9 days ago
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I can't say it better, so here's a convicting and moving excerpt from John Piper's message at the 2008 T4G conference (catch the MP3s if you get a chance):
My desire and my prayer for you is that your life and your ministry will have a radical flavor. And I say this for the glory of Christ - the world is not going to glorify Christ because they see that Christians are wealthy and healthy and prosperous.
Very simple reason why - that's what they live for! So you use Jesus to get it? They use other means to get it. They're not impressed. Jesus is the ticket. When the show starts, you throw the ticket away. They don't need your ticket - they're not impressed. I'm saying what I'm saying because I want them to be impressed. They're not impressed with us - prosperous, wealthy, safe, middle-class, do-what-everybody-else-does people. Don't build a church like that! Don't go there - don't spend your life like that. It will be wasted. You will have lived it.
My desire in prayer for you is that your life has a radical flavor. Some extraordinary love - something risky - some crazy sacrifice that nobody can understand, including mom - something salty and bright.
400 days ago
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In case you missed it, or are otherwise looking for the Good Friday and Easter designs I put together this year, now you have them.
He is risen!
605 days ago
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It was recently asked of me, “how are you?” (in that real way, not in the precursor-to-asking-you-my-real-question way). So here’s my answer…
I’m doing okay – although in a bit of a malaise, I guess. I think I’m just trying to get a bearing on where I am in life and where I want to be – it’s something I haven’t ever taken much time to do. So yeah, it’s hard. And honestly, it’s pretty scary.
Figuring out my own life apart from all the things I have always expected and imagined is more confusing and a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. On a lot of levels. One of the only things I know for sure is that I must continue clinging to the elementary truths of faith and God’s nature – without them, I’m lost. Beyond that, I think my life, my future, and at the core, myself, can be summarized in a single symbol:
?
So keep praying for me as you think of it – God has His work to complete in me and I fear that I will miss it by grasping for petty pain-numbing pursuits of this world. I’m relying wholly on His faithful character to guide me through this life – God knows I can’t do it myself.
615 days ago
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In reading a friend’s e-mail, I was reminded of a sweet hymn, by Frances R. Havergal. Although I’ve sung it many times, I don’t think I’ve meditated on the words much:
Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise…
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
It’s all yours, Lord, all yours.
709 days ago
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I was blessed to hear this song on the radio yesterday. It's entitled "Praise You in This Storm", by the group Casting Crowns. As I said to some friends earlier, the lyrics are convicting, helpful, and hard.
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”
and it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away
[Chorus:]
I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away
[chorus]
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
There's an unexpected, tearful, real comfort there. I guess that's what rings true with this song - it's an honest acknowledgement of heartfelt pain and the simultaneous existence and providence of God, even as faint as His voice may seem in these times.
Even though He holds every tear, each one stings - often excruciatingly. I don't think God expects us to grin and bear it in these times - I think He expects us to feel real, deep pain - to be heartbroken to the core. It's only then, in desperation, do I cry out to Him as the only help I have left.
710 days ago
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Sometimes silence communicates more than an encyclopedia of words ever could. And such is the case with the silence of this site recently.
Brie and I have been having some huge problems related to differences in faith and worldview. I’m not talking about knock-down-drag-out fights or anything of the sort. It’s more a realization of what it means to be unequally yoked and the struggle that is prompted there.
I don’t know how God will reveal His plan through all of this, but I do know a few things:
- I love Brie.
- Life is hard.
- God is good.
I’m still working on that last one, but I know it to be true.
