Hair Growth

Fridays, for fun I will post pics of my hair and beard growth. I should have started earlier, but here's week 3

Clinging to the Word - pt 2

The Message and 2 Timothy 1 adds to what I was saying earlier today about the message being plain,
"Since the appearance of our Savior, all through the work of Jesus.", life vindicated in a steady blaze of life, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of life, all through the work of Jesus."

Music overhaul

Mel and I were sitting on our bed in front of the computer last night and we came to the same thought, "We need a music overhaul!" We have both become so sick of the music we have on her I-Pod right now and we are looking for new artists to cleanse our ears.
Here's what we've got so far

The Besnard Lakes
The National

And I'm drawing a blank on the rest. But here's the deal, we would love suggestions on music to check out and preferably stuff we could get on I-Tunes. This is a short list of the stuff we are into


Mice Parade, Sunny Day Real Estate, Pinback, Digable Planets, Duke Ellington, Promise Ring, As Cities Burn, Norma Jean, Underoath, M.Ward, Jeremy Enigk, Mu-Ziq, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert, The Cure, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene

Let the suggestions begin

Clinging to the Word

Paul gave his prodigy Timothy some very wise counsel that we would do well to listen to today. Paul warned Timothy that a day was coming and I believe that day is here today where people would turn away from the truth and instead follow after teachers that would "tickle" their ears, telling them what they want to hear and follow after teachers that suit their own passions. These teachings Paul warned would be myths and false teachings that would lead people to be lovers of self, proud, arrogant among other things and yet would have the appearance of godliness.

And so what did Paul tell Timothy to do?

Cling to God's Word, the Scriptures breathed out by God and the simple, clear message that it brings of sinners in need of salvation through God in the flesh (Jesus) who died to pay the punishment we deserved for our sins and then rose from the dead to in fact prove that He was who He said He was. This message isn't hidden or in need of being deciphered to find some hidden meaning. Instead it is this simple message that Timothy (and we) must cling to, so as to avoid being led away by myths and teachings that aim to change this message or disregard it altogether.

Man they are Lifesavas!

A while back I wrote that I had been looking for a good Christian rap crew that I could get behind and nod my head to. Well, I think I've found them in Lifesavas! In an interview with Rhapsody there seems to be evidence of faith for some members of the group

http://www.plugonemag.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=145

And to my thoughts from before,
"So, my conclusion is not to abandon the message because there is no message with those "hits" and yet they stick in my head because of the beat. Ah, and there it is, if Christian rappers could craft the sick, dope, funky (whichever word you want to use)beats, then think of the power of that, because clear lyrics about the gospel would then be boppin' in people's heads. What a match that would be!"

I think Lifesavas are onto something. With Quannum Records and DJ Shadow on their side, matched with lyrics about everyday belief in God, it is a sweet, sweet sound.
So, good in fact that Pitchfork took notice,

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43450-gutterfly

Listen and enjoy

The Foolish Cross

Ok, so it wasn't the next day...

The other side of what we learn and see in Romans is 1 Corinthians 1. There Paul says that the cross is foolish (moronic) to those who are lost. What we must wrestle with and understand because the Bible is clear, it is that until God opens someone's eyes to who Jesus really is, He, His life and death will remain foolish to them.
It is not in the philosophy of men, or academic knowledge or in anything of that nature that will allow people to come to an understanding of who Jesus is because until God does the work of lifting the veil from their eyes (2 Cor 4:3) Jesus just won't make sense.
God has revealed Himself in creation but the Bible is not simply about belief in God, it is the true story of God's redemptive history culmulating in Jesus.

My concern today is that there are people out there that are trying to make Jesus more accessable to people by changing the message of Christ or by changing who Jesus really was and is. And yet again Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians are clear that if Jesus is not God, if Jesus was not resurrected then the gospel is not powerful, in fact it is useless.

In saying all this, I am humbled that God would open my eyes to the gospel and echo the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15, "...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." Praise be to God that He has lifted the veil from the eyes of this sinner so that I might behold His ultimate love in the purpose of the cross.

Foolishness and Reason

There have been many attacks in recent years of the belief in God, particularly attacking the belief in the God of the Bible. These attacks are not new and have been going on for centuries and God through His Word has a response to those who say that He is fake or irrelevant. Today we look we look at the first of two sections that help us understand what believe in God and Christ are all about.
Romans 1:18-32
Here we see that God is telling us through Paul that God and His invisibles qualities (omniscience, omnipotence, immanence and transcendance) can be clearly seen and the section goes on to say that it is not only that they are clearly seen, many people refuse to acknowledge these pointers. These verses tell us that they know God (verse 21) they didn't think it was worthwhile to retain this knowledge (verse 28) and they again know God's righteous decrees (verse 32). But instead of acknowledging the clear pointers of God around them, they suppress it and deny it.
The universe's clear makeup, the human eye and the conscience are three such pointers that people suppress. The planets' alignment is perfect and cannot have come about by accident. The irreducibly complex makeup of the eye points to an intelligent Designer. And finally, God's Law is put on the heart of every person. Every person in the world has a sense that murder is wrong, that theft is wrong and that is because God's Law is placed on their heart. These are but three simple pointers that Romans 1:18-32 people suppress. The result God tells us in Romans 1:30-32 is that they invent ways of denying God and approve of others that do the same.
Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God's invinsible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men were without excuse."

Tomorrow, we look at the other side of the coin and the foolishness of the cross.