triple post night: don miller

i dont always agree with his logic/rhetoric, but i do like that he takes the hard stance when it's called for:


DOOR: How do you react to evangelicals that present Christianity as being cool and hip?

MILLER: I think the Gospel is the message that Jesus wants us to present, and we don't need to be God's marketing machine. We need to present the Gospel accurately because that's what God has asked us to do. I think if somebody passes from this life thinking that Jesus was cool, that's not very helpful. They need to know that Jesus was the Son of God who died to forgive them of their sins, and enter into a relationship with God. I think the church has bought into this idea that if we make Jesus look cool we win. But what these fellows are trying to do is make themselves look cool, not Jesus. They're looking at a culture that rejects the idea of Jesus, they say "But I want to be a Christian and I also want to be cool so I'll try to make Jesus cool." That's about you, not Jesus. We certainly need to repent of that.

simon and garfunkel- america (best song)

'Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together'
'I've got some real estate here in my bag'
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And we walked off to look for America

'Kathy,' I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
'Michigan seems like a dream to me now'
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said 'Be careful his bowtie is really a camera'

'Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat'
'We smoked the last one an hour ago'
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

'Kathy, I'm lost,' I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all gone to look for America
All gone to look for America
All gone to look for America

i think i get it...

matthew 20:20-28


a mother's request


then the mother of the sons of zebedee (james and john, right?) came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked for something. and he said to her, "what do you want?"

she said to him, "say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom."

jesus answered, "you do not know what you are asking. are you able to drink the cup that i am to drink?"

they said to him, "we are able."

he said to them, "you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my father."

and when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. but jesus called them to him and said, "you know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. it shall not be so among you. but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."


so, two disciples got their mom to intervene for them, to ask boldly for a personal favor. and boldly they said they could suffer as jesus would (was going to) suffer.

and jesus said yes because of the context he was in: one where the authorities (romans = gentiles) constantly lorded it over them that they were inferior, that they would never amount to anything, that they would simply live and then perish as unknowns.. and even if he had to ruffle a few feathers, and seemingly play favorites, he would do so to ensure that he, lord and saviour himself, who existed before time and became flesh to dwell among them, actively love them and actively die for them in order to save them, did not seem like he was also some untouchable lord.


...
wow.

isa couvertier - your name's my reward

Verse 1:
G D C
I will seek you Lord, while you may be found

G D C
My broken, contrite heart, you have yet to deny


Chorus"

D/F# C G add D
O Je-sus, Your name's my reward

D/F# C G add D (Em funk 2time)
O Je-sus,I'm returning to You
2X
D C
With all of my heart, with all that I am.

Verse 2:
G D C
I will call upon your name, while you are near

G D C
Forsaking all others, clinging only to you


Chorus
C Em Am7
I wanna fall more in love with you Jesus
2X
C Em
I wanna fall more in love 2x
C D
I wanna fall more in love

C Em C D

I wanna fall more in love with you Jesus

C Em C

I wanna fall more in love with you Jesus.



Chorus
D C

With all of my heart, with all that I am

I'm returning to you, I'm returning to you

pray.

pray for shaun groves right now. and me. i'm experiencing much of the same crisis.
i'm so very tired right now...
i want to take it back to the start - that very beginning... go back to when i first believed and build it back up, "brick by brick," just like it says francis schaeffer did. then it'll be stronger.
please, lord.
but i'll only be stronger when i lean on your strength alone.
curiously, i need to strength enough to admit that very same weakness.
or something.
please lord

happy birthday maymay!!! :)
i love you.





The Bible Exposition Commentary says the following: "If we treasure His Word and obey it, then the Father and the Son will share Their love with us and make Their home in us. The word translated "abode" in John 14:23 means "make our home" and is related to "mansions" in John 14:2. When the sinner trusts Christ, he is born again and the Spirit immediately enters his body and bears witness that he is a child of God. The Spirit is resident and will not depart. But as the believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays, and obeys, there is a deeper relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Salvation means we are going to heaven, but submission means that heaven comes to us!" (thanks challies)