National Worship Leader Conference.  I’ve looked for another talk like it, and this is the only one I’ve seen him give like this.  Here’s a link to the site you can watch it.  Of the four, Nasser is the one on the bottom right.  When he spoke, he warmed up the crowd, and then he started talking about weddings.  In particular he described the way that the gathered crowd watches everything in kind of a detached amusement until, the music swells, everyone stands and turns around and gasps in awe as the bride walks in the room.  I still remember that moment, and I’m sure you guys that are married remember when your bride came in the room.  Everyone stops and takes notice.

The Church is the Bride of the Christ, but right now, the world is not captivated by the beauty of the Bride.  It was this message, where David Nasser talked about Amos 5.  When I see what is happening in Haiti, I think it’s time for the Bride of Christ to walk in the room.  I have two questions.  #1, how can I be the Bride of Christ, and #2, how can Grace Baptist Church be the Bride of Christ.

If you’re wondering the same questions, for now #1 starts with prayer, and for me is going to continue with giving of resources.  There are several websites (like KLove) that you can go to for ideas of places to give to.  I saw a report on Drudgereport that the US Red Cross is actually out of medical supplies.  I think Jodie and I are going to give through Compassion International.  With $105, you can provide a families needs for two weeks.  I would encourage you to find a ministry and to support it.  As a church, we have got to figure out how we can show the love of Christ to these people.  It breaks my heart when I see comments from people like Pat Robertson saying that the earthquake is a result of the national religion of Voodoo.  How does that help?  Sorry, I just got really angry when I saw that.

How He Loves (part 2)

After much time, the second devotional on the song How He Loves is up in the devotional section of the site.  Sloppy wet kisses and oceans of grace are expounded upon.  If you don't know the song, I've posted below my favorite version of the song.  David Crowder changes the offending words sloppy wet, and honestly, I really like Jared Anderson's version anyway.  Plus, I really think I should grow a beard again!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6804902&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1
 

How He Loves (part 2)

If it seems like it’s been forever since we did the devotional on How He Loves (Part 1), it’s because it’s been forever!

We left off after verse 1.  The chorus is fairly self explanatory, so we kind of skipped over it.  What I wanted to do here was to go through the second verse.  Of course, by the second verse, I mean the original one with that oh so controversial line in it, “when heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss…”

Before we get there, let’s start at the beginning of verse 2.  “So we are His portion and He is our prize.”  This sounds wrong to me.  Isn’t He our portion?  Well, this line is not only Biblical; it’s straight from the Bible!  We find the thought in Deuteronomy 32:9.  Rather than me with woeful attempts to use the English language try to explain it, I’ll quote Matthew Henry’s explanation here.

“All the world is His.  He is owner and possessor of heaven and earth, but His Church is His in a peculiar manner.  It is His demesne, His vineyard, His garden enclosed.  He has a particular delight in it:  it is the beloved of His soul, in it He walks, He dwells, it is His rest forever.  He has a particular concern for it, keeps it as the apple of His eye.  He has particular expectations from it, as a man has from his portion, has a much greater rent of honour, glory, and worship, from that distinguished remnant, than from all the world besides.  That God should be His people’s portion is easy to be accounted for, for He is their joy and felicity; but how they should be His portion, Who neither needs them, nor can be benefitted by them, must be resolved into the wondrous condescensions of free grace.”

What a wondrous thought.  There are so many blessing that can only be resolved by the wondrous condescension of free grace!  So much so, that we’re drawn to redemption only by His grace.  On our own we wouldn’t desire redemption.  It is only by His grace that we come to Him.  There is so much grace that if it were an ocean we would all be sinking in it!  Even people that neither acknowledge nor worship Him are benefiters of His grace every day.

The most breathtaking display of His grace was when heaven met earth by God the Son taking earthly form, becoming despised and rejected, beaten and crucified, all so that rebels could become worshipers.  That’s where this line, “When heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss” comes in.  Unfortunately this line alone is why we will never sing the song on Sunday morning.  I would have to take 20 minutes and explain what is meant by these lines, and only those that would be there would understand.  John Mark McMillan has blogged about this, so I’ll let his explanation stand.

“The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy.  Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus Himself.  These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy (‘gory’ may be more realistic, but ‘Heaven meets earth like a gory mess’ didn’t seem to have the same ring).  Why does the church have such a problem when things being sloppy?  Do we really think we’re fooling anyone on Sunday morning, especially God?  Are we going to offend Him?...”

A sloppy wet kiss… Both beautiful and messy at the same time.  What a perfect description of what happened at both the incarnation and the cross.  This is why when David Crowder (with John Mark’s permission and blessing) changed the line to “unforeseen kiss.”  It has meant that so many more people have heard and sung this song than would have if he hadn’t changed the line.  The unfortunate part is that unforeseen completely changes the meaning of this verse.   When we consider the shocking way that Christ redeemed His people to the father, we can’t help but be struck by the depth of His love.  When we consider this, we should have no time to consider our regrets because we should be so busy worshiping Him!

Many of you know my dislike for “7-11” songs (7 words repeated 11 times),but when you consider how He does love us, and in such an undeserved way, you just have to repeat to the world that He loves us so much, and the world needs to see that!  Oh, how He loves us!

Unencouraging Response to Leadership

I’m up to Joshua starting today with my readings, and first, I was struck by the leadership that Joshua showed.  After 40 years of wandering about, Moses dies, and Joshua immediately takes up swift and decisive leadership with knowledge of where his mission and strength come from (the Lord).

Then follows perhaps the most unencouraging response that the people could have said (now I’m quite certain neither they, nor the interpretation means it this way).  They said, okay Joshua, we’ll follow you like we followed Moses!  Now, I realize that the generation that is following Joshua is not the generation that had a rather bad track record of disobeying God and Moses.  Something about a golden calf, and some serious trepidation about the Promised Land (giants and all), and see the previous post for examples of bellyaching.

So, if I were Joshua, I’m not sure that I would be heartened by that statement.  And to be blunt, it doesn’t take terribly long for the Israelites to start following instructions much the same way (kind of like us huh?) that they did in the wilderness.  They do a great job with the whole march around Jericho with the ark, and give a great shout, and the walls come tumbling down thing, but they then promptly disobey God and Joshua.  Achan and Zabdi take some of the devoted things that they were told not to take, and the Lord’s anger burned against all of Israel.  They had just witnessed some really cool miracles, and they were so distracted by greed that they derailed the nations’ following of God.

God quickly tells Joshua why He’s angry at the nation of Israel and they repent… You know, go to Joshua and read the story!  My point was made early on.  I just saw irony in the following like they followed Moses.

Archives Completed

I’m not sure if this counts as a blog post, but since I’ve spent most of the evening transferring my old site alan.gerlingfamily.com over to this site, it will have to!  Looking back, I started out well, and then sort of dropped off very quickly.  Actually, I think I’ve already blogged more than in 2009.  I’ve actually found this to be very helpful to me.  This morning, I shared a sort of combination of some of the posts that I’ve written this week (Love of God + Romans 8:38), and someone came up and said that they really appreciated what I shared this morning.  I guess being forced to come up with a deep thought every day gets me in the habit of thinking devotional thoughts.

Back on to the archive subject, there was the link to look at it.  The old site is officially down, so I guess I’ll start getting all of my hits from people looking for Lincoln Brewster’s “A New Hallelujah” on this site now! (By far the #1 referral term on the old site)

Old Worship Matters Video

I've been moving all of my old posts from alan.gerlingfamily.com over to amos5worship, and I ran across this one from 2008.  I forgot how much I loved this 3 minute video.  One great quote he says is, "I was supposed to be worshiping God, but instead I had been worshiping my opinions about worshiping God."  He talks about what it means to be a worship leader, but he's really talking about how to be a worshiper!

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor thing present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 (NASB)

I need to hear this verse a lot.  It’s actually the verse that comes to mind the most.  If I’m struggling with something, I think through it.  When I am having trouble preparing for worship on a Sunday morning, I sing through it (I know a melody to it that some random person at East Iowa Bible Camp came up with that I’ve remembered ever since).  This verse is a great comfort to me.

What I love most about it is that Paul doesn’t just stop at nothing can separate us from the love of Christ; he goes through all the spectrums.  He contrasts all of the extremes.  Nothing from death to life.  Nothing from angels to demons (and everything in between), nothing in our past, and nothing in our future (in other words, nothing we have done and nothing we will do) can separate us from Christ.  Oh what marvelous Grace He has shown us!  Need you another reason to worship!

It’s no wonder that the hymn writer wrote:

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.  It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.  The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win.  His erring Child, He reconciled and pardoned from his sin.

And my favorite verse (I love the picture that he paints here)

Could we with ink, the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made.  Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade.  To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.  Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure!  How measureless and strong!  It shall forevermore endure the saints’ and angels’ song.

We will spend all eternity worshiping Christ our redeemer, yet even that time won’t even begin to describe the love that He showed us at the cross.  Let’s get a good head start yes?  Hope to see you Sunday singing praises to our King! (Or if you’re not in Manhattan, hope you are somewhere singing praises to the King!)

Web Week

As I come to the end of the week, I look at my time sheet for work and realize that I've spent almost all of my time this week working on websites. Most of the week was spent rebuilding the church website in Joomla. It's funny, the reason I use Joomla these days is because the committee decided to use a CMS, Drupal was decided upon, I saw the beauty of a CMS, I tried to build Jodie's Design website in Drupal, after screaming at my computer decided to try some other ones, discovered that Joomla is more in line with my style, and now the church website is in Joomla. Did you follow that? ;-)

Anyway, I finished up yesterday, and got the domains all transferred over. I came home today from the Barkey funeral (by the way, truly a blessed time of remembering Aaron, if you weren't there, you can read Pastor Flack's message here) excited about sitting down and having a relaxing day, and as I walk in the door, Jodie greets me with, "our websites have been hacked." <groan> So, I spent the next 2 or 3 hours first restoring our backups and then making sure it doesn't happen again. These people need to find something else to do with their time, seriously.

Then, after a moment of inspiration, I promptly sat down and programmed the Grace Youth Ministries website that's been in the waiting for a while. It is now an empty designed sponge waiting to be filled with content (that's actually what took me all week with the Grace site, there was a lot of content).

On a completely random and unrelated note, if you aren't a Grace attendee, chances are that you've never heard or sung Chris Tomlin's version of All the Way My Savior Leads Me. I much prefer it to the hymn music (don't worry, Fanny Crosby's lyrics are still intact), and I like the chorus he added. On the plus side, every time we sing it in church, the congregation belts it out, and I do love hearing the congregation belt it out!

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/yKkDzII4s4s&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00
 

Matt Maher - Alive Again

Chances are, you know who Matt Maher is.  At the very least, you would recognize perhaps his most popular song, Your Grace is Enough.  Last August, Matt released his second major label album titled Alive Again.  I’ve found this album to be a good mix of upbeat and reflective songs, each with well thought through lyrics, and a sound that I can stand up to repeat listenings.

One of the things that make this cd a great album to put on your MP3 player, in your car, or on your computer is the depth of the lyrics.  They make you really lean in and listen to what’s being said.  It really shocked me to discover that Matt is Roman Catholic.  I had not realized the extent to which the Catholic Church is on the verge of revival.  There are many young Catholics out there who love the traditions that they’ve grown up with, but are dissatisfied with aspects of the Catholic Church.  Rather than leave the Church, they’ve decided to reform it from the inside out.  Needless to say, I have found all the songs to be solid, and would recommend listening through the album.

The track that you’ve likely heard on the radio is the title track, Alive Again.  I’ve found the stand-out tracks to be Love Comes Down, Remembrance (Communion Song), and Christ is Risen.  The first two we’ve sung often since August in Grace services, and I’m quite sure we’ll work Christ is Risen in time for Easter services.

Actually, as I have been writing this on and off this evening, I’ve been listening to the cd for the first time in a while, and I’m reminded how much I like this cd, so go out, download it from iTunes, or Rhapsody or buy a cd, but you really should listen to it!

http://www.youtube.com/v/f79KWKrGqiA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00
 

Time Flies!

I was reposting sermons today, and I really realized that though a year and a half is a short time, I’ve been here a long time.  That is, I’ve been here at Grace for a lot of Sundays.  It’s kind of weird how the cadence of the work week culminating on Sunday is just a completely different feeling that what it was like when I was a teacher.  Then, things had a rhythm and flow of certain seasons (i.e. marching season, Christmas season, contest season, etc.)  There was always a build-up to each season, with a break at the end.  Here the only long buildup is Easter Cantata.  Everything else is kind of short bursts.

Not that I’m saying that’s bad, it’s just different.  Time flies much quicker this way.  I lose track of the weeks, and the months all seem to kind of melt together.  I feel like I lose contact with friends and family so much quicker because the week just flies by without stopping for a breath.  Although, now that I think about it, the major difference is the commute time.  I used to drive 30 minutes to work every day, and then 30 minutes back home, and then on Wednesdays, 30 minutes the other direction for church, or if I needed groceries, 15 minutes for Fort Madison, 30 for Mount Pleasant or 45 for Burlington.  I’m starting to realize that that was kind of like my slowdown time.  I usually would call people on the road, so most of the time that I spent communicating was in the car (don’t worry, I had a hands free).

Now, the drive maybe takes me 3 minutes if I hit the lights wrong.  It takes me far more time to dig my car out after a storm than it does for me to drive to church!  It’s odd, especially considering I used to fill up our cars 3 times a week, and now we fill up each car once a month or so, but I really miss my drive time.  I suppose looking back, except for the college years when I lived on campus, I’ve always had travel time.  Even when I rode the bus, we were almost the first ones on, and almost the last ones off.  I can’t begin to tell you how much reading you can get done with 45 minute bus rides all the time!

Anyway, if that sounded like whining, it really wasn’t, just thinking about something completely random, yet profoundly affecting of my life!  How about you?  Do you find yourself doing all of your thinking on the road, and would you miss it if it were gone?

Favorite Getty Hymn

I think I've decided that my favorite Getty hymn is Love of God.  Good luck finding a recording of it, there's a verse on YouTube (I'll post it below), but I literally cannot find the whole song anywhere.  Not only that, but it's not even listed on the gettymusic website.  I really can't figure that out, but it's okay, Love of God is still my favorite Getty hymn.  Hopefully you attend Grace, so you know it as well.  If not, you might actually consider buying the packet of Getty hymns from the website, just so you can have this one.  Of course, you get all the others too!

Let me quick write out for you the third verse, and you can see for yourself why this hymn is so amazing.

Love of God, what priceless treasure over all this world affords: To be His and His forever this my glory and my reward!  May this love beyond all knowing so capture my soul that I'm filled to overflowing with a passion for Him alone!

The second half of that verse is my prayer.  May I know the love of Christ so well that I'm filled to overflowing with a passion to know Him more!  His Love results in our worship, which results in His pleasure, which is our joy!  

 

Website Tweak

Yes, I realize that it has been a mere two weeks since I launched Amos 5 Worship, and I'm already messing with stuff.  I've changed the module that does all of the work on the Blog, so you'll notice things look a little different, specifically the comment system is much better, and the search engine optimization actually exists now!  If you subscribe to the blog, it is entirely possible that you will receive all of the posts over again because I cut and pasted them from the old module and I'm too lazy to go in and edit all of the created date timestamps.  So, sorry, but I promise it won't happen again, or if it does, it will be a very long time from now!

Giants

I was reading Deuteronomy 9 today, and I was struck by Deuteronomy 9:1-3.  Here we have God telling His people that they are going to head into the promised land and they are going to be faced with a people great and tall… giants.  Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of a giant, I think of Fezzig from The Princess Bride.  He’s this huge, hulking man, who incidentally is known far and wide for his fighting prowess.  So, when I read Deu 9, I think of a land filled with a whole bunch of Fezzigs.

The Israelites aren’t stupid, matter of fact, they have a saying, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?”  Well, the answer is simple, the Lord, because no one can stand before the Lord our God!  Long intro for pointing out that what I was struck by today is that there are a lot of giants in the Bible.  Of course, the one we think of most often is David and Goliath.  There we saw a short little guy against the greatest warrior that happened to be a giant, and what happened?  God showed that He can take the most unlikely of people and do incredible things, including defeating giants with one stone.  Why giants?  I think it’s because when Goliath is on the ground dead, no one is sitting around saying, wow, that David is sure some warrior.  Instead, when David says, my strength is the Lord of Hosts, people look and see that there is the reason why the giant was defeated.

What are the giants in your life?  I think God still likes to take unlikely heroes and defeat giants.  And I’m talking both inward giants and outward giants.  I believe that He is using some friends of mine to defeat the giant of unsafe drinking water.  The problem is this huge hulking problem, but with folks like them, and people like you buying filters and supporting them, that giant will be defeated.

We all have inward giants, and we need to know that those giants will be defeated.  Sometimes it happens with a single stone, and the giant is gone.  We need to make sure that He receives the glory for that, and sometimes the giant is defeated through a long campaign, but defeated he will be.  Make sure that God receives the glory for that too.

Really when you boil it down, Christ defeated all of our giants (sin) on the cross, once for all time.  So, if you have doubts, know that the giants in your life have already been defeated!  They are just fighting a rearguard action, but they have lost the battle!  Let us together rejoice in the victory we have in Christ!

     

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7575212&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1

Benediction

Okay, so I’ve essentially had the same song running through my head all day.  It’s the song we closed the services with this morning, Benediction (May the Peace).  It is of course a Getty hymn.  I think I’ve mentioned somewhere that since May, I’ve started listening to and adding to the services Keith and Kristyn Getty hymns.  If you don’t know who the Gettys are, you really ought to go out and buy one of their two cds, In Christ Alone or Awake the Dawn.  That, or do a search on Rhapsody.

Anyway, this particular hymn has this chorus:

And to Him be praise for His glorious reign;

From the depths of earth to the heights of heaven

We declare the name of the Lamb once slain—

Christ eternal, the King of Kings.

You really start to get a picture of what worship is here.  We look forward to when we are seated before the throne singing, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive riches and honor and power and glory!  Beyond that, the Gettys have written for us a hymn celebrating the Kingdom and the King.  What is really interesting about this hymn though is that, the verses are a classic benediction, giving a blessing.  The verses are focused on the person receiving the blessing, yet the chorus reminds us that as we head out from church into our lives, our chief concern is that Christ receive all of the glory, honor and praise.

So, as you head out into the world this week, remember, your focus is on Christ, and may He be praised with our lives!

Family

Well, the last of the family visits for a while ended today, and I must say, the one thing that I miss most living in Kansas is being near to family.  While it was good to see all three sets of grandparents, and one set of Aunt/Uncle/Cousins, it was bittersweet knowing that the next time that we will likely see them, Isaac will be 3 months old.  Though they will see pictures of him as he gets older, maybe even see him on Skype via webcam occasionally, it just won’t quite be the same.

This is when it is hard to follow the call God has given us.  We love our church home here at Grace and I love serving as worship director, but I do miss being surrounded by family.  I guess that’s probably because our whole lives growing up we were surrounded by family.  Even when Eric and then Mom moved up to the Des Moines area, I was still around Aunts and Uncles and Cousins and church family.  Then when I married Jodie, all of her family was there too.  Despite feeling welcomed here in Manhattan, it just feels lonely sometimes!

Well, this is getting depressing.  My whole purpose here was to just write and say how wonderful it was to see everybody over the last couple of weeks.  Of course, if you are family, and you didn’t come down, remember, you’re always welcome, and there are even some that I would be happy to sing a Selah duet in church with if they decided to visit us sometime…… :-D

So, until then, keep checking out pictures of Isaac on www.psalm127mom.com (we’re not posting a whole lot of pictures on Facebook.  I have issues with their privacy policies, and frankly, it creeps me out a bit that though you can “remove” pictures from your profile, you cannot remove them Facebook’s server).  Also, if you are family, and have Skype, let me know and you can see Isaac sometime!

The Year Ahead

I find it fairly appropriate that as midnight came and went last night, I was literally at the changing table with a verydirty diaper.  As I look ahead at 2010, I see a year with a focus on learning to raise our son, Isaac.  I’m sure there will be missteps and successes, but as I was looking at my 15 month old nephew, I was thinking that Isaac will be not too terribly much smaller a year from now.  In the next year, we’ll have seen his first steps and heard his first words (probably).  We’ll see his personality grow and develop, and he’ll start learning hymns .

On the work front, I’m looking forward to the intern that is coming to work with me in a week (whoa, I so need to get the office ready this week!).  Because of that, the Easter cantata will be a whole lot of work, but hopefully a clear picture of the Easter story for those who don’t know Christ.  Also, the Easter service might be a special service, and in our spare time we’ll be working on the hymnal that I’m planning on publishing for Grace this year.  Also, I’ll be continuing the blogging and trying to get out and connect with folks in the community.

I still have a stack of books to read from last year, but since Jodie and I haven’t turned the TV on since we brought Isaac home, and we’re cancelling the cable, I think I might actually get through some of the stack.  I will of course post reviews as I finish.  There will I’m sure be whole hours of new and old worship music to listen through and I will let you know as they come out.

Above all though, I pray that I might draw nearer to God in this year, that I might worship Him as He would have me worship Him, and know Him, as He would have me know Him.  I hope that’s your prayer for the coming year too!  Praise Him for His mercies, for they are new every day!

The Year Behind

I can’t believe that tomorrow is already 2010.  2009 seems to have just flown by so quickly that I’m not sure where it all went.  I thought I’d hit some of the high and low points of the year and maybe talk about what I learned.  I don’t know really, I’m kind of hoping this post will write itself.  I’m going to do as it comes to me.

As I look back on last year’s resolutions that happened to fall on the New Year, I missed every single point I had… Yep, just read through them, didn’t accomplish a single goal I had.  They were all good goals; I just don’t know where the time went.

At church, some of the biggies were the Worship Philosophy, the Easter Cantata, my first sermon, and the combined church picnic.  All went well, and overall, I really began to hit my stride at Grace this year.  That’s not to say I’m where I’d like to be with all aspects of my job, but looking back at 2009, we were able to accomplish a lot, and I pray Christ was exalted in all we did.

In my personal life, we lost Grandma this year.  Since I didn’t really know Grandpa, or any grandparents on my dad’s side, it was really tough to lose that generation.  We were able to spend the last couple of days with her, and then celebrate her life.  I never thought I’d witness a discussion mid-funeral about whether the Sywassinks were German or Dutch, but it turns out that all our lives we thought it was German, but it’s actually Dutch.

On the up side, we added to our family a couple of weeks ago.  Isaac Stanley was born on the 11th of December.  We’re trying to figure out this whole parenting thing, but it’s amazing how this little boy has touched and changed our lives.  Tomorrow’s the year ahead post will essentially write itself with looking ahead at year one of his life.

In a more random list, I didn’t read as much as I wanted this year, but did chew through some books.  The pastoral staff went to the BASICS pastor’s conference in May, and since then I’ve been a trifle obsessed with Getty music, but the church tolerates it well!  Jodie and I did get to go to the National Worship Leader’s Conference in July, and I can honestly say that I’m still grappling with some of the things that I learned there, and I look forward to returning again either this year or next.

As I alluded to earlier, I do have some regret about 2009.  There was just so much that I wanted to do that just didn’t get done.  I’m sure you have regrets as you look back too.  Below, I’ve posted a wonderful video from Igniter Media talking about regrets.  Despite that, I know that I’m on a journey pressing toward the goal, and sometimes I move along speedily, and sometimes God has to drag me a bit, but I know that my Lord is always with me and always bringing me along.  So, goodbye 2009.  I hope you had a blessed year, I know that I’ve been blessed far more than I ever deserve!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2613815&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1

Numbers 11

I’ve been following my automatically generated read through the Bible in a year plan, and occasionally, when nothing strikes me to write on my blog, I will likely share with you some thoughts from my daily readings.  For the last couple of days, I’ve been working my way through Numbers, and something struck me today about the contrast betweenNumbers 9 and Numbers 11.

As I was reading about the cloud that covered the tabernacle in Numbers 9, I actually thought, wow that’d make a great blog post.  In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, their pace was determined by a cloud that would descend on the tabernacle when they were to stop, and lift when they should start again.  Sometimes, they would stay in one place for a couple of days and sometimes only a night.  The amazing thing is that the Israelites were completely and totally reliant on the Lord.  They were fed by manna and dew.  Their pace was determined by a cloud, and even the decisions about who was and wasn’t to share in the Passover meal were consulted with the Lord first.  One of the biggest lies that we can convince ourselves of is that we are self-reliant and independent.  It is truly by the Grace of our Lord that we live from moment to moment and that we share in the blessings He bestows.  The Israelites were just more obviously dependant on Him.

Then we get to Numbers 11, and the people start whining.  You know, it was really actually better in Egypt, at least there we got to eat meat.  Now all we get is manna, and there’s only so much you can do with manna.  In Egypt we had fish and cucumbers and leeks and garlic (they must have been Veggietales fans).  Why did we leave Egypt again?  It was really better in Egypt…

Sound familiar?  If it doesn’t, then congratulations on being way ahead of me in your spiritual walk.  The Lord has done some serious leading in my life, but all too often, I look back and complain.  As bad as things were, they really weren’t that bad.  Is this maybe one of the ways that sin creeps back into our lives?  We start craving just that little piece of meat, because all we’ve had is manna.  Sure, manna is from the Lord, and is sustaining us, and showing how much He cares about our wellbeing, but the meat tasted so good.  You know, I won’t eat the whole thing, I’ll just have a bite.  Well, maybe a couple of bites….  Eventually, the Lord gave the people what they wanted in the form of a flock of quail, but it was plague ridden.  How cruel you might say!  Was it?  The Lord was providing manna, and when that wasn’t good enough, He warned them about the alternative, and they essentially said death was better than manna (didn’t they remember Egypt).

This makes me appreciate all the more the Grace that Christ shows us daily!  Even when we keep going back for meat, he keeps standing there with the manna and dew saying, “I have here the perfect sustenance.  Eat of the Bread and drink of the Water that I bring you and you will be satisfied!” May we all find our satisfaction in Him!

The deep sigh at the end of a long day...

You know that moment, like at the end of Lord of the Rings, when all the tension relaxes, and you get to just breathe a long deep cleansing sigh.  You know, like at the end of a long day.  This cd is like that for me.  It just seems to be that deep cleansing breath of music.

You probably have never heard of Justin Unger.  He’s a worship leader from Phoenix, AZ, and “To Know You Love Me” is his major label worship release.  And chances are, you still won’t hear about Justin Unger… at least from places like K-Love and AFR, his style just doesn’t fit what is popular radio right now.

Each track on the album is characterized by a smooth sound of piano, electronics, and the vocals of Justin and his wife Falon.  The lyrics stand out as having been given thought, and each song takes you on a journey.  All too often with today’s worship music, the verse/chorus/bridge feel is all too evident.  These songs almost feel like Getty songs in that they start in one place and end somewhere else.

Of the original material on the album, I particularly like, “To Know You Love Me,” “Sing to the King,” and “Make Me This Way.”  Of the bunch, if I could find a way to work it out for congregational worship, I would say “Sing to the King” is the most likely candidate to see a Sunday morning.

The two songs on the album that aren’t originals are “Praise to the Lord the Almighty” and “All Creatures of Our God and King.”  Both arrangements are very good, and add something to the listening enjoyment of each song.

This album is definitely one that would go well on an MP3 player or playlist for something to relax to without shutting off your brain.  Listen to the album here on Rhapsody.  Enjoy!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

Let me deal with the first half first.  We’ve inexplicably lost our mouse.  It really ought to be somewhere, but until we find it, we’re stuck using touch pads.  (that fills the part about mice )

So, Sunday night, I was really fired up about today.  I planned to finally get a good full day in at the office, and had a long list of things to do.  First, I must find my desk, second, Dr. Bob gave me a book by A.W. Tozer on worship I wanted to chew through today (review to come when I’ve finished), and there’s a whole long list of stuff that I want to get started on at work.

My plans were well set, until the 4 am feeding (I think, it might have been the midnight one).  What happened?  I woke up dizzy (well actually, apparently I woke up with vertigo).  So, I drank some juice and had a late snack, fed Isaac and went back to sleep.  I woke up later still dizzy.  Matter of fact, the world has yet to cease spinning (Jodie takes this point to remind me that the world does not in fact revolve around me, and I tell her that apparently it does).  Two meals, a nap and several bottles of water later, I was at the doctor’s office trying to explain to him that I felt dizzy, but no I didn’t have a headache, no earache, etc.  I was actually starting to feel stupid, when he held up a finger and asked me to follow it.  I tried, I really did.  And then he had me stand up, put my arms out in front of me and close my eyes.  I’m actually kind of proud I didn’t fall.  So, after prescribing me some anti-dizziness medicine, he let me know he really would like me to get a “head scan” and we’d see what’s wrong.  Yay, an opportunity to come face to face with my fear of getting stuck in a tube!

Anyway, after my appointment, Jodie’s scheduled appointment, Isaac’s appointment to get a weight check (BTW, after two weeks of nothing, he’s finally starting to gain weight), many feedings, and another attempt at a nap (the meds cause drowsiness), I’ve managed to make it to the end of the day with only one or two things checked off my list.  Looking back on the day though, I did get some extra Bible reading done this afternoon.  Since I was dizzy and couldn’t drive Jodie to the doctor, I got some extra cuddle time with Isaac, and was forced to sit down for a day.

I’m not going to super-spiritualize this, but I do think that sometimes our Father knows when we must be forced to take a break.  Not that that doesn’t stop us from planning our days, but be ready for those plans to change, or even be upended entirely.  Have a blessed day, and hopefully tomorrow I can get that cd review done, and that book read, and that desk cleaned……. 

Christmas Communion

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As a church family, we were blessed yet again by sharing the Lord’s Table this morning at church.  What I thought was perhaps the most moving part was that as we celebrate Christmas, we look forward to Good Friday and Easter.  I always find it interesting that everyone thought that the Messiah was coming to earth to establish His earthly Kingdom.  The Israelites certainly thought so.  They were so ready for a conquering Messiah that they were actively looking for that Messiah to come and lead them in freedom from the oppressive Romans.  They didn’t realize that their true oppression was from sin.  Even Satan’s temptations were directed at Christ establishing his Kingdom.

So when I look at that night in Bethlehem, I can’t help but wonder if the shepherds, wise men, and even Mary and Joseph were excited about the birth for the wrong reasons.  They heard a message about peace on earth, but did they understand what peace it was that Christ was to bring?  Had they connected Isaiah 53 to the baby in the manger?

Here’s what is certain though, when the Father sent His Son, He did so knowing that the cross was the goal of Christ’s time on earth.  When the angels sang about peace on earth, they were singing about the peace that Jesus was to bring between God and man.  That peace was won through the sacrifice of His Body and Blood on the cross, and we must remember that as we celebrate His birth!  As you consider the cross, here is a hymn that we don’t sing nearly enough, but has such a powerful text.

Alas and Did My Savior Bleed?

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die! Would he devote that sacred head For such a worm as I!

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree! Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When Christ, the mighty Maker, died For man the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face While his dear cross appears; Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes in tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, 'Tis all that I can do.

New Fallen Snow

Have you heard the expression, “the hush of new fallen snow?”  I always forget about it until a morning like today.  When I walked out the door this morning, all was peaceful.  I know that snow acts as a sound absorber, and so the little sounds get sucked up, and you’re left with silence, but knowing the science behind it doesn’t make it any less wonderful.  Sometime after a big snowfall, or even better during a big snowfall, go outside at like 5 am before the cars and bustle of the world have a chance to spoil it, and listen to the silence.  We experience true silence so rarely, you might really enjoy it!

Traditions

Sometimes when I look at what I do, I feel like a surprising amount of my time is dealing with tradition.  Sometimes I’m striving to not break some traditions of the church, or sometimes, I’m striving to break traditions that either aren’t Biblically accurate, or have become idols to the church.  I’m not a big observer of traditions in my personal life.  Matter of fact, I can’t think of many.  The traditions we kept growing up have largely become less relevant as we’ve grown up and started our own families.

The main season where traditions seem to creep in is Christmas.  The joy of starting our family is that Jodie and I are starting our own Christmas traditions.  We’ve talked about some like doing three gifts on Christmas morning, each tied to the wise men and the gifts they brought to Jesus.  Of course, Isaac obviously isn’t ready to open gifts, so that one is a future tradition.

What I wanted to talk about is the Christmas Eve tradition that we’re starting this year.  We had a really nice dinner together to celebrate the year, the blessings of family, and our Savior.  We followed up with singing through the music for the Christmas Eve service that was cancelled this year.  I look forward with great anticipation to the day when Isaac is old enough to sing along, or even one day play the hymns on the piano as his family sings along.  It may sound odd, but I find it difficult to work music into the daily grind here at home.  I wonder if it’s because I spend every day thinking about worship music for the coming Sunday, the following week, and anything larger that I’m working on.  So this is a chance to share the gifts God has given both of us together.

And finally we read the Christmas story from Luke.  I know that all kinds of families out there read “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” but considering that we’re not going to teach Isaac that Santa is real (something about teaching him about a being who supposedly can read thoughts, travel quickly and perform miracles, only to tell him years later that we were actually lying to him about the whole thing seems to set up confusion when we talk about God and Jesus, Who actually are real!), we’d rather focus on why we just spent the last three months celebrating this holiday, Christmas (Jodie starts up the Christmas music in early October).

I hope that you’ve found your special Christmas traditions in your home, and I pray you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/v/gRdfX7ut8gw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

The Angels Worship!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:13-14

I love the scene that Luke paints in his account of the Christmas story. Some shepherds are out in the fields when, suddenly, angels show up. The shepherds respond like everyone else who sees an angel in the Bible responds. They hit the ground with fear (by the way, it’s for this reason, Joseph Smith was either making it up, or he was visited by a former angel, aka, a demon, he says in the book of mormon that an angel showed up, and he had a casual conversation with it!). After a quick explanation of how to find the baby Jesus, the multitude of heavenly hosts bursts into praise! Can you imagine how that might have sounded? Those shepherds got a quick picture of what worship really looks and sounds like.

What I wanted to do really quickly today was take a look at what is was that the angels sang. We’re so used to hearing this (after all we hear it every year when we watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas), that I think the meaning of what they say slips by. Either that or we’ve so politically corrected the angel hosts’ message, that it’s become a justification for the relativism that seems to pervade today’s society. The angels say that God received glory that night, and then they say why God received glory!

What happened that night was one of the most amazing miracles in all of history, along with the Resurrection and Creation. What happened that night was that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God became man; the Father had sent His Son! Why? Because from Adam on, there was emnity between God and man. Despite His revelation to the Israelites, they still consistently failed to draw near to Him. What happened that night was that God began the work of reconciling man to Himself. He predestined that His Son would go to a cross, and pay the price for our sins. He knew that His Son would be despised and rejected, but He still pursued reconciliation. He still desired there to be peace. That is why God receives glory! Because He showed us so much love that night, He showed us what kind of a God He is. He is not the god of Islam that requires perfect obedience, He is not the god of Hindu or Buddhism, or any of the religions that require a lifetime of not quite enough so that in the end he can heap on punishment. No, He is a God who sacrificed so that we might be saved!

When you celebrate Christmas this season, remember the cross, remember what the peace it was that God brought to us that night, and remember Christ our Savior and worship Him! Merry Christmas!

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/DKk9rv2hUfA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

Daily Blogging Begins!

And thus it quietly starts.  Chances are if you are reading this, you are either already curious and visiting from the link on Psalm127Mom, or you are reading back through the archives.  I really won't actually mention that I'm keeping this up until a week or so in, so that there are posts to read from the start.  For several months now, I've been thinking/talking about starting a website where I would blog daily.  Why?  Well, Jon Acuff of stuffchristianslike.net talked in one of his posts about a blog not being about gaining readers, but rather what you can give to your readers each day.  So essentially every day, I must force myself to take a look and say, "Self, what did you learn today, or experience today that might bless the people reading this blog?"  The two blogs that I read most, stuffchristianslike.net and challies.com both have talked about starting a blog and committing to blogging every day for a year.  This is extremely difficult to do, but they both say that once in the habit, it is really a blessing to both them and their readers.  As kind of a peek ahead, my goal is to try to do a cd review on Tuesday, a shortened version of the week's devotional on Wednesday, and then the rest of the time, talk about worship leading, fatherhood and other things that come to mind.  You will likely see some book reviews and maybe even a movie review or two.  So, strap in, and off we go on the adventure!