In Psalm 8 , David asks of God, 'Who am I that You are mindful of me?' If you see me and I look puzzled, it's because this same question often keeps me distracted...
So I bought Stephanie an iPod for her birthday, and she taken up a sudden interest in music.
Well... that's not really true. She's always loved music, but since we've been married, she hasn't really expressed that very much. She pretty much just listens to whatever I want, and tries to like it. But now, all of the sudden, she's like Carson Dailey or something -- she's downloaded 38 songs from iTunes in a week!
And I love her taste and variety. Check out her picks so far (you can click on it for a better view):
It's 6:30 in the morning and I've already been up for a while....
There are a million and one things that are in my heart and that I want to write about, but they'll have to wait until I have time. In the meantime, here are a couple of quick notes:
Today is Stephanie's birthday! Call her and tell her that you love her!
God has really been changing up our plans and our lives. It's been good, bad, and painful :0)
We're more serious than ever about the possibility of going to seminary. Right now, the most likely choice is Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Got a suggestion?
Steve Fee re-released "Burn For You" as "We Shine" on INO records. Looks like the ol' boy is hitting it big. The song list looks almost the same, with the addition of "Happy Day" (from Tim Hughes?) and "Lift High". Now they're just calling themselves "Fee". Wow. Catchy.
Steph and I hung out at the beach after work the other day (we're dog-sitting like five minutes away). I'm no professional photographer, but her are a few shots:
But you've probably heard of the song "In Christ Alone", which they wrote and which has become famous all over the world...
Stephanie and I went to chapel at Southeastern yesterday (that's an entirely different blog post... I'll have to keep you in suspense for a while :0), and lead worshiper went on and on about the power and beauty of the hymn-like songs that the Gettys have written. He lead us in a song called "O Church, Arise". I was blown away. You could tell me that it was written 200 years ago by Charles Spurgeon and I wouldn't think twice. When I got back to work, I immediately downloaded it on iTunes, and listened to it about a dozen times while I worked.
The chapel speaker yesterday, Dr. Akin, got me really excited when he said that every great revival in history has been accompanied by powerful, theologically sound hymns (that's the word he used, though I guess 'songs' would be more fair). He also said that a new generation of worship music is on the rise...
I think he might be right. Check out this first verse from "O Church, Arise":
O church, arise and put your armor on; Hear the call of Christ our captain; For now the weak can say that they are strong In the strength that God has given. With shield of faith and belt of truth We'll stand against the devil's lies; An army bold whose battle cry is "Love!" Reaching out to those in darkness.
I would post the rest, but I guess that would be illegal, so follow the links and see for yourself.
Kristian Stanfill has been a lead worshipper at 722 for a long time. It's a general rule that whichever songs he uses during worship will eventually become favorites of mine. But occasionally he leads songs that I've never heard and can't seem to find anywhere... these are usually songs that he's written himself.
When I gave up on finding them on CDs anywhere, I just hijacked the audio from the web streams and wore them out. But now there's a new EP available, and I want to make sure you know about it. It's awesome!
Go to his myspace, listen to 'Beautiful Jesus' and 'Spring of Life', and then go search his name on iTunes and buy his new EP, called 'Hello'.
This little blurb will let you know what you're in for:
When we're not affirming God for how well we're nurtured, our songs often congratulate ourselves on how well we respond to God's grace. Have you noticed how much we sing about how loud or passionately we sing? We talk a lot about what we're going to do—usually in the singular: I will worship, I will praise you, I will bow down, etc., etc. One beautiful and well-intentioned song even tells us that God thinks of "me above all."
As my professor friend says, "Begging your pardon: the only person who thinks of Me above all is Me."
If it's not in our singing, it's in our preaching. Whether it's contemporary meet-my-needs sermons or old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone, the focus seems to circle in the vicinity of getting our fine wide souls into heaven, and between now and then, into better circumstances here on earth. And yes, I may be overstating the case. But then again, am I?
This is especially significant to me because Harvest Christian Church (in Riverside, Ca) is where I became a believer and went for almost 10 years. I even went to school there for a while. Greg Laurie is the pastor at Harvest and is a very gifted evangelist. I've been to probably 10 different crusades over the years and they are really awesome opportunity to expose a friend to the really simple Gospel Message. Let me know if you have any questions about the crusades!
I listen to music almost all day while I'm at work. It's probably a bad idea, since I imagine that having headphones on all day isn't good for the ol' ears....
These couple of lines really stood out to me just now:
"At the end of myself and the end of the day, I can find little else but the courage to say, 'I need you' ...that's all"
I'm learning that there's mature truth in that :0)
If you're into Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, or David Crowder, you can see their celebrity playlists, along with Louie Giglio's, here (requires iTunes -- might not work on Firefox).
It lived up to and probably exceeded all of my expectations, and I think main reason is that Louie and everyone else puts so much emphasis on keeping Christ the main thing and not the bands or the speakers.
Beth Moore spoke to me more than anyone else this time around. She centered her talk on humility. She said that the greatest burden we bear is the weight of our own ego, which I know is true for me.
A few lines that really stuck out are:
"Learn humility early"
"Pride will blow your entire calling"
"You have no greater burden than the weight of your own ego"
"We will never develop in our area of giftedness with pride in the way"
"Humility is an unnatural quality that requires our pursuit"
"Humility is a powerful shield against unnecessary peril"
"Humility is the ultimate invitation for God to fight for you."
The key work for the conference was 'shine', from Philipians 2, where it says that we shine like lights in the world when Jesus is in us. Matt Redman put some newer words on it in his new song "shine":
we have seen the rising sun awakening the early dawn and we're rising up to give You praise we have seen the stars and moon see how they shine they shine for You and You're calling us to do the same so we rise up with a song and we rise up with a cry and we're giving You our lives...
and we will shine like stars in the universe holding out Your Truth in the darkest placewe'll be living for Your glory... and we will burn so bright with Your praise o God and declare Your light to this broken worldwe'll be living for Your glory...
(then the bridge -- think hard on this) like the sun so radiantlyshining light for all to see let Your holy church arise exploding into life like a supernova's light set Your holy church on fire... Jesus we will shine
I cannot stop singing and thinking about that song, and our trip to the conference really helped reel it into my head. The Passion website says that there won't be a CD or DVD released for the conference this year. They're focusing their time and energy on going global! But that's actually really good news, because they're going to slowly release the new material over iTunes over the next couple of months, and we'll all get it a lot sooner that way (yay)!
Be on the lookout y'all... you don't want to miss what Mr. Piper or what Francis Chan had to say!
I'm sure there's more to come, but I still haven't pick the pics from the Christmas Eve program on the church website, so in the meantime: SHINE!
Sometimes I think of Abraham How one star he saw had been lit for me He was a stranger in this land And I am that, no less than he And on this road to righteousness Sometimes the climb can be so steep I may falter in my steps But never beyond Your reach... -Rich Mullins
So... there's a new song that they've been playing at 722.
I really want to know who it's by and how to get it... and I also just want to share it with you.
If you're familiar with it, please let me know. Here's how it starts:
Your love O God Displayed for us As crimson covered over sinless hands
Your majesty For all to see In raging storms and quiet cloudless days
Beautiful Jesus Beautiful Savior Nothing is greater Brilliant Creator Friend of mine...
You're powerful Above this world The universe is under Your command Your glory shines A holy light That leads our hearts to praise Your holy Name ...It's on our lips
